Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Mini and 4 x 4 in the case of the Land Rover). The first one has a Peugeot-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 95hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 240hp engine designed by Mazda.

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Evoque offers a potentially life-saving difference of 31% more metal.

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Mini as a brand displays somewhat better results, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Mini with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Land Rover badge with 3.8 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Countryman as average reliability-wise, and Evoque is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Countryman rank it on average as 4.6, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Land Rover is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 217 kilometers per hour, 44km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Countryman, averaging around 6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (47 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 45% difference compared to Evoque!

Mini appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Evoque offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Land Rover outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Mini. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.