MINI Countryman Cooper & Paceman Cooper get ALL4 4WD

MINI is extending the availability of its 4WD ALL4 platform for the Countryman range with the Countryman Cooper and Paceman Cooper getting the ALL4 option.

We always find it astonishing that car makers ‘ration’ the availability of four wheel drive platforms in their cars, usually citing a ‘lack of demand’.

But that lack of demand is usually predicated on the lack of supply, and increasing the supply of 4WD cars would see more sold, especially after a series of harsh winters where many motorists struggled to keep their cars in a straight line.

So the decision by BMW to extend the availability of their ALL4 4WD setup to a wider range of MINIs is welcome, with the petrol Countryman Cooper and Paceman Cooper now getting the ALL4 option too.

The addition of the ALL4 setup does have a bit of an impact on economy and performance, with the Countryman Cooper ALL4 offering 0-62mph in 11.9 seconds (down just o.1s) and economy of 40.3mpg (down from 47.1mpg), and the 4WD is likely to add £1500 or so to the price.

But in a rufty-tufty car with rugged pretensions, not having 4WD is taking away what should be one of the main USPs so, for our money, we’d tick the ALL4 option every time.

The addition of ALL4 for the Cooper models now takes the 4WD offerings from MINI to ten models.