Building a bigger Mini -- but not too big.

#6. It has plenty of room for four adult passengers, plus some cargo.

Like other Minis, the Countryman has plenty of head and leg room up front, with sporty, supportive bucket seats. The rear seating row, however, is far more useful. A six-foot adult can fit behind another six-foot adult thanks to second-row buckets that slide fore and aft. Those seats have far less side bolstering than the fronts, so they aren’t nearly as comfortable and passengers will lean and slide around in sharp turns. Between the second-row seats is Mini’s Centre Rail system. It comes in a full-length one-piece version or a two-piece unit with shorter rails front and rear. Numerous accessories can be clipped to the rail, including cupholders, sunglass cases, and MP3 holders. We’d like to see a center armrest for rear passengers.

The rear seats fold down, but not entirely flat, to open up 40 cubic feet of rear cargo space. That’s about as much as a Mazda3 hatchback. In back, the Countryman has 18 cubic feet of cargo space, about as much as a trunk in a large sedan. It also has a load floor that flips up to reveal a shallow tray underneath. Given this space, the Countryman has enough room for a trip to the grocery store, even with a full load of passengers. With the rear seats folded, it will also fit large boxes, making the car a viable option when you’re headed to Home Depot.