Mini Clubman S: The Lion in Sheep’s Clothing
JT Coupal
This is my first car review on my families Mini Clubman S. I am aware that i have not covered certain aspects, and that it may not be top notch, but i promise my reviews will get better and i plan to do alot of them. -JT (Please Comment, i'd like to know how i'm doing.)
Most people
have heard of the original Mini, and even the retro versions from the late
90’s. Now, Mini is owned by BMW, having
previously been an independent British company, although it went through
ownership from fellow British car maker, Austin. BMW has two factories it uses to make the
current Mini model lineup, one in Germany and one in Britain.
The
Clubman model is, in essence, an elongated Cooper, with a complementary third
door on the passenger side that opens suicide style. The S Model has 181 Horsepower and a turbo. The purpose of a turbo is to increase the
horsepower of the car and it’s top speed, although this does produce the side
effect of turbo lag. Turbo lag is a gap
between when the driver hits the gas and when the turbo kicks in. The Clubman has none of this, luckily.
The car used in this test is a 2008,
red with special checker pattern dual sun roof and the classic dual black
stripe. Although the car may be boxy, I
think Mini has done a good job styling the Clubman, but, being a Mini it will
stand out in any crowd.
The
interior is surprisingly spacious for the size of the car, as well as
comfortable for the sportiness of the car.
The test car’s interior is black, with checkered flag trim. This is a very good combo, although I am
biased towards things with a checker pattern.
The center stack has a modern look to it, the switches are big enough to
operate, and nothing is very difficult to use.
I especially like the truly enormous speedometer, with the fuel gauge
and warning lights inside of it. The rear seats are quite roomy. I am 5’ 3”
which is smaller than most adults, but who is usually in the back seat of a car
anyways? I am especially fond of the
“mood” lighting BMW has put in the Clubman, you can adjust it via a switch
above the rear view mirror. It toggles
from blue to violet to orange. Although
the light is insignificant, it allows the interior to feel a bit less
industrial.
One
of the Clubman’s special features is the dual rear doors. They open outwards from the center, revealing
a decent cargo area. The space becomes
much bigger if you fold the rear seats down.
A family of three could go camping for the weekend with the space
available.
Another
nice feature is the sport button, located in front of the, by the way,
wonderful 6-speed manual gearbox. This
tightens up the suspension and increases throttle response. This allows for better handling, but the
price is a decrease in ride comfort, and allows less accelerator pedal travel
for a given speed. For example, say you travel along the highway at 60MPH
with the sport button off. Then, keeping
at exactly 60, turn the sport mode on, the car will then jump to about 65-66
MPH. I haven’t tried this, obviously as
I’m twelve. But parents did note the
effects of the sport button and gave it two thumbs up. Another feature that I haven’t tried yet is
the DSC, or Dynamic Stability Control (traction control). This has three settings, on, all-terrain, and
off. “On” is normal driving, allowing
for limited sliding and loss of control.
The All-Terrain mode does something similar when in the snow or dirt. Off is for when you really want to have fun
on a twisty road or on a track.
The Clubman’s main merit in my
opinion is its performance. The Clubman
is front wheel drive, which some people argue isn’t what you want in a sports
car. But, the Clubman is not a sports
car; it’s a family hatchback that performs
like a sports car. I can’t actually
drive the car, but according to its drivers, it is an absolute hoot to
drive. It will accelerate from 0-60 in 7
seconds! To put that in perspective, a
hardcore super car with 700 horsepower will do 0-60 in around 2.5 seconds. We are talking here about a family car! As mentioned before you can have the Clubman
in a 6-speed manual, like the test car, or an optional 6-speed automatic. I can only tell you about the manual, but
what I can tell you is all good. All of
the gears are easy to get into, with the exception of third, which is a bit
tough, although that could be specific to the test car. The gear ratios are quite good and evenly
spaced.
The
noise that the Clubman makes isn’t bad either.
Up past 3000 RPM you get a satisfying but restrained rumble. The handling though is really where the
Clubman stands out. It will hug the
inside of a corner all the way through, even if the driver is completely
incompetent. And in all this, the ride
comfort isn’t bad. It’s no Rolls-Royce,
but for a sports hatchback, it’s not bad.
However, there are still some
complaints. In the 5 months or so my
family has owned the car; we have had to send it in for service as a result of
a timing belt issue, which as far as I can work out flooded the pistons with
too much fuel, bogging the engine down.
This was a very expensive job.
And perhaps the armrest is uncomfortable and yes, maybe every time the
driver goes to change gear, he or she hits the armrest or the passenger’s arm,
but these are completely insignificant little niggles. Some people complain it looks bad as well, but
in my view, it looks better than many cars in its class.
And if you don’t need much space and
want more performance, then perhaps the Mini Cooper is for you. To sum it up then is easy; it’s a wonderful
little family hatchback, with the heart of a lion.
Specifications:
Front wheel
Drive
1.6 L Inline
4 cylinder DOHC with turbo producing 181 HP @ 5500 RPM
6-speed
manual or 6-speed automatic
177 ft. lb.
torque @ 1600 RPM
13.2 US
gallon fuel tank
26/34 MPG
EPA
343.2/448.8
mi range
