MINI Countryman 2017 Long-term test - 4

Like an industrial-grade rubber band, it's flexible and stretchy – in a metaphorical sense. The MINI Countryman is not too big, not too small, has foldable rear seats which open up decent cargo space, it’s fun to drive, plus it looks unlike almost any other luxury compact SUV.

Okay, so it won't do every single thing perfectly. For instance it will struggle to transport seven fully-grown humans halfway across the country, and it won't drag a large SUV out of a ditch. In fact it's not particularly deft off-road.

But this front-drive SUV was bred for urban duties - not bush-bashing - duties which it does ably.

Let's see, colleague Kenny G and his significant other have already waxed lyrical about the Mini Countryman's everyday ability, and our road test chief Matty B went to great lengths to expose its notable fuel efficiency. We also recently compared the Countryman and the Audi Q2. A fight the Audi lost – just.

My job? To see if I can backflip the MINI over my local creek, to properly judge it's durability and possibly its recently-gained five-star ANCAP safety rating.

After investigating the manner in which a backflip can be performed in a car – requiring more than the anticipated stack-hat, steel-capped Blundstones and adult diaper – and observing the stone-cold fear in the eyes of French daredevil Guerlain Chicherit during his attempt, it's clear this is unachievable without incurring severe physical trauma and/or potentially souring a flourishing relationship with my friendly insurance broker.

Naturally I looked for another stunt to perform: An Ace Ventura-style hand-brake-induced perfect parallel park. After my first (and only) attempt in a KFC car park on a damp Tuesday morning, it quickly became apparent the lack of a manual hand-brake would make the ‘drift-n-park’ trick all-but impossible.

Although the car was largely unscathed, a subsequent minor miscalculation with the ordering speaker incurred the merciless wrath of three rotund drive-through customers who subsequently had to forgo their ‘finger-lickin-good’ cuisine due to what the police report described as an "inexplicable impact".

While the temptation to re-create the various stunts masterminded by MINI over the years is more compelling than the second-best ‘cutesy kitten’ compilation YouTube video, but it's far less stressful - and naturally more useful to potential buyers - to simply take the vehicle for a cruise down the coast.

Indeed, the MINI Countryman Cooper S is a great companion for semi-adventurous types. Its raised ride height ensures stress-free navigation of pot-holed dirt roads and the fold-down rear seats create enough room for kite-board equipment, alongside the food and luggage requisite for a weekend away. In fact there’s so much space, ‘Clarke W Griswold’ types needn’t be pernickety about packing, I just hurled all of my gear in willy-nilly and was on the road within minutes.

Chatting with Ken in the office, I gleaned he is not a big fan of the MINI's unorthodox interior design, which features toggle switches in odd positions, lots of circular screens and some chintzy indicator sound effects. But cruising down the freeway to the beach, I have to say I like what I see and feel.

The infotainment system is not only powerful and visually pleasing, it works well, via the BMW-derived control dial, and has plenty of functionality. I like the head up display which keeps your eyes looking in the right direction and it doesn't take long to become familiar with the cabin’s other idiosyncrasies.

Also getting my personal ‘thumbs-up’ is the Countryman’s satellite navigation which is effective and easy to follow – in fact it's a decent substitute for Google Maps, so you can confidently park your phone. The menu system works well too, bold icons and colouring making it easy to understand. It's also another point of difference in a sea of ‘same-same’ new car infotainment systems and thus garnered frequent compliments from passengers.

Going against the grain in a stylistic sense is often good enough to get a look-in from new customers, but this interior is functional, not just quirky. There's a heck of a lot of features built into the infotainment and trip computer systems which provide you with powerful tools to plot journeys and execute them with surgical precision. If you have OCD tendencies, you'll love this car.

Incidental storage options are good, with enough cup holders and bottle holders (in the door pockets) to ensure you'll never shrivel up like a dry sponge. There's also a small central cubby in which to hide your phone during quick dashes to the milk bar, or when paying for fuel.

The seats look a little different to the norm as well, but provide adequate comfort on longer trips and enough side bolstering to make sure you don’t slew around when attacking a series of corners (a feat the car does well, I might add).

Rear seat room isn't bad either, but it’s annoying the seatbacks cannot be folded flat from the boot. A minor niggle but a niggle nevertheless. Once folded, there is that aforementioned kite surfer-friendly cargo space which is also capable of swallowing two mountain bikes (front wheels removed) and certainly surpasses the capacity you'd expect in a car wearing a badge which is an abbreviation of miniscule.

By virtue of its raised body, the MINI Countryman provides an impressive view of the road and is an easy car to load and unload or get in and out of. The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine is remarkably virile, it's 141kW working with the eight-speed automatic to generate outstanding straight-line speed.

Undoubtedly impressive in urban surrounds, the Countryman works just as well as a highway roller, the radar cruise control doing its think diligently. As Matty explained in his review, it's surprisingly fuel efficient too. Who needs diesel, eh?

Ride comfort is a bit firm, even when the optional adaptive dampers are set to an ‘un-sporty’ mode, and the Countryman rolls harshly over some road defects. But is does carve up corners almost as sharply as its lower, smaller, more agile hatchback siblings and has enough mumbo to wipe the smile off the face of the bloke driving his abused VT Commodore with the windows down in the middle of winter (I've got no issues with thrash metal, but if his stereo lacks clarity – unlike the setup in the MINI, whose Harman Kardon 10-speaker audio system has very good fidelity – then he needs to think long and hard about his life's choices).

Of course, it’s the charm and personality of the MINI Countryman which wins hearts and this long-termer is fast becoming a popular member of the motoring.com.au family. As weekends approach, a familiar question in the office is: "Where'd the MINI keys get to?"

Okay, so the jury's still out on whether this vehicle a bona fide ‘MINI’ owing to its increased size, but for mine it's still small enough to be a MINI. For example it's a good urban cruiser and even in the city it's easy to park in tight spots and navigate awkward underground carparks.

Yes, at first glance the almost $50K price tag does appear a little steep initially, but when you consider all the cool gadgets you get with the Countryman Cooper S - on par with many more expensive BMW, Audi and Mercedes SUVs - it starts to make more sense. For mine, I would be happy with the less powerful, but more characterful (and fuel efficient) 100kW three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine model which goes for around $40,000.

Look, we’re not going to quickly settle the argument about whether the Countryman is too big to be a Mini and too small to be a family runabout. But it deserves praise as an everyday commuter which doubles as an adventurous explorer and offers a level of interior décor rare in this company.

And how many other premium European compact SUVs can bust out backflips when required, too? Well played MINI, well played.

2017 MINI Cooper S Countryman pricing and specifications:
Price: $46,500 (MRLP, plus ORCs) / $51,750* (as tested, plus ORCs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 141kW/280Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.5L/100km (ADR Combined) / 6.2L/100km (as tested, see text)
CO2: 149g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Options fitted:
>> Cross Punch leather in Carbon Black – $1700
>> Dynamic Damper Control – $700
>> MINI Yours sports steering wheel – $200
>> Multimedia Pro Package – $2400
>> Roof and mirror caps in white – no cost option
>> Tyre pressure monitoring – $250