Big sports-car suspension tricks applied to the Mini's small body make it handle like no other front-drive on the road. The hyper-active steering transmits even the slightest movement directly to the pavement, backed by solid handling. It's like driving one great big contact-patch, and you'll be glued hard into the door before the tires even think of making a squeal. You may find yourself speeding up for off-ramps and not slowing down for sharp corners, simply because you can.
Additionally, engineers have shoved in a 1.6 litre engine that's turbocharged for 172 horsepower. Engage full throttle, and a touch of turbo lag preludes the car being flung forward so forcefully that the tires squirm for grip in most of first and second. A deep, tuner-style exhaust note fills the cabin while the mile-wide speedometer counts up quickly. Listen closely for turbo sound-effects.
Best off, you can drive the pants off of your Mini all day long and it'll still achieve mileage around 8.3 litres of premium per 100km.
Brakes feature antilock, and are much the same story as the handling. The slightest touch on the pedal begins deceleration, while sensitivity and associated stopping power is plentiful.
Cruising
Clubman's extra wheelbase ditches the nervous twitchiness present in the standard three-door model. It still feels every bit as responsive, but the hardcore edge has been smoothed out.
The suspension can sound busy over rougher surfaces, and the ride can become a little jarring when the going gets bumpy. This may cause a few squeaks to escape the rear door mechanism- though the interior mainly feels well bolted together. Cruise at 110 km/h, and the exhaust, wind and road noise are all kept nicely in check.
Driver's environment?
The interior looks sharp and nostalgic with its monster-speedo, toggle-switches and Fisher-Price styling, though some controls feel too centralized and un-intuitive. For instance, the window switches, seat-heaters and fog-lamp controls are all next to each other, while the audio system is assigned to tiny buttons clustered on the bottom of the speedometer. The volume knob sits several inches below that.
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| Engineers have shoved in a 1.6 litre engine that's turbocharged for 172 horsepower. |
Additionally, engineers have shoved in a 1.6 litre engine that's turbocharged for 172 horsepower. Engage full throttle, and a touch of turbo lag preludes the car being flung forward so forcefully that the tires squirm for grip in most of first and second. A deep, tuner-style exhaust note fills the cabin while the mile-wide speedometer counts up quickly. Listen closely for turbo sound-effects.
Best off, you can drive the pants off of your Mini all day long and it'll still achieve mileage around 8.3 litres of premium per 100km.
Brakes feature antilock, and are much the same story as the handling. The slightest touch on the pedal begins deceleration, while sensitivity and associated stopping power is plentiful.
Cruising
Clubman's extra wheelbase ditches the nervous twitchiness present in the standard three-door model. It still feels every bit as responsive, but the hardcore edge has been smoothed out.
The suspension can sound busy over rougher surfaces, and the ride can become a little jarring when the going gets bumpy. This may cause a few squeaks to escape the rear door mechanism- though the interior mainly feels well bolted together. Cruise at 110 km/h, and the exhaust, wind and road noise are all kept nicely in check.
Driver's environment?
The interior looks sharp and nostalgic with its monster-speedo, toggle-switches and Fisher-Price styling, though some controls feel too centralized and un-intuitive. For instance, the window switches, seat-heaters and fog-lamp controls are all next to each other, while the audio system is assigned to tiny buttons clustered on the bottom of the speedometer. The volume knob sits several inches below that.
 |
| The interior looks sharp and nostalgic with its monster-speedo, toggle-switches and Fisher-Price styling. |