2025 Mini John Cooper Works Countryman First Look: The Highest-Performance Biggest Mini Ever
The newest Countryman stretches the Mini name farther than it's ever gone.
How big can a Mini get before it's no longer a Mini? The oxymoron of a "big Mini" always seems to get a chuckle, but it isn't governed by some law of nature, so presumably as big as Mini wants. Or, as big as its customers want. Mini is responding to consumer demand to make larger models so they can stick with the brand as their lifestyle, needs, and families grow. The 2025 Countryman SUV fills that demand as the largest Mini ever produced, along with the electric Countryman E. Now the not-mini-Mini is available in high-performance John Cooper Works Countryman guise.
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The Specs
The John Cooper Works' 2.0-liter turbo four-cylinder engine will make 312 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque in the North American market. Mini anticipates it will take 5.4 seconds to hit 62.1 mph from zero (for anyone scratching their heads, that's the European zero-100 km/h standard translated to freedom-units). If you have the chance to get one out on a track, it's capable of 155 mph.
What we know from the other new Countrymans is this: The new one is 5.1 inches longer, and sits 2.4 inches higher. The wheelbase extends to 106.0 inches, and the size increase gives the Countryman a maximum 51.2 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seat folded down.
Feels Like Performance, Sounds Like Performance
Despite the increase in size, Mini assures us that JCW Countryman retains the go-kart like feel the brand's cars have been known for. Larger and wider tires contribute to the handling, available on aerodynamically optimized 19- and 20-inch wheels exclusive to the JCW. All-wheel drive is standard on the JCW version.
With an already distinct sound from the exhaust flap system, the auditory experience is further enhanced inside the cabin with the exclusive JCW sound extension. The engine startup is louder and adds race-inspired engine sounds to increase the performance feel on the road. We know the "fake" engine noise isn't everyone's thing, but these features are getting better, so we'll reserve judgment until we drive one. Be sure to check out the go-kart mode for the most intense sounds among the curated Experience Mode options available.
Big Tech for a Mini Car
The JCW comes with 12 ultrasonic sensors and four surround view cameras that not only aid in parking maneuvers but enable Level 2 driver assistance when equipped with the optional Driving Assistant Professional package. It helps detect proper openings for lane changes and adjusts to an appropriate speed to complete the maneuver. You'll have to keep your hands on the wheel at highway speeds, but in stop-and-go traffic, the system allows for hands-free driving on highways below 37 mph.
The 9.5-inch circular touch screen is the massive centerpiece of the minimalist interior, mounted on a red and black dash wrapped in recycled polyester. The large touch screen is needed—there is no traditional gauge cluster—but a head-up display helps serve relevant information to the driver. Behind the OLED touch screen, color schemes are projected onto the dash based on the selected drive mode.
JCW Design
The JCW Countryman sports new MINI LED headlights with customizable daytime running lights. In the JCW signature mode, horizontal bars give it a more aggressive look than the standard halo around the low beams. At the rear, vertical LED John Cooper Works Signature Modetail lights frame out the larger body. The octagonal grille is covered with geometric patterns resembling a checkered flag as an obvious nod to its performance status. But it suites the overall look and is the perfect backdrop for the new three-color JCW logo.
The checkered pattern continues on the five-spoke wheels for an effect that makes them always look like they're in motion. The downward sloped roof, red accents, and JCW badges covering the car will leave no room for mistaking what it is. For all the patterns and badges on the exterior, they do manage to work together well, where the design could have easily been too much. It might be bigger, but it still very much looks like a Mini.
Pricing and Availability
The 2025 John Cooper Works Countryman will start at $47,895 in the U.S. Production is expected to start in March 2024, with JCWs reaching dealers by May. Pricing for optional packages is yet to be announced, so we don't know how expensive it can get. It seems like a steep price, but it's performance and increased utility should deliver a better value against competitors such as the Mercedes-AMG GLA35.
Cars should look cool and go fast. At least, that was Matthew’s general view of the world growing up in Metro Detroit in the early ’90s, and there was no exception. Raised in the household of a Ford engineer and car enthusiast, NASCAR races monopolized the television every Sunday and asking, “what car is this?” at every car show his dad took him too before he could read taught him that his favorite car was specifically, the 1971 Chevelle SS. (1970 can keep its double headlights, it’s a better look for the rear!) He learned the name of every part of a car by means of a seemingly endless supply of model car kits from his dad’s collection and could never figure out why his parents would drive a Ford Taurus Wagon and F-150 to work every day when a perfectly good 1967 Chevy Impala sat in the garage. Somewhere between professional hockey player, guitar player, journalist, mechanic, and automotive designer, he settled on the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) with the hopes of joining a NASCAR pit crew after high school. While there, learning about electronics and the near-forgotten art of carburetor tuning (give him a call before you ditch your “over complicated” Rochester Qudarajet) were equally appealing, and the thrill of racing stock cars and modifieds weekly on the school’s dirt oval team was second to none at the time. And then sometime late in 2009, Matthew caught wind of the Tesla Roadster on YouTube and everything changed. Before it, electric cars we not cool, and they were not fast. A budding and borderline unhealthy obsession with technology would underpin a 12-year career at Roush Industries that would take him from a powertrain technician for the Roush Mustang, to building rollercoasters, NVH engineering, and finally to a state-of-the-art simulated durability lab working with nearly every EV startup you’ve ever heard of, and some you never will. And then it was time to go, and by a stroke of luck Nikola Tesla himself couldn’t have predicted, MotorTrend’s test team was looking for the exact kind of vehicle testing background he had to offer. And with it, his love of cars, art, engineering, and writing all suddenly had a home together. At this point in life, Matthew has developed a love and appreciation for all cars and methods of propulsion. He loves reviewing minivans as much as luxury cars and everything in-between, because the cars people need to haul their kids around are just as important as the ones we hang on our bedroom walls.
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