The Mini Cooper was seen as a English icon, produced by British Motor Company (BMC) it went on to win the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965, and 1967. The Mini brand has since been absorbed by BMW but they have done nothing but positive things for the brand in my opinion. The original Mini turned heads based on shear size alone, BMW has managed to take one car and provide the public with now seven options in their line. All keeping the classic Mini look but each providing different and more practical properties than the 1960s Mini. My current favorite Mini is the Mini Countryman, the largest vehicle in their lineup (which is still not that big) and also the only to offer Mini's All4 All Wheel Drive system. Sitting higher then the rest of the line up the Countryman is directed at just that, someone who wants to be RUGGED, and TOUGH, however, difficult it may be to believe that this vehicle is an off road machine like some of the advertisements imply it is their best looking and most practical car to date. I couldn't find the original advertisement I was thinking of with the Countryman plowing over some decent sized rocks but this one still gets the point across.
I may be wrong, the Countryman may actually be fantastic in the off road, however, hard to imagine I man never know but from first appearances I will lean more towards no. Yet the Countryman debate is not why we are here today, we are here for the modified version of this already good vehicle, it's called the Paceman and it'll blow your mind as it blew mine.
As you can clearly see its not all that different than the Countryman, and yet a lot different. It's almost as if they took everything I disliked about the Mini Cooper Coupe and made it useful. The noticable differences are clearly the loss of two doors, the roof is on the slight decline and tapers at the rear, and also does not sit quite as high, because although this does come in Mini's All4 option apparently its not for off roading, just for gripping corners? Not sure, I liked the previous ride height regardless but this looks good none the less.
Now when it comes to rear ends it tends to be something car companies seem to neglect. I feel they have the mindset of "Well it looks good from the front thats what the customer cares about, just give it some tail lights and call it good." However, there are the select few that do prefer the car looks good all the way around. Let's look at an example! Take the BMW 650i overall a good looking car, not really my taste but I will agree it is good looking, however, take a walk around the car and you'll find this eye sore.
What...WHAT?! How did that get approved for production, I just bored looking at it, the taillights look mundane, out of place, and overall spiritless. Dare I compare it to the worst rear end of them all? The Porsche Cayenne.
We are getting off topic, the Paceman from front to back looks nice, not exciting, not dramatic, and certainly not a game changer. Sometimes though you must be honest with yourself and prioritize Sexy>Nice>Boring>Just plain bad. Sometimes for a car to be drop dead sexy it'll cost you more than you're willing to pay and a lot of times it turns out being useless for daily activities.
The Mini Paceman brings practicality to the sportier side of the line up, without compromising too much space. Overall, I am very excited for this to be released and do feel a test drive is in order. Next time I will be taking a look at the new SRT Viper, not Dodge, SRT. And the fact that it may not be a tire thrashing, torque monster, but actually a good, affordable sports car.
The Mini Countryman is also my favorite among Mini’s models. Though it is the biggest Mini among the make’s car models, I still consider it a small car, and it is absolutely small if you’ll compare it with the competitors’ SUVs and hatchback cars. It has fantastic handling and a stylish large cabin, which makes it an adequate family car. -Stelle Courney
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