| Long Term Test | MINI Clubman John Cooper Works |
Been anywhere interesting?
Anywhere and everywhere. Shane wrote in the last update that he'd be keen to see how I, a father of two toddlers, would get on with MINI's 'estate car'. We've been getting on, ahem, fine. I think.
But using a Clubman as day-to-day transport is very similar to being a Newcastle United fan (which I am): you spend lots of time trying to convince yourself it's big, and you can only live with the farce of it if you really love it.
For every time you're alone on a dry, sunny day, bouncing the rev needle off the limiter on a twisty road, there's also a time when you're being picked up from the airport with a massive suitcase; when both kids and wife are already in the car, equipped with a buggy and the associated paraphernalia, so the only place left to put said case is wedged between you and the dashboard. Not pretty.
Anything stand out...?
Our JCW has proved particularly impressive on two occasions during the last few weeks when I returned to it after spending considerable time in a pair of fairly special test cars.
After a week with an
Audi R8 V10 you'd expect almost any hatchback to feel cumbersome and boring. Not so for the JCW. It felt sharp, quick and connected where it might have seemed spongy and prone to understeer.
Secondly came a stint with a Mitsubishi Evo X FQ-360. The MINI shone even more after that experience. Not only did its turn of pace remain compelling, it also absolutely highlighted the chinks in the Evo's armoury - namely its dismal cabin quality, awful driving position, jarring ride and bankrupting fuel economy. Evos have their place, but the JCW's balance of performance, comfort and economy makes a lot of sense by comparison.
...and for the wrong reasons?
A good stereo is really important to most car owners, even though the issue doesn't really get much press. I might be wrong, but I'd guess that the sort of person that buys a MINI JCW likes his or her music LOUD. I do, and this stereo doesn't get anywhere near the appropriate volume before collapsing into a cacophony of embarrassing distortion. It's not just the volume either - the whole interface is quite wobbly: the two separate dials for volume and channel selection could just as easily be the other way around, which is confusing, and the optional Bluetooth is quite absent-minded for a machine. It randomly forgets about linked-up phones, so you're forced to inconveniently pair them up again.
Where next?
No epic road trips planned as yet, but we'll squeeze one in. If that proves impossible, then the Clubman will remain family transport for a few weeks before it's replaced by something else, which we can confidently predict will be: a) much easier to live with, but b) far less exciting to drive. We're not sure how we feel about that balance redress yet.
