Interestingly, the dual chrome exhaust pipes are now positioned under the far left and far right corners of the rear bumper instead of the more unconventional central arrangement of the regular Cooper S.
A matter of styling
Inside, the classic MINI approach reigns supreme. Design cues on the dashboard, including the oversized gauges (how can you miss the speedometer?) and the cockpit-style layout with odd toggle switches, leave little doubt as to what kind of car drivers are sitting in.
Fortunately, comfort and build quality make up for the unorthodox layout (I felt like I needed the small fingers of my 9-year-old son to manipulate some of the controls). And since the MINI Clubman is roomier, rear passengers no longer feel like "just another suitcase", if you know what I mean...
It's a shame that the aforementioned splitdoor affects rearward visibility so much. Plus, it keeps squealing seemingly all the time, as if it had been improperly installed. It's so bad that, during a two-way trip from Montreal to Quebec City, I stopped a couple of times on the side of the highway to try to fix the problem. Much to my chagrin, my attempts proved unsuccessful.
A real Cooper
In terms of driving, though, the Clubman has nothing to envy to the conventional Cooper. I would even go as far as to say that it offers greater balance thanks to the extended wheelbase.
Because it's a MINI and therefore a member of the big BMW family, the Clubman gets a precise steering that provides genuine, unaltered feedback from the road. While it takes some time to get used to the turbo engine and relative harshness, the 172 horsepower are more than enough given the tiny size of the car.
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| The trunk is significantly larger than the regular MINI's. |
A matter of styling
Inside, the classic MINI approach reigns supreme. Design cues on the dashboard, including the oversized gauges (how can you miss the speedometer?) and the cockpit-style layout with odd toggle switches, leave little doubt as to what kind of car drivers are sitting in.
Fortunately, comfort and build quality make up for the unorthodox layout (I felt like I needed the small fingers of my 9-year-old son to manipulate some of the controls). And since the MINI Clubman is roomier, rear passengers no longer feel like "just another suitcase", if you know what I mean...
It's a shame that the aforementioned splitdoor affects rearward visibility so much. Plus, it keeps squealing seemingly all the time, as if it had been improperly installed. It's so bad that, during a two-way trip from Montreal to Quebec City, I stopped a couple of times on the side of the highway to try to fix the problem. Much to my chagrin, my attempts proved unsuccessful.
A real Cooper
In terms of driving, though, the Clubman has nothing to envy to the conventional Cooper. I would even go as far as to say that it offers greater balance thanks to the extended wheelbase.
Because it's a MINI and therefore a member of the big BMW family, the Clubman gets a precise steering that provides genuine, unaltered feedback from the road. While it takes some time to get used to the turbo engine and relative harshness, the 172 horsepower are more than enough given the tiny size of the car.
 |
| Inside, the classic MINI approach reigns supreme. Design cues on the dashboard, including the oversized gauges. |