AutoWeek Reviews The 2011 MINI Cooper S Countryman

AutoWeek calls it "an AW Flash Drive." It found it easier to enter than the hatchback given the Countryman's larger doors; you sit 2.8 inches higher than you do in the hatchback; it doesn't feel "as nimble or quite as edgy as the MINI Cooper S;" and, at least in prototype, suffers from "poor shift quality" ("notchy").  AutoWeek believes it is "an interesting alternative to Europe's Traditional hatchbacks."