Seyth Miersma at Winding Road pits the MINI Cooper S Countryman ALL4 and the Nissan Juke AWD and favors the Juke. He says, in part:
In the end, this turns out to be a remarkably close contest. And, as usual, your take on the comparison would depend largely on your values and desires as a car shopper. We say that Mini wins in terms of powertrain (just barely, and only because of its available manual) but the Juke wins for handling, giving the dynamic portion of the comparison solidly to the Nissan. Meanwhile the Juke gives up ground for utility (smaller backseat really hurts it) and overall refinement, but is still significantly less expensive than the Countryman. So, if you’re feeling lavish and want to live well, the Mini is the mini-crossover for you.
Now, given that we’re Winding Road, and we care about the driving experience most of all, it’s easy for us to give the enthusiast nod to the more fun, cheaper, and admittedly strange looking Nissan. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, for sure, but the wooly Countryman Effect is a bridge too far, for drivers.
