Have you ever tried to put a kid in a carseat in the back of a tiny coupe? The extra room isn't for the kid, it's for you to crawl in there and buckle junior in. And you can't go anywhere with a kid without four days worth of diapers and cheerios. Plus they have friends, and you have to bring the babysitter home.

And not everyone buys a car planning to only keep it 'till they outgrow it. Why not buy something that will also meet your future needs (another kid, bigger kids...) so you aren't forced to buy a new car just when you can't afford it?

My R56 is perfect for me. I'm 26 and single, no kids and I don't usually drive to lunch. But my next car will be a MINI Cooper D Clubman. I want to have a family, and I get sick of people bitching about the backseat. Plus, my laundry barely fits in Lewis, a boot with enough space for a week's worth of luggage for two people would be nice.

 

Alright there Club(wo)man, I just found out I'm going to California with an aching in my heart. Because someone told me there's a girl out there with love in her heart and flowers in her hair. Thanks Robert Plant for that musical interlude. I made the Isolde after all! Yeeha!


ftttu

 

just read that in my OL e-mail... YAY! I think it's time to start an "All Aboard" thread for our new favorite cargo ship!

 

This is what I am waiting for!!! Any news/rumors on if & when this is going to come to the US?!

I am just trolling for any info on this.

 

Isolde shows to leave Port Southhampton on January 21st so they won't be sitting on the dock too long. Then they will arrive in Port Hueneme February 10th. Yeeha!


ftttu

 

I look at the clubman this way.
im sure there are a lot of family's that love the mini but wont buy it cause its to small for them. they would however purchase the clubman because it is big enough.
Now BMW has new first time buyers!

Look at the sales chrysler missed out on (millions i would suspect) from waiting till 08 for a 4 door wrangler. Meanwhile they had the Dakar 4 door wrangler prototype (that was a TJ) but wouldnt do it. (dumb asses)
and they wonder why they keep going into financial troubles! sheesh!

 

That's me! Horray for MINI!

And my friends are happy they might actually fit in the back seat. all short, so there is plenty of hope.

 

I personally think it cool as heck. will it come in an S or JCW edition? hmmmmm

 

I use a 02 MCS to take the kids to daycare, one 8 months old in a rear facing Per Perego, and one 3 years old in a grey market MINI car seat. With a rear facing seat, you better have a short person in the font otherwise thier knees kiss the dash. As soon as the kid is over 2 you WILL feel feet pressing against the rear of the seat in front. I'm lucky I"m only 5'9", cause I don't NEED the driver seat too far back, but with the three year old, it's more forward than I'd like to keep a little room for her feet.

While I have gotten pretty good at getting the seat in and out for the infant, when the three year old DOESN"T want to co-operate (and all three year olds fall into this camp every now and then) or she's fallen asleep back there and I have to carry her out, it's doable but not fun or pretty.

The other parent/poster is right on about trips. If I'm to take my family in the Mini to AMVIV this year, I'll be getting a trailer hitch so I can tow all the luggage. With just Alison last, no big deal, she was a toddler and we could put the other seat down and pack the remaining space to the gills. If you looked hard, you could see a little girl back there somewhere, peeping out through the mountain of stuff (and kids are like laptops. They themselves are small, but all the accessories that go with them take tons of space!)

Matt

 

i was curious though,
Ive seen people wanting the D version. Why would you want the diesel?
Its much noisier,slower,vibrates more, and youll be paying an average of 25cents a gal more for the fuel!
what would be the advantage?

 

After seeing the Clubman in the flesh, er, metal, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, I can tell you this is the perfect car for a lot of people, including me! There's been some carping about the Clubman as far as it being unnecessary, too big, etc. but them guys/gals is wrong. I could easily get in the back seat with the new side door and I fit quite well in the back seat at six feet two with another six foot two guy in the front seat. The barn doors in the back seem like they increase the access quite a bit. Styllingwise, some people like it, some don't. I sure like it. Performance wise, Robert from Texas, one of the MINI booth guys said the weight increase is 170 pounds, so that shouldn't affect things too much. I bought my '05 Cooper because it was a great car at a great price, and it just turned over 100,000 miles, with no major problems, so I guess I did the right thing in buying it. I think it's great that there is a MINI for almost everyone now. A coupe for those that want one; a convertible for those that want one; and now, a Clubman for those that want one. When I went to buy my first car, my dear old dad advised me: "Get what you like, like what you get." It was good advice then; I believe it's still good advice.

 

Glad you found the Clubby to your liking "in the flesh"...it's always a bit weird ordering a car sight unseen and great when it meets and exceeds expectation. Your advise is good, and I suspect that there will be many for whom the MINI SAV will also be a superb fit. The MINI coup will always be MINI's "bread & butter" but the variants do offer some fascinating means of dialing in a MINI to suit certain real-world driving needs.

 

Yay MIKE! I'm glad you love it. When I saw it in LA, I felt the same way. Can't wait til it gets here

(even more-so now... my old car sold today so I'll be renting until my baby arrives. I can't believe it went that quick, but I'm glad it went!)

 

We're going to take a hard look at the clubman next month. We have a two year old and a soon to be seven year old, and MINIs are our only cars.

We've done great so far, just completed a Milwaukee - to Pensacola trip with the family for Christmas (and really, plenty of luggage space for up to a week for the four of us) in my wife's 06 Cooper. The biggest problem is that the older girl's feet hang right at the front edge of the rear seat, so that causes some issues for her.

Soon, the littlest one will go from a car seat to a booster, and that will help a lot. So we can get along with the Coupes if we don't really like the Clubman, or decide we can't afford it (pretty pricey with a few options!)

So I guess as a two MINI family of four we are undecided whether or not we want OR need a Clubman. We really like the two cars we have right now. We're mainly just checking it out because it is different and the extra rear leg room will come in useful as the kids get a bit bigger.

 

3" of more back seat room doesn't sound like much for extra backseat room but going from an '06 Cooper to an '08 Clubman, you will have adequate room for your mini-member family in the back seat for the years to come. You will also have gobs more room in the cargo area for all of you. Since my Cooper was only a weekend driver and long solo trip vehicle for me, it worked great but now it will be my primary driver so I need the extra room a Clubman will give me. I have an 11 year old and a 16 year old and a mean wife for the front seat so the Clubman fits us great. Put some more thought into it.

 

I dig the way the back doors open "Barn Door" style. Ol School 50's carry alls had them.

 

My friend who just had her baby boy saw Clubman and said YESSSS to the side suicide door. Now she's comtemplating trading off her 05 S for one just because of easier back seat accessibily to the baby's seat. So there will be a significant market here.

To me the jury's out until I see one in person. My dealer is having a launch party on 2/15, but I usually go for the free food and drink

And to those who think the longer wheelbase model is some kind of pox on what MINIs represent, poo on you. Different, and obviously larger models will become a reality as this car line evolves and diversifies. I hope they do a MINI PU truck next, based on the Clubman chassis.

 

yes to the S, but not JCW yet. build yrs now!

http://miniusa.com/#/MINIUSA.COM-m

 

I NEED a car that has more than 2 doors and is practical to drive year round. I WANT a car that isn't boring. With a child on the way the 1.5hrs and 2 neighbors it took to get my '05 GTO up my virtually flat driveway this winter seems a little unrealistic.

 

Get some coil overs, jack them up high, and some studded tires and you'll be FINE!

Matt

 

The common suggestion was actually that I back up the driveway instead... why I didn't think of that at the time I'm not sure... Regardless, a child seat is impossible in that car and the trunk is 2cft smaller than the clubman.

 

I love my MINI as much as life itself :D But I have simply outgrown it with a baby (now toddler) and thoughts of another baby. So it's BOTH want and need.

I would be totally against it if it weren't already part of the Mini heritage. I'd look at something else.