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Avenue of the Giants Weekend Run - Sat. March 23, 2024

Saturday will be a very full day of cruising from Novato up through the Avenue of the Giants and ending at Eel River Brewing in Fortuna. Sun...

autoblog's Final Thoughts After Long Term Test Of 2011 Countryman


autoblog's provides its final thoughts on the 2011 MINI Countryman. It biggest complaint,
We thought it might've been a fluke with our particular car, but having spoken to a handful of colleagues and owners, the Countryman's clutch seems to be universally loathed, specifically on the all-wheel-drive models. Uptake on the pedal, particularly when the six-speed manual transmission is cold, is ill defined with no discernible friction point that's been the cause of countless stalls when pulling out of the driveway. Reversing seems to highlight the issue, but I've experienced the same problem in first gear more than I care to remember.

We're not sure what the root cause is, but we suspect that adapting the front-wheel-drive system to All4 spec has caused some unforeseen drivetrain issues. The extra load of driving the rear wheels appears to be too much for the engine/transmission combo to handle. Considering this is BMW's first front-wheel-drive system that's been modified to all-wheel-drive, we're sure there were some hurdles to overcome. But being a vehicle engineered by the Germans, we're surprised the issue has become so prominent. I'm looking forward to my So Cal colleagues' impressions to get their take on the matter and possibly take it into Mini to rectify the issue. Or at least lessen it.