Mini has confirmed an off-road flavoured Countryman Edition, with a reveal set for October and the first camouflaged photos already out. All terrain tyres, a roof platform, a slightly tougher look. It's an interesting move from a brand whose Dakar history is a lot more serious than its current showroom suggests.
It also arrives in a space the Suzuki Jimny has owned by itself for years. The two cars answer the same question in completely different ways, so the comparison is worth having.
At a Glance
- The Countryman Edition is a styling and tyre package on a monocoque crossover, revealed in October.
- The Jimny is a ladder frame four wheel drive with a low range transfer case, which is the difference that matters once the track gets rough.
- Where the Jimny pulls away is the bolt-on range: bumpers, snorkel, rock sliders, roof rack, wheels, all designed for it.
- The Mini will be the better car on the road. That's not the argument.
What Mini is actually building
The Countryman Edition isn't a new platform. It's the current Countryman with all terrain tyres, a roof platform and some visual toughening, aimed at buyers who want their car to look like it goes camping. Mini hasn't published full specifications yet, so anything beyond that is guesswork until October.
The Countryman S sold here produces 160kW and 360Nm from a 2.0 litre turbocharged four with a mild hybrid system, driving all four wheels. That's a quick, comfortable car that handles gravel well.
Give Mini its due here. For most of what you actually do, a commute five days a week and a fire trail on a long weekend, that package makes sense. It'll be quieter, faster and far nicer to spend two hours in than the alternative.
Why the Jimny is a different kind of vehicle
The Jimny is built the old way. A separate ladder frame chassis, and a proper low range transfer case rather than a locking centre differential and a clever traction control map. That isn't nostalgia. It's what lets a vehicle crawl at walking pace up something steep and loose without cooking anything, and what lets you repair and modify it without arguing with the structure.
It's also small and light, which on a tight, rutted track beats any amount of power. A Jimny goes places a wider vehicle can't fit, and it does it without being driven hard.
The trade is obvious and worth stating plainly. It's noisier, slower and less comfortable on a highway. If most of your driving is on bitumen, the Mini is the better buy and it isn't close.
The part that decides it: what you can bolt to it
This is where the two separate properly. Ask this before you sign anything: what can you actually fit to it in three years time?
For the Jimny the answer is a long list, and it's designed for the vehicle rather than adapted to it. Front and rear bumpers, a snorkel, rock sliders, a roof rack, a rear ladder, side steps, mudflaps, wheels, a spare tyre carrier, interior storage. The Urnieta SALADO range covers the exterior end to end, and it bolts to mounting points that exist because the vehicle was engineered expecting this.
That matters more than any single specification. A vehicle you can keep adding to is a vehicle you keep for a decade. A vehicle that's finished the day you buy it is a car.
None of that says a Countryman can't be modified. Plenty of people fit tyres, racks and bars to crossovers and use them properly. It's a point about depth: the Jimny has a decade of purpose-built gear behind it, and a new Edition variant starts from nothing.
Where this ends up
Our honest position: the Countryman Edition is a good thing, and it isn't a Jimny competitor. It's aimed at someone who wants the look and the light-duty capability without giving up a comfortable car, and that's a real need.
If you're cross shopping a Jimny, you're not that buyer. You want the ladder frame, the low range, the small footprint and the parts catalogue, and you're prepared to trade refinement for it. Those are two different decisions that happen to look similar in photographs.
The interesting thing is that Mini is moving in this direction at all. If a brand with Dakar in its history decides the market wants something more rugged, the appetite for capable small vehicles is growing rather than shrinking, and that's good for everyone who builds them.
If you're building a Jimny, the full Urnieta SALADO range is on the store, and info@pvsautomotive.com.au will tell you what fits your JB64 or JB74 before you buy.
