Jack Evans heads to Barcelona to try out Mini’s new hybrid in the Cooper S Countryman guise

The second generation of the Mini Countryman is the biggest and most versatile model in the entire Mini — and now it has got the John Cooper Works treatment.

OK, let’s put our cards on the table. We like Minis and dearly love some of them, but we do have certain reservations about the brand. Some of them are cutesy, some girly, some mad and some manly. However, none are cheap.