On paper, the 2025 MINI John Cooper Works Countryman ALL4 seems like it ought to check off every box. More space and more power than before, with a ton more tech. The roughly $3K price bump — taking it to $46,900 (plus $995 destination) — might make you wince, but those changes plus more standard equipment help suck some of the sting. We’re still yet to see a final, all-encompassing price list to take into account the extras.
Decisions that would be forgivable on the JCW Cooper, though, sit a little less comfortably in this Countryman version. The overall scale says more family-friendly, but the ride is still decidedly firm. The most eager drivers, meanwhile, will bemoan the continued absence of a manual transmission. More damningly, the larger car just doesn’t quite encourage silliness of a sort that the JCW badge implies.
Arguably, the biggest challenge the new JCW Countryman faces, though, comes from its own siblings. The MINI Countryman S ALL4 may, at 241 horsepower, be down on horses, but it has the same 295 pound-feet of torque and will start at a hefty $8K less when it arrives later in 2024. Meanwhile, the Countryman SE ALL4’s all-electric drivetrain will have more horsepower and more torque.
You can’t blame MINI for trying to spread the JCW goodness, or broaden its Countryman appeal for that matter. Yet while the biggest MINI is undoubtedly improved in several ways, trying to do so much with one trim brings with it inevitable compromise, too. The strategy of keeping growing families in the MINI brand is a sensible one, but the John Cooper Works doesn’t feel like the best flavor for that approach.
