MINI Design Chief Holger Says The Countryman Untamed Has To Win On Pavement Before It Goes Off-Road

Holger Hampf expects most owners of the 2027 MINI Countryman Untamed Edition to spend 80 to 90 percent of their time on pavement, and he says the car was designed around that. MINI’s head of design made the point more than once when BMWBLOG and a small group of journalists sat down with him at the car’s launch in Lake Tahoe.

“Let’s be honest, that’s 80, 90 percent of the time what you do with this car,” Hampf told us. “You don’t want road noise. You don’t want the vibration from a big tire.”

That doesn’t make the off-road hardware decoration. “If 80 percent is good on-road comfort and driving pleasure, then the 20 percent off-road and gravel road has to work as well,” he said. In North America, the Untamed Edition gets a 15 mm (0.6-inch) suspension lift, 19-inch wheels on Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tires, and standard ALL4 all-wheel drive. The Countryman S ALL4 Untamed starts at $45,250. 

Why MINI Stopped At 19-Inch Wheels On The Countryman Untamed

We pushed back on the comfort argument. Plenty of buyers, us included, will live with a stiff ride for the right look, the same way some people buy a Rivian R1T and never put anything in the bed. Hampf agreed that people put up with a lot of discomfort just to look good. “I wouldn’t,” he said.

That explains the wheel package. MINI could have gone to 20 or 21 inches, Hampf said, but 19 inches is the right size for an all-terrain tire, and he called a good wheel and tire combination half the job on a car like this. He added that the same tire will be used at the Rebelle Rally, and that MINI has an even more off-road-focused tire and wheel combination as well.

Did US Customers Ask For A Lifted MINI Countryman?

They did, and MINI USA says it lobbied for it. MINI USA told us the request came from American customers after the first-generation Countryman Untamed launched here, and that the US market pushed for a version with more ride height. “It’s a perfect example of addressing customer needs,” they said.

That’s why North America gets different treatment. The Untamed Edition is sold globally, but the US and Canada are the only markets where the gasoline models get the lift straight from the factory. In Europe, only the electric versions are lifted.

The lift took more than new springs. MINI told us the DSC stability control, steering and ABS were all re-tuned for the extra ride height, because the car otherwise behaves differently.

The launch cars were Countryman S ALL4 models with a 241-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. MINI USA confirmed that the electric Countryman SE ALL4 Untamed, with 308 hp, is also coming to the US, though its price hasn’t been announced. In Germany, the Untamed Edition is available with every engine. A few other details came up in the interview:

• The dampers are passive-adaptive in Europe. An extra valve opens on rough surfaces and the setup firms up on smooth roads, with no driver-adjustable setting.
• The Untamed drive mode changes the visual theme only. It has no effect on how the car drives.
• Hill descent control is not exclusive to the Untamed Edition.
• Paddle shifters remain reserved for John Cooper Works models. MINI conceded they would make sense off-road, but said packaging follows market demand and take rates.

MINI Had One Designer Working On The Untamed’s Floor Mats For Months

An adventure car that comes back from a weekend with soggy, muddy carpets disappoints its owner, Hampf said. So MINI worked on the tread pattern and its three-dimensional shape to keep dirt and water from wet boots contained, especially in the cargo area. The team also looked at how the mats fit the footwells and the luggage compartment, how heavy they are, how the latch works, and how easily you can pull them out and hose them off.

“I have one designer working on this for months,” Hampf said. MINI built samples, tested them and changed them again. It sounds like a small thing, but Hampf’s point is that details like these decide whether a product delivers in real life. Anyone who has scraped dried mud out of carpeted footwells will take his side.

Frozen Nomad Blue Is The First Matte Paint On A Series-Production MINI

The Untamed Edition introduces Frozen Nomad Blue, the first matte paint MINI has offered in series production. Hampf said MINI once showed a matte finish on a show car, and people liked it but couldn’t buy it. The matte finish appeared on a small limited run of roughly 400 cars around 2008 or 2009, but supplying a paint for full production is a different job.

Asked whether matte paint will spread to other MINIs or be shared with BMW, Hampf wouldn’t commit. He wants to see how this one performs first. He did say it’s the Untamed color he likes most.

The palette came out of the usual mood-board process, with the BMW Group’s color and materials team collecting images of landscapes and rock formations, plus photos from designers’ own trips. Outdoor gear like backpacks and camping equipment went into the mix too. Hampf said the team wanted two exclusive body colors that work as opposites, one cool and technical, the other warm and desert-like.

The cooler theme carries into the cabin. The Countryman’s knit textile is always woven from two colors, and on the Untamed a blue base shows through the gray to create a bluish gray that pairs with the Dark Steel accents. As on John Cooper Works models, some surfaces combine the knit with perforated Vescin, MINI’s leather-free upholstery.

The knit is more than 90 percent recycled content, but Hampf doesn’t want that to be the headline. Sustainability became a marketing story across the industry, he said, and some companies were greenwashing. At MINI it’s part of the design rather than a talking point. A material has to look and feel right first, and Hampf said he simply assumes it will be sustainable as well.

How MINI And Autohome Built The Countryman’s Rooftop Tent

The Untamed’s rooftop tent comes from Italian specialist Autohome, one of the biggest names in rooftop tents. MINI studied several tent formats before settling on a triangular fold-up design, and Hampf said it took some customization to make it work on the Countryman. The team pushed it close to the roof’s load limit, which is 165 pounds while driving and 661 pounds when parked, and had to account for aerodynamics. BMW Designworks helped with the colors and materials.

Hampf made the case for sleeping on the roof rather than the ground. On the ground, you hunt for a flat spot and still find a bump under your back ten minutes into the night. Up top it’s drier and you feel less exposed, and the tent carries a thick mattress, so there’s nothing to pump up. Setup takes less than a minute, and the tent doesn’t eat into cargo space.

He also likes that the tent can sit in the garage until it’s lowered onto the car before a trip. Weekend camping lives or dies on preparation, he said, and a tent that’s ready to go takes care of most of it.

Holger Hampf On Why MINI Can’t Afford A Same-Same Car

We asked whether the rugged segment has room to grow. Hampf thinks it does, especially on the West Coast, where bikes, canoes and rooftop tents on a car are a way of showing who you are. MINI’s role, as he sees it, is to give customers a good base car and let accessories do the rest.

Pressed on whether more models like this will follow, he talked about responsibility rather than product plans. MINI carries more than 60 years of history, and Hampf called that legacy something not to be messed with.

“There’s nothing more dangerous in the world today, especially in automotive design, than to create another same-same product,” he said. A copycat might be exciting for a moment, he argued, but it doesn’t earn loyalty. Then he summed up the line the Untamed Edition has to walk: “It is a fine line. You cannot overdo it. Then you lose fans.”