Mini Countryman vs Subaru Outback
What's the difference?

Mini Countryman

$45,900 - $81,800

2025 price

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Subaru Outback

$48,990 - $62,690

2026 price

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Polestar 2 Long Range

Polestar 2 Standard Range

Summary

2025 Mini Countryman

2026 Subaru Outback

By Emily Agar

By Marcus Craft

Safety Rating

Engine Type

Inline 4, 2.0L

Turbo 4, 2.4L

Fuel Type

Premium Unleaded Petrol

Fuel Efficiency

7.7L/100km (combined)

9.7L/100km (combined)

Seating

Likes

Gorgeous Mini styling
Strong on-road performance
Lots of personalisation available

Maintains Outback spirit
All-around drivability
Off-road capability

Dislikes

Lacking a few features for a top-grade model
An expensive endeavour for a Mini
Not much separates the two trim levels

Gold edging
Needs better all-terrain tyres
More off-road goodies would add to the appeal

2025 Mini Countryman Summary

The Mini Countryman is the not-so-mini cousin to the iconic and smaller Mini Cooper.

The new generation offers a larger body-size, fun new interiors and a whole suite of updated technology.

We're in the flagship John Cooper Works grade in Favoured trim to find out if this small SUV is still urban-friendly and fun after all of these changes.

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2026 Subaru Outback Summary

The Subaru Outback holds a special place in the hearts of adventurers everywhere. It’s long been regarded by its fans as a genuine mix of decent on-road manners, family-friendly practicality and sound off-road capability. Just right for light-duty off-roading.

Now, Subaru claims, it has made the Outback even better and a new off-road-focussed variant called the all-wheel-drive Wilderness now sits near the top of the line-up.

The Wilderness is equipped with a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol, four-cylinder, horizontally-opposed 'boxer' engine, 240mm of ground clearance, improved approach/departure angles and electronically controlled dampers.

But is this new Outback all it’s cracked up to be? Read on.

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Deep dive comparison

2025 Mini Countryman 2026 Subaru Outback

Verdict

The new Mini Countryman John Cooper Works in Favoured trim offers everything you’d expect it to - the iconic Mini styling, a powerful driving performance and a well-equipped cabin. It’s a wonderfully quick urban dweller that you can park anywhere but is just as happy on the open-road. For me, this is pure fun and offers more personality than a lot of its rivals.

Verdict

If you’re a Subaru fan chances are the Wilderness will float your boat. It’s an appealing mix of on-road refinement and more than satisfactory capability on bush tracks.

The Wilderness engine-and-CVT combination helps to make this Subaru well refined and highly responsive on-road and it benefits from punchier low-rev output in off-road scenarios.

Subaru has made a habit of producing practical vehicles and this new addition to the upgraded Outback line-up doesn’t disappoint.

Does anyone need a Wilderness version of the Outback? Probably not. Will anyone want a Wilderness edition Outback? I reckon a lot of Outback fans would fall over themselves to get their hands on one of these.

Mini Countryman vs Subaru Outback What's the difference?

Summary

Deep dive comparison

Verdict

Verdict

Mini Countryman vs Subaru Outback
What's the difference?