But also your mini would eradicated in a collision with a full size range rover...as would most things.
I think you may underestimate the countryman, safety wise it was one of only a couple of cars to pass the small overlap test in the states, it also scored exeptionally well in NCAP tests and while it is a 7 year old car this year and has now been replaced buy a new countryman, the latest 2022 full sized range rover didn't get as high a score for things like adult and child occupants
Also calling it an SUV is a bit strong.. crossover perhaps like a qashcai. I.e. all the practicality of a reasonable sized hatchback..none of the pretty. Like most things bearing an SUV aspiration these days it's not it's a mock Tudor hatchback and
you can probably argue semantics on what an "SUV" is all day I dare say you could write a long albeit very boring book on it. but in essence an SUV really started as a term for 5 seater enclosed off road trucks in the states, some of which are far bigger than even the current generation range rovers, but they also encompassed things like the Jeep Cherokee. which to us is quite big but back in the 90s was small for a US SUV. Now the likes of the Mini Countryman are comparable in size to the SUVs of old
Parked beside a Range Rover Classic from the 1980s there is not a lot in it. The Mini is very slightly shorter but is wider, and not quite as tall but they basically occupy the same foot print.
I think I have posted before that the T-Roc Cabriolet is labeled as an SUV despite the dimensions including the actual height of the vehicle to be the about same as my golf
Really if you want to categories what an SUV is now it would really come down to if it "looks" like an SUV.
All that aside a cross over is equally blurred as to what it is.
My definition would be an SUV is something that looks like it could go off road but probably can't. Something with the chunky appearance of a 4x4 but with 2wd. or 4wd through a viscous couple without any transfer box.
A cross over would be something more akin to a car that looks like someone bolted on some added black plastic bits to make it look more rugged.
it should be pointed out that the cooking version of your Golf has a bigger boot and more interior space than a countryman.
i'm not sure where you got that from? a quick look appears to suggest
Mini has 450L with the seats up, the Golf has 380L
Mini has 1390 with the seats down to the Golfs 1237L
I have also started to take these measurements with a pinch of salt ever since I found out the Punto Cabrio lists a bigger boot than the Golf Cabriolet when it very VERY clearly doesn't.
It’s NOT small and certainly isn’t mini.
Mini is a Brand not a description. It is also not a "Country Man" nor is the John Cooper works built by John Cooper, nor is the Fiat 500 a 500cc engined car, or the new electric Fiat 600 a 600cc car !
The only people who ever say "its not a Mini because its not mini" are almost always people who do not own a Mini, where as the enthusiasts who continue to own classic Minis, tend to daily a modern mini.