MINI JCW COUNTRYMAN ALL4

The biggest Mini yet still drives with the smallest one's spirit. The Countryman JCW is fast, loud, and full of attitude — an SUV that refuses to behave like one

- DIPAYAN DUTTA

The Mini Countryman John Cooper Works is what happens when a brand famous for small cars with big hearts decides to go big — without losing the heart.

It's an interesting balance, really. Here's a car that needs to be both an SUV and a Mini, both practical and playful, both sensible and slightly mad. And against all odds, it somehow pulls it off. Mostly. You don't so much walk up to the Countryman JCW as you size it up. It’s not the cute, button-nosed Mini from your childhood poster. This one’s wider, meaner, more sure of itself.

And it is big. Like really big. This thing is larger in every way than a Jeep Compass. The stance is aggressive, with swollen arches, a squared-off nose and a face that’s all grille and snarl. It looks muscular, even in that slightly cartoonish way Minis do — which is exactly the point. The JCW badging, the red stripes, the gloss-black roof and mirror caps, the quad exhausts — it's loud without being tasteless. There's a nice sense of theatre in how it announces itself, like a rock band tuning up before the first song. It wants you to know it means business.

Step inside, and you find the kind of cabin that could only belong to a Mini. The big circular OLED touchscreen takes centre stage, floating like a portal to a slightly eccentric digital world. The toggles beneath it are still there — tactile, satisfying, defiantly analogue in a sea of touch sliders. The materials feel good, the layout feels familiar, and there's a proper sense of occasion every time you climb in. The new interface is slick, modern, and has enough gadgetry to make a techie grin, but it never overwhelms the driver. It's all wrapped up in a package that feels more mature than Minis of old, yet still infused with their signature quirk.