It was a heavily modified version of the MINI Countryman that won the Dakar Rally this year, and BMW’s sister automaker brought the victorious All4 Racing powerhouse to NYIAS 2014.
To celebrate the Dakar win, Mini let me drive this very historical vehicle through Death Valley. Just as that desert driving event was held to hype the consumer version of the Countryman, the Dakar winner was on-hand right next to the 2015-tweaked version of that same vehicle.
The new Countryman has a few external styling tweaks to its grill, more chrome, LED headlights and 17-inch alloy wheels.
More importantly, the 2015 Countryman will now include the MINI Connected Infotainment System. Big, bright and multifunctional, MINI Connected includes one of the finest satellite navigation system I’ve tested.
The 2015 Countrymen will go on sale later this year, and I’ll probably use that date as another excuse to mention that I drove the MINI that won the Dakar.
