The 2025 Mini JCW Countryman: Bigger, Bolder, and Built for Family Adventures
The 2025 Mini JCW Countryman is tactile, responsive, and a whole lot of fun to drive on bending curves. And the jewelry box only adds to the magic.
Liv Leigh
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This is the Mini-est Fun You Can Have in a Compact SUV
For 2025, the Mini JCW Countryman gets a major upgrade, transforming it into the ultimate family adventure machine. It’s got the all-wheel-drive power you need for road trips, room for the whole crew (and all their gear), and, of course, that classic Mini fun factor turned up a notch. And this beloved compact SUV has a whopping 25% more space than its predecessor, starting at $38,900 and stuffing 312 horsepower into this new but fondly familiar package.
Related: Mini Cooper Goes Electric for 2025 and Finally, Is an Electric Car to Consider
Family Feedback Fueled the Redesign
Mini didn’t just make these changes on a whim. They listened to their biggest Countryman fans – families. The feedback was clear: they love the car but needed more cargo space. So, for 2025, the Countryman gets a bit taller and longer, finally solving that trunk-size dilemma. Even Mini’s design team is celebrating, especially the lead designer, Oliver Heilmer, who can now comfortably squeeze his three kids, a dog, and a week’s worth of luggage inside. Speaking of which, A Girl’s Guide to Cars founder, Scotty Reiss, got a personal tour of the 2025 Mini JCW Countryman with Oliver. You can catch the whole conversation here.
Related: Why I Bought a Mini Cooper Countryman
Infused with Racing Legacy
This particular Countryman is the JCW (John Cooper Works) model, infused with the automaker’s rich racing legacy. The JCW logo is a badge of honor, and the design reflects that. It’s solid, powerful, undeniably Mini, and perfect for precious cargo.
Minis are known for their roofs, and the JCW Countryman is no exception. Its “surfboard” roof is pure style but also serves a purpose—making your Countryman instantly recognizable, even from a distance. In fact, many of the design accents aim to simplify and show features from afar, like the side scuttles that were previously placed along the body, which are now raised up top so anyone can look at them and see exactly what trim this vehicle is.
Related: Mini Has A MINI Manual Driving School, And I Was The First to Try It
The 2025 Mini JCW Countryman is Bold but Simple
For the 2025 Mini JCW Countryman, the designers simplified the rear with a single surface bumper, a subtle logo, and Countryman text. Taller, vertical, matrix tail lights catch the eye and can be customized to any of 3 different options:
- Classic: full circle and Union Jack-inspired taillight
- Favoured: arch style with a block design taillight
- JCW: horizontal bars with a minimalistic taillight
Details That Delight, Inside and Out
Hopping inside, you are immediately greeted with an incredibly simplistic yet warm and welcoming interior. A long, flat dash is broken only by the simplified round screen that harkens to the Mini’s origins.
The Mini’s original designer, Sir Alec Issigonis, said his goal was to really focus on what was necessary and to have no waste, so the design team decided to push a reset button and do just that—a task made so much easier by the incredible technology that can elevate simplicity.
Though the dash is clean, a head-up display puts pertinent info right in the driver’s gaze. Though the Mini Interaction Unit appears to be a simplistic circle, it’s jam-packed with functionality and fun and even comes with Spike, Mini’s Intelligent Personal Assistant. Love a little whimsy? Press and hold the navigation arrow on the map to turn it into a mini-car. Passengers stay safe, too, thanks to the display showing who’s buckled up.
Not Your Normal Knitting in the Mini JCW Countryman
The rest of the cabin in the 2025 Mini JCW Countryman is coated with custom textiles for a truly elevated finish. Dual-layer knitted surfaces were an intentional choice to create texture, depth, and a beautiful two-tone effect. In between the knit, vegan leather stretches luxuriously over curves. Subtle red accents trick the eye into thinking that they’re one tone, but they’re actually two and delight in various embellishments like a fabric strap from the center to the base of the steering wheel, adding a tiny pop of color.
The carmaker plans to make features like that strap customizable so you can show off your own color scheme.
Interior Elevation in the 2025 Mini JCW Countryman
Nestled neatly in the center of the middle console, a completely unexpected and magical surprise awaits. A knit fabric encased jewelry box that is easily opened by an orange/red textured loop. Loops like this are such great features since they’re a more considered and accessible way to open something, even for individuals with dexterity challenges. It’s something you may more expect in a home, not a car, which is part of their goal, to make you feel at home. You can even detach your plush little jewelry box and place it in your home instead.
Lead Designer Oliver Heilman’s Favorite Touches
- The knit fabrics
- The simplified round infotainment screen (a nod to the carmaker’s past simplicity)
- The iconic fixed turn-key “engine” is straight out of a classic 1960s Mini.
Hitting the Road with the Mini JCW Countryman ALL4
Ready to drive your own? The upgraded Mini Countryman JCW goes into production in March 2024 and hits dealerships in May. Get your family ready for an adventure, Mini-style.
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