We take to the trails of Nevada to experience the new Mini Countryman Untamed Edition

Lake Tahoe is a long way to go just to experience an additional 15mm of suspension travel. But that’s the situation we find ourselves in as we ponder the role of the new Mini Countryman Untamed Edition, a bolstered and buffed-up version of the carmaker’s largest model that’s aimed at adventurers with more than just a casual relationship with the outdoors.

Our first glance of the Untamed is not especially wilderness adjacent. Perched on the edge of a lakeside golf course, the Mini Countryman Untamed Edition makes its debut graced with an Autohome roof top tent, the most visible manifestation of the effort that has gone into making this the peak Countryman variant.

This is an immaculate resort, a place where entropy is fought with tooth and nail and migrant labour, countless open gas fires heat up the bright blue Nevada skies and the architecture is all monumental masonry and chunky timber. As a result, there aren’t many parallels to be drawn with the Untamed Edition’s materiality, which majors on hardwearing, durable surfaces with a tactile textured feel. It’s all part of the auto industry’s renewed interest in the role of CMF (Colour, Material, and Finish), and how twists and tweaks in interior presentation can radically alter our perception of a product.

Interestingly, Mini’s team – led by Head of MINI Design Holger Hampf – aren’t keen on stressing recyclability, simply pointing out that these things should be taken for granted these days. Instead, there are other inspirational origins, including Sir Paul Smith’s Mini Strip concept, a bare-bones edition of the Mini Cooper that ultimately manifested itself as the production Mini Paul Smith Edition.

Both cars pointed the way towards a more earthy, hard-wearing and tactile interior treatment, one that the new Countryman variant has taken to new levels. Hampf also reminds us of other earlier off-road Mini concepts, the “Red Mudder” Mini Cooper S by fashion label DSQUARED² from 2011 and the 2009 Mini Beachcomber Concept. Then there’s the impressive racing history of the original Mini, which won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967.

It all adds up to a spirited playfulness, a value BMW has worked hard to integrate into public perception of Mini since it took stewardship of the brand at the turn of the century. ‘Mini is one of those brands with a 60-year history – it’s a huge responsibility as a designer,’ Hampf admits, ‘you have to get it right.’

BMW’s work with Mini is a masterclass in branding, updating the image of a much-loved design and engineering masterpiece (but a very poor piece of business) into a contemporary icon. Out of this warm soup of happy social and cultural memories, BMW’s crack team of brand stewards shaped a model infused with just enough spirit of the 60s original to carry it aloft into the cynical 21st century.

In addition to the lifted suspension and adjustments to steering and traction control, the new scar also gets more rugged Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus tyres, exclusive 19” wheel designs, two new paint colours and a host of other enhancements inspired by travel, adventure and the hard-wearing, technical sheen of gorpcore materials and detailing.

Rubber floor mats, elastic straps on the centre console and woven bicolour dashboard material all make the interior more robust, while the exterior gets protective black film, a new grille and the Mini’s first matte exterior finish, Frozen Nomad Blue.

There’s even a tie-in with Helinox, makers of lightweight, foldable outdoor furniture, to really rub in the adventuring ethos. The Untamed Edition will be made available across all markets and models, so you can choose an EV, hybrid or ICE version should you so desire.

The SUV has always represented embedded potential, an aspiration to get away from the urban grind and hit the trails. For the most part, many compact SUVs and crossovers are all mouth and no trousers, their off-road origins subsumed into mere styling. But as another publication recently pointed out, today's Mini Countryman is larger and heavier than the original Range Rover 'Classic', a car which arguably still has the edge when it comes to off-roading.

The Untamed Edition goes some way to redressing this anomaly. Yet like Arc'teryx jackets in Brooklyn, only a small percentage of wearers will actually head out for a weekend hike.

In Nevada, the Untamed Edition certainly went on to earn its spurs. Thanks to the increased ride height and new tyres, the Countryman proved adept at tackling one of the state’s vast network of 1,500 off-road trails. Even the grizzled old hand who led us up the hill, gliding across crevasses in his heavily modified Jeep Wrangler, grudgingly admitted to being impressed that these off-the-shelf SUVs made it up his mountain, through deep ruts and massive boulders (and thanks in no small part to the skill and enthusiasm of my co-driver).

Coming down is markedly easier, and with the sunlight streaming through the trees and the dust clouds kicked up by the tyres, the attractions of this outdoor lifestyle become evident.

The US – Mini’s third largest market after the UK and Germany – is the ideal home for the Countryman Untamed, a place where true wilderness still exists beyond the suburb and the strip mall. Its authenticity might ultimately be a clever concoction, but if you want capability without the overbearing presence of a big SUV, the Mini Countryman Untamed Edition can definitely take the rough with the smooth.

Mini Countryman Untamed Edition, more information at Mini.co.uk, @MiniUK