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"Like a movie sneak preview on a Saturday night, Mini whisked us off to Vienna for an advance look at the . Sorry, no Sachertorte in Austria, but an inside look at the last Mini, including track time in the wet.   Why care about a damp track? For one thing, this newest Mini has the option of all-wheel drive on its Cooper S version.   This is, indeed, a different .   In fact, there were heated discussions at high levels about doing a larger Mini. Breaking the 4-meter (158-in.) length barrier was considered anathema to some, but management finally said yes to a Mini that measures 161.2 in. long, 70.4 in. wide and 61.5 in. tall, has four doors and a tailgate and comfortably seats four 6-footers.   It&amp;#039;s a brave new world out there...   Visually, the looks a bit like a sumo wrestler Mini, bulging a bit all around. Strong? Plump? Both sides will be heard from, but the car has a decided presence. Minis are meant to look different and the Countryman carries on the tradition.   On its top is a new &amp;quot;helmet&amp;quot; roof shape that emphasizes the fact this Mini has four doors. At the front is a more vertical nose that was dictated as much by European pedestrian safety rules as a need to redo the front. editions of the Countryman will get a face that looks familiar head-on. Cooper S models are the most different because the air scoop has been lowered to the bottom of the grille.   Mini people will know the instrument panel, though the center stack controls have been cleaned up to make them easier to use. Mini people will also know the looks of the front-seat area, though they&amp;#039;ll find the individual seats mounted higher than before. What they won&amp;#039;t recognize is the back, where a pair of similar seats reside. For the U.S., Mini will not import the &amp;quot;bench&amp;quot; rear seat or the third-row seat, which must be tiny.   As we get it, the Countryman will sit four 6-foot-tall occupants comfortably. And there&amp;#039;s still reasonable room in back for luggage and stuff...12.4 cu. ft. with the rear seats up, 42.4 when they are folded.   By the time the Countryman arrives in the U.S. in early 2011, we will already have Minis with the new engine featured at our early launch.   Developed with PSA Peugeot Citro\u00EBn, the all-aluminum twincam four has 1598 cc and in standard Cooper form creates 122 bhp and 118 lb.-ft. of torque. Luckily the Countryman we drove were in S form\u2014same displacement, but with direct injection, variable valve timing and a twin-scroll turbo. Now we&amp;#039;re up to 184 bhp and 177 lb.-ft. of torque, though that jumps to 192 lb.-ft. in overboost, which you essentially get throughout an entire acceleration sequence. Top speed is 133 mph and while final EPA fuel numbers aren&amp;#039;t in, it&amp;#039;s thought that 34 mpg highway is possible.   Both automatic and manual gearboxes are available, each with six speeds, but what we like is the ALL4 all-wheel drive. A very compact unit that normally transmits all the power to the front wheels, it has a rear clutch that under slippery conditions can shift as much as 50 percent of the drive to the rear axle.   As for suspension, it&amp;#039;s MacPherson struts front and a multilink setup at the back. All the electronic aids are on board, plus a sport setting to firm things up. Or an even firmer sport suspension that drops ride height by almost 0.4 in.   Mini was kind enough to wet down the small circuit on which we tried the Countryman just west of Vienna. We don&amp;#039;t drive all that much in the rain in Southern California, so it was fun to pitch the Mini in the wet. Not surprisingly it pushes a bit, but with traction control on you can really lean on the throttle as the Mini gathers its legs under it, traction light flashing away, then bites. Great fun.   And most likely not typical driving for Countryman owners, who will appreciate the drive system for what it offers on everyday wet and snowy surfaces.   Mini tells us they&amp;#039;ve sold 1.7 million vehicles so far, and the Cooper and Cooper S people have rather different demographics. We&amp;#039;ll bet the same applies to the Countryman...a nice Mini but a very different one.   Next up? The . "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/reviews/a15839/sneak-preview-of-the-mini-countryman/>