Howdy,

I will most likely order my first Mini this week, a Clubman S. Husband and I first saw the New Mini Cooper at the Paris Auto Show in 2000 and loved it. It was definitely the most popular car at the show! Once it arrived in the U.S. we took one for a spin. Loved the handling, but I found that I could not find a comfortable driving position (I'm a shorty at 5' short). We also felt that it could have used a bit more torque.

Well, along came the R56, which solved both the driving position problem (better seating, at least for me) and the torque complaint. BUT, I had just purchased a new car, so did not feel I could trade so soon.

Glad I waited because the Clubman is the car for me. I need that little bit of extra cargo room and I also like the flat cargo floor of the Clubman.

I've got a few more decisions to make, but here is the gist of what I'll order:I'm on the fence on the Sport package. I love the sporty handling, but sometimes the rough roads and potholes in East Texas can be painful!

 

Welcome to NAM!

 

Nice intro! Welcome to NAM and good luck with placing your order. Once you order, don't forget to drive yourself nuts obsessively tracking your MINI through production and shipping!

 

Welcome to NAM. I alway wanted a MC when they first came out to, but my wife wanted her VW conv. first. So now I ordered my Clubman. So I hope you find the one you can love. So many option so little time.

Albert (Garland, TX)

 

Welcome the Clubman is great, I know you will enjoy it.

 

Welcome to our world! Think you made the right choice as your story sounds very similar to ours in many ways. Always liked the MINI, but every time we went to seriously look at them, it fell short in some small way (access to the rear seats, cargo space, choppy ride). We already have a two-seat stick-shift sportscar so we needed a complement to that vehicle that could fill in the "blanks" and still be fun to drive. As soon as we saw/drove the Clubman, we both knew it was the one for us!

I'm small like you (just a hair over 5') so the MINI fits like a glove, and I think we have similar preferences, as you can tell from my "signature". Regarding your concern about the "blue" on the interior clashing with the Laser Blue exterior, you have a valid point. It's not an exact match, and unfortunately it works much better with Lightning Blue. I wanted the two-tone seats as well but it bothered me enough that I decided to avoid it altogether in the upholstery and just get it in the color-line. I felt we could get away with using a little bit of it to carry the "blue" theme and still avoid a mis-matched circus-like appearance. Seems like the Carbon Punch Leather or the Leatherette are the only other choices with Laser Blue, so we opted for the perforated leather due to the excessive heat in our area. I'm sure you'll love the manual (we'd have gotten it if we didn't already have one in the family) though the Sport Pkg. can be a tough call. For us, we felt that the handling is already sporty enough and didn't care to sacrifice the ride comfort over some of the worn out bumpy roads we regularly travel.

Get your order in as quickly as possible 'cause the waiting is definitely the worst part and the leadtimes are getting longer as the word gets out! Ours is finally due in any day now -- Can't wait!!! Good Luck with your choices!

 

I assume your wife has a New Beetle?

I'll be selling (or trading-in) a 2007 Veedub Eos convertible on the Clubman. The Eos is a great car and I've enjoyed it very much, but is just not as much fun to drive as I'd like. For one thing, the dealer couldn't find a manual tranny for me and couldn't order one (I bought it at launch and they couldn't do orders then). I was glad to see that Consumer Reports gave the Eos top rating in its recent convertible comparison. Maybe it will help resale!

I notice you're in Garland. From which dealer did you order? I'm 140 miles from nearest dealer (Mini of Dallas) and would like to buy from them, as they're service dept is open on Saturdays. I know dealers are more likely to give loaners if you purchase from them. The folks at Moritz were very nice too but it's about 30 minutes further and no Saturday service.

 

Welcome Sequin. We can always use another MINI in Texas to balance out the pickumup trucks and big ole SUVs,

We bought from Moritz. Very nice, attentive without being pushy, straighforward, and they made it worth our while to drive up to buy from them. They definitely earned our business.

Keep us updated on your order!

 

I just finished paying off her 2003 VW. So it my turn. I order from Mini of Dallas, it's 25 min. from home. 140 miles boy that a long drive for a car, the day you pick it up you will have broken it by the time you get home.

Albert

 

Thanks, 3DogDepot. If I had to guess, I'd say that you need the extra cargo space of the Clubman to haul your pooches?

Yes, we do have similar tastes -- sounds like yours is configured very similarly to what I plan to order. I chose Laser Blue based upon pictures. I'm not sure I've ever seen it in person (there have been so many different blues in recent years that I'm not sure)! We plan to go back to a dealership this weekend and place the order. I hope they have a Laser Blue on a lot somewhere in Dallas so I can see it before ordering.

As to the upholstery, I absolutely love the two-tone sport seats (love that they're mostly cloth -- I find leather so hot) and I am determined to get them! At first, I thought I'd get Chili Red/Silver with the Rooster Red/Black upholstery, but my last two cars have been red and Heaven Forbid that I appear to be in a rut! I saw several Lightning Blue Clubman's with the Pacific Blue/Black interior and you're right that the combination looks good. But the Lightning Blue is a bit darker than I like. Hopefully, I can at least park a Laser Blue car next to another car with the two tone Pacific Blue/Black interior and get an idea of how it will look. If it looks bad, then I'll go with the red. I'm that sold on the two-tone seats!

 

Yep, right on target. All 3 of our 4-legged family members love to go for rides in the car (and it gets a little tight in the Miata ).

We chose Laser Blue after seeing a Cooper S hatch in the showroom; looked much better in person than in the configurator. They've still not gotten a Clubman in with it (ours will be the first). The Lightning was a bit dark for me too, plus our other car is dark red so that was out. The good news is that a MINI rep. was there one day recently driving his own Laser Blue demo. with black/blue seats and the first thing I said to him was "That interior actually does work, not a perfect match but it still works", so I think you'll be fine since that's what you really want. I always said I'd never have a black leather interior in Florida but MINI didn't give us many choices. I wish they'd offered a light gray leather or two-tone cloth/leather, as I think it would have worked better with more color combinations. We're planning on tinting the windows to help with the heat. Don't forget to let us know your final specs. once you've placed your order.

 

Husband & I made the trip to MINI of Dallas yesterday and looked at all of the options in person. Drove cars with and without sport package. Here's what we ended up ordering:

MC Clubman S
Chili Red/Silver, manual tranny, Premium, Convenience, Sport, LSD,
black cloth/rooster red seats, rooster red colorline, piano black, anthracite

The only option I'm not 100% sold on is the Sport package. I thought about the sport suspension as a separate option with the standard 16" wheels, but they didn't have one so equipped for me to drive. Plus, I really like the look of the 17" wheels/tires. Anyway, I worry that the ride will be a bit rough. I am usually in the car alone and I tend not to notice the ride -- it's my passengers that might whine about it. I guess they'll just have to get over it!

We got the last Clubman S of their allocation for late June delivery. Glad we went yesterday instead of waiting until today! I forgot to get the production # so will call on Monday to get that. Can't wait to start tracking it!