[dark.knight]

The latest Mini is a car that is trying hard to be a lot of things, it is a hybrid i.e it'll have a battery back in the boot of the car, it has the 4-wheel drive and yet it tries to be the usual Mini with its youthful styling and segment-topping gadgetry. The specs are as below :

- 87 bhp electric motor (which is active till the time the car hits 78 mph/125kph)
- 1.5 litre petrol engine with 138 hp up front
- 405 litre boot space which is impressive
- 22 miles (35 km) on pure electric power.. not impressive but not bad either.

Here are certain views on its driving aspect :

Then there’s the higher centre of gravity too. It’s not a major surprise when you throw it into a sharp corner to find that the body is rolling more than you’d like. It seems to take a while to settle down too. And then, if you keep pushing, all the wheels start to get in a lather and let go. The stability control system stops any real lairyness, but this never feels that composed.

But at least the extra weight, with much of it balanced front to rear, means the ride is better than the standard Countryman. While it’s comfy, the effect overall is that the car doesn’t feel that closely tied down to the road – a fact backed up by a faintly poor braking performance on a wet road.

Not surprising since the weight is considerably more than the regular Countryman and since the 4x4 is a big weight in itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxvGU_GHQlE

The car seems quite noisy when the petrol engine kicks in but the electric drivetrain reduces the noise substantially as can be seen 1:30 onwards. Good buy in the U.K at roughly 33k Euro, in India that figure should easily double.

Link :http://www.independent.co.uk/life-st...-a7879631.html