| Long Term Test | MINI Clubman John Cooper Works |
Been anywhere interesting?
Having spent a while based in Dublin in Ireland, it was time to bring the car back to Britain and hand over the flying saucer-shaped key to someone else. Mark will be the MINI's guardian over the coming months and he was only too happy to meet up in an icy service station car park in Peterborough to take over. Who can blame him? The Clubman really looks the part in John Cooper Works guise and it's just as exciting to drive. Unfortunately, I only had time to use the more interesting roads on the route towards the end of the journey, which explains how the average economy has risen above 30mpg for the first time...
Anything stand out...?
Other than the intoxicating rush you get every time you get the opportunity to extend the turbocharged engine? This month I took a few snaps of the MINI while it was being driven by someone else. That someone else wasn't hanging about, despite the wintry conditions, and I was treated to the distinctive roar from the MINI's dual-exit exhaust. It sounds noticeably different from the outside, much sportier and not at all like most turbocharged four-cylinder engines. MINI needs to find a way to channel some of that into the cabin. I suppose you could opt for the Convertible version.
...and for the wrong reasons?
I know I've touched on the practicality (or lack of) of the Clubman before, but it's essentially the only reason I could be convinced to let anyone else take charge of the MINI. I didn't go into this test blind; the lack of space in most MINIs is well documented on our pages. However, I thought I could put up with a little inconvenience in return for the charms of the JCW version. In most situations that's true, but there were too many family trips where my son's buggy had to be left behind. The Clubman would be fine for a small family where the kids no longer need a buggy, but I'm not yet at that stage. I'm hoping that the new MINI Countryman lives up to expectations on that front.
Where next?
Well, as mentioned, the MINI is now under Mark's care. He has already taken it up to Newcastle and is making regular excuses to take it out for a drive, though apparently his wife is quite taken by it too. Given that Mark has one more kid than me - albeit older - it'll be interesting to see how he gets on. Will he come to the same conclusion as me or will he be happy with the compromise?
