Test Car Specifications
Model tested: MINI Cooper S Clubman
Pricing: Clubman range from £19,995; Cooper S from £22,755
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: front-wheel drive, six-speed manual
Body style: six-door estate
CO2 emissions: 144g/km (VED Band F, £145 annually)
Combined economy: 45.6mpg
Top speed: 143mph
0-62mph: 7.2 seconds
Power: 192hp at 5,000- to 6,000rpm
Torque: 280Nm from 1,250- to 4,500rpm (300Nm available on time-limited overboost)
What's this?
The all-new, second-generation MINI Clubman, which is based on the third-generation BMW MINI hatchback. It's still ostensibly the 'estate' MINI (let's not get into an argument about the fact that for classic Minis, the Countryman was the estate and the Clubman was a flat-nosed hatchback...), but the Oxford-based company has done away with the old 'suicide' rear door arrangement of the preceding model and just fitted a quad of normal, front-hinged doors for the passenger compartment and stuck with the pair of side-opening boot portals to give us a six-doored car. Which we think looks fine.
OK, we're still dealing with that gawky front end, which - if you specify it in a lowly trim and a dark colour - means you end up with a MINI Clubman that leaves you in mind of a maudlin axolotl. So it's hardly what you'd call pretty. And there are disproportionally massive rear light clusters again, something I personally have gone on record as saying I thoroughly dislike on the hatchback. But here? Here... they kind of work, mainly because the Clubman is a physically big car (it's the least mini MINI yet, at nearly 4.3 metres long) and they're horizontal units of their own design, rather than clumsily trying to ape the Issigonis original as on the hatch. It's a largely subdued colour palette for the Clubman range, to reflect its mature status, but as it carries off such hues well we're not really complaining. Quick footnote: the non-high level brake lights are in those strips in the Clubman's bumper, not the aforementioned giant clusters.
The inside is even better, because it doesn't seem anything like as overbearing as the three-door's cabin and yet still retains plenty of élan to elevate it among more humdrum rivals from other manufacturers. It also has space - enough in the back for a lardy near-six-footer to sit behind the same person's driving position in comfort. And the boot holds 360 litres as standard, with 1,250 litres on offer with the rear seats (that can be optionally split 40:20:40) folded away. It's well built and attractive inside, but there are still one or two bits of kitsch that grate - turn the rotary driving control switch at the base of the gear lever to Sport and a graphic flashes up on the centre screen showing the Clubman thinking of a rocket and a go-kart; switch the car off and open the door and a graphic of a winking (yes, winking) MINI flashes up in the instrument cluster. Grief.
Here in the UK, we get a slimmer launch line-up than in Europe, certainly initially, where there will be One and One D Clubmans. Our range starts with the 1.5-litre, three-cylinder, 136hp petrol Cooper Clubman for £19,995, while the other three cars all have 2.0-litre four-pot motors; two diesels, one petrol. There's a Cooper D (150hp), Cooper SD (190hp) and this Cooper S (192hp). All Clubmans come with six-speed manual gearboxes as standard or optional automatics: a six-speed Steptronic for the triple under the Cooper's bonnet, and - in a first for any MINI - an eight-speed Steptronic for the four-cylinder cars. It's a £1,700 option and we tried the Cooper S so equipped, where it proved to be another astonishingly slick self-shifter... but we prefer the six-speed manual's extra interactivity. Even if the auto is 0.1 seconds quicker to 62mph and £15 a year less to tax, thanks to lower CO2 emissions.
How does it drive?
If that mention of interactivity has you salivating at the thought of a rabid little performance estate, though, then prepare to be disappointed. There's no denying the Cooper S Clubman is quick and it's suitably composed on a fast, sweeping road because it has excellent body control, superb steering and strong, fuss-free brakes. It also rev-matches on downshifts for you when it's in the sportier two driving modes. However, understeer is all too readily available and it doesn't particularly like swift changes of direction, as the Cooper S weighs in excess of 1,400kg with a driver on board. Just a few tighter, damp corners confirm the fact that keen drivers will need to wait for a John Cooper Works Clubman - which is almost inevitable.
There is a pay-off to the slightly lacklustre dynamics, however, which is that the decision to make the Clubman the more grown-up MINI has resulted in a car with excellent levels of refinement, tyre noise aside (we'll come back to that shortly). The longer, 2,670mm wheelbase and the Clubman's bulk result in the eradication of that jittery secondary ride quality all MINIs seem to possess, although we must say that all the test cars MINI laid on for us in Sweden were on £450 three-stage variable dampers. Nevertheless, if the passive cars ride like the 'Mid' setting on these adjustable shocks, then it will still prove to be the most comfortable MINI so far. Wind noise is minimal and the 2.0-litre engine dies away to near silence on a cruise, leaving tyre whoop as the main audible intrusion into the cabin. Pity, as without that, the Clubman would be a supreme cruiser.
Verdict
The MINI finally gets useable, accessible rear-seat room, a big boot and excellent ride quality. The Cooper S Clubman also proves to be a reasonably tidy and enjoyable machine when you up the pace, although its bias towards comfort has robbed it of outright driving engagement. However, with the hatchback JCW and possible GP3 models catering for petrolhead buyers, it's perfectly sensible for MINI to make the Clubman more refined. And that's why we think this is one of, if not the best 'new' MINI going. It's an endearing machine.
Exterior Design
Interior Ambience
Passenger Space
Luggage Space
Safety
Comfort
Driving Dynamics
Powertrain
