After 6 loooong months of waiting my Clubman finally arrived. I’ve had my Clubman for a little over 2 weeks now so I feel like I can give an adequate and fair review of it. I’ll be drawing some comparraisons to my previous car, a 2005 VW GLi. VW and Clubman are quite similar besides that they’re both German cars haha. Im a bit finicky and neurotic about a lot of things so bear with me and I hope not to offend any fanatics here…


Exterior

Overall the Mini Clubman is shorter than my 4-Door VW GLi. I know this because I’ve always garaged parked my cars and the Clubman is much further into my garage port. I’d say its about 8-10 inches shorter than the GLi. Surprisingly a vehicle classified as a “wagon” in some parts is still shorter than a compact 4-door sedan. No complains here really.

The car windows are not attached to the door frame on the Clubman which kind of keeps me worried if I am to ever to lean or put pressure on them in the event that the doors are in the opened positioned. The Clubman sports a single reverse light, something that made me the bane of all jokes on NAM a week back haha.

I love the barn doors on the Clubman, something about the way they are opened gives me a “cool” feeling haha. The door compartments could be a bit bigger, can’t even fit an average sized text book in there. Aw well. Also, it could be a bit tricky closing the barn doors if your hands are full, I’ve had to use my body to push it towards the closed position then thrusting my rump to close it into place. The trunk on the GLi had gas struts that made it so tough to close at times and was very difficult to do so when you had items in your arms/hands. Having to reach up to close it was an even bigger hassle.

Side mirrors on the Clubman can be a bit bigger. I was always used to the symmetrical shaped mirrors on the GLi, which gave me a bit more viewing space. I have found myself contemplating the oval shaped side mirror positions on the Clubman at least once on every trip. They just don’t seem big enough to encompass the view I would feel more comfortable with. The driver side blind spot is hard to view. The headrest and the side pillar (B pillar?) and the position of my seat only allow me to view the blindspot through a 4 by 10 inch window of space.

Interior

Both interiors feel comfortable and display the full richness of German sleekness and innovation. Obviously, nothing can really compare to a Mini’s interior design. The standard trim is a bit perplexing though in that it is checkered print, you would think a pattern such as that is an upgrade as opposed to a plain black/dark interior trim that is the actual upgrade. Its as if Mini is forcing you to accept an interior trim that clashes with everything in the car so that you can pay extra to get a matching color…nuh-uh, not cool.

The seats in the Clubman are easy to use. The reclining lever is on the driver’s right side and with a pull of it you’re instantly reclined. It does however, lack lumbar support. I do not like the headrests. The headrest itself protrudes out about 1-2 inches which kind of keeps my head tilted forward if im ever wearing my fedora. Its an uncomfortable position for me even without the hat when driving any more than 20 minutes. The GLi seats, as a result of the racing-like design, lack a quick reclining lever. In fact, it has a hand-sized rubber wheel you need to crank in order to recline. It was very annoying and took about 20 revolutions in order to recline it at its lowest level. VERY ANNOYING.

The shift **** on the Clubman is a big bulky. It can be an issue for those with smaller hands. The Clubman’s reverse is on the left side, similar to the Gli, however, with the Clubman you have to put a little extra ummph to shift it to the left before sliding it up into the reverse position. In the GLi, you had to push the **** down, in order to shift it left and up into reverse. A few times already, I found myself shifting it into reverse from a stop while driving the Clubman. And if you are a panicky driver at times you can easily shift into reverse, something that happened to me when I was being honked at for not realizing the light had turned green.

I really like the secret compartment in the Clubman dashboard. I put all my chargers/cables in there. I would however appreciate it more if it was lighted from the inside like the glove compartment below it.

The Clubman rearview mirror is just big enough to encompass the rear window however the passenger headrests obstruct the view. It can be even more dangerous if you don’t make sure they are in their lowest sitting position. The center pillar can also be an issue keeping any cars (especially police cars) 50ft or so behind the Clubman from being seen. Lesson here, careful when speeding.

The windshield design on the CLubman keeps one from seeing the intersection lights. It only happens sometimes, depends on the intersection and where they’re mounted in the intersection.

The Clubman sunroof could definitely use a one-touch open button. I don’t see why they would have a one-touch tilt but not a one-touch fully open feature, seriously…why don’t they? It makes me upset that I have to hold on to it when Im finding myself needing two hands to turn the steering wheel. It also gets annoying when you hold it and you hit a bump and your finger slips off requiring you to place it back on and hold it back some more. It might seem like a miniscule issue to some but to me it’s a simple feature that would probably cost the same if not less to implement. As for the mesh cover, it hardly does anything. I don’t know what the purpose of it is exactly. Either way, I had the sunroof limo tinted, I can see the bright ball of the sun without the harsh glare or heat, but then again it hasn’t topped 80 degrees in the past two weeks since I’ve owned it.

The CLubman RPM gauge is diff. from everything out there. It does what its supposed to do and beyond that allowing one to control a bunch of settings on the car (parking lights, daytime lights, blinker settings, auto lock, etc…). An engine temp gauge would have been really useful, I guess we’re never supposed to know the engine is overheating until the CEL comes on. The speedometer is situated in the middle of the dash console, surprisingly enough I don’t mind it at all as I sometimes drove with one hand over my steering wheel which would normally block the gauges some how way or another in the GLi. My one gripe is the mileage indicator. Its kind of bland. Its kind of hard to explain but I’d prefer it to display the accumulated mileage as you go as instead of having it replace the zeroes; mine shows 001243 miles, would be better if it displayed 1243 miles instead. Im not too keen on the pixilated screen either, whether it is the radio or OBC displays. Orange pixels on a dark background is kind of 1990s I think.

Im glad I got the Multi function steering wheel although I don’t feel like it should have been an upgraded option. My GF’s $17,000 2008 Mazda 3 came with a MFSW w/ stereo/radio and cruise controls. It also feels much better crafted and engineered. The Clubman’s MFSW buttons are kind of flimsy and cheap, kind of like a Nintendo directional pad, and that’s an understatement. It should have definitely included a mute button, having to reach for the volume **** to mute it defeats the purpose of having volume controls on the wheel. The GLi didn’t have a MFSW but did have cruise control standard on the car at least.

The cup holders are situated in a place that can be obtrusive if you actually have cups in it. A standard sized cup from your local fast food joint will keep you from accessing your console switches efficiently. I normally don’t put any cups there as I normally use every nook for my cell phone, pens, sunglasses, eyeglasses, garage opener, and Ipod. An extra compartment to the left of the steering wheel would have been aaaaaawesome, but that’s me going overboard in my expectations.

The secret boot compartment is great too. I put everything in there and close off the top with the hardcover. The spare wheel compartment allows even more concealed space if you’re not carrying a spare, which most run flat tire owners don’t. The boot space is not as big as the GLi trunk space but the good thing is that the rear seats fold down, which the GLi did as well, the winner of the trunk space Olympics? The Gli.

Performance/Others

MPG is really good, OBC says Im getting 38MPG on the highways, averaging 70-80 MPG. I know the OBC is not accurate but it can’t be off more than 5MPG. Getting 430 miles w/ 10 indicated miles left on the OBC. The OBC on my GLi read 34 MPG going the same speeds, getting 360 miles but that was only after 2 years of breaking the car in.

The sport button is awesome on the Clubman, it shortens the throttle response as well as giving a tighter steering wheel. I don’t use it too often as Im used to that half-inch gap needed to engage the acceleration. The Clubman has a lot of low end torque allowing anyone to zip away quite nicely. Not sure how the high end torque is as its still in the break in period. The GLi rocketed after 2100 RPMs but was as dead as a door nail before then. The top end torque on it wasn’t too impressive. The GLi sports 180HP 170lbs of Torque, the Clubman S has 170HP w/ 177lbs of torque. Pretty similar cars when it comes to performance, the only diff, the Clubman saves more gas.

The suspension on the Clubman is similar to the GLi. The GLi had stock lowered sports suspension, which made it corner just as well as the Clubman but not better. I haven’t found any great places to hit tight corners in the Clubman but from what I can tell, it has tackled the less than adventurous ones rather well. The Clubman ride is much bumpier than the GLi. You can feel those tiny little bumps really well although when the road is smooth, you feel like you’re on cloud 9.

I really dig the interior mood lights, it’s a cool feature which somehow yields an unlimited amount of enjoyment.


Conclusion

Overall, I really like the Clubman. Its really different and unique in its very own way. In the end, the car is more unique than it is practical, something many Mini owners can vouch for. Im going to have to say I like the Clubman more than the Gli. There, I said it. Haha. Sorry for the long rant guys!

 

I second the cup holders. Drive throughs can be a pain because of it.

1. Roll window down.
2. Place cup into cup holder.
3. Roll window up... oh wait, frigging cups are blocking the window toggle! GAH!

:P

 

That's because we here in the USA Must King Size, Make it Large, or just eat to much.

Plus Eurpoeans don't really eat or drink in their cars like us americans, so when the German Engineers make things like cup holders they are only doing it for us Americans and don't care if it is out of place or unusable.

 

thanks for your review. I found it comical, and helpful.

 

Genau Schatzy wir essen zu viel in der USA

 

[hijack]Hey schatzy, were you affected by the storm? My sister is one town over from you and still doesn't have power. Out since last Thursday night. [/end hijack]

 

Good Review, Thanks.

I'm mystified at the mileage people report though. Hand calculated mileage (after about 2500 miles) is in the 25-27mpg range for my MCCS. More city than highway miles but still a bit meh.

Also, there's no such thing as a blind spot, just poor mirror hygiene. Go here and learn how to set them up right: http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/mirrors/

 

Yeah, my mileage typically reads 35/36 at 70 while actually on the highway and my overall is 28-ish with a 7 mile commute that's 5 miles on the highway.

 

Just did a roundtrip Philly to Boston run. My mileage was 33 mpg, with average speed of 70mph. At times, everyone on the NJ or Mass Pike is doing 80 and you still get passed (sometimes by the Hwy Patrol going after the guy who passed you) !

Understand about the difficulty in seeing traffic lights with the Mini's windshield design. That aspect is starting to drive me crazy, especially getting beeped from the guy behind if I am not bent forward over the wheel (I'm 6-4) to see the traffic light.

Years (actually decades) ago, I remember my dad had a car with the same problem, so he bought a special lens that attached, via a magnet (everything was metal then) to the windshield frame so you could see traffic lights when stopped right under them.

Did a quick search for something like that and came up with LightInSight - http://www.lightinsight.com/ . Anyone tried this or know of similar/better product?

 

Its the best. I no longer get a crick in the neck. I suggested to my MA that the dealer buy a crateful of these things and just put them on each car they sell - as a gesture of good will.

 

I have never had a need to crick my neck to view the lights. They're usually across the street from my the line where I stop. 0.o

I'm driving a manual Clubman. First 3200 miles reports an average of 37 mpg. This is about 50/50 city/highway, averaging about 500 miles a week and 500 miles per tank roughly. Although the last tank I averaged only 35 mpg cause I decided to try spirited driving(aka above 3k rpms often :P)

 

In Portland (OR) I frequently could not see overhead lights at some intersections. Lowering the seat helps a bit, but not enough. I bought one of those Light-in-Sight Fresnel lens doohickeys.

I hate having to use one, and it makes me kind of queasy to look through it for an extended period, but I will say that it works very well for its purpose - bottom line, I would buy another in a heartbeat.

 

I second (or third or fourth) the Line In Sight mod. It's cheap, small and unobtrusive, and easy to get used to. And it works; you can roll right up to any light and there it is. It did bug my eyes for a week or so before my brain rewired to ignore it unless I was sitting at a light.

 

good review, esp the part about where first and R are located on the 6-speed. When I had my 2005 S there were times I accidently put it into reverse, and at the last moment I realized the error of my ways. what a pain.

I dont know what kind of suspension U have, but on my 09 MCSa I have the standard suspension with a 18.5 mm JCW rear sway bar mod. Cheap and effective, helps the car track better under all that torquey power with a lot less lean and roll in the curves. Less than $100 for the parts.

and re the mood lights: they are much dimmer than in the 07 justacooper loaner I had when I had my tune kit installed.

 

Yeah Im always second guessing the position of my gear when shifting into 1st haha. Glad you and everyone here has appreciated my review. I'd also like add that I had a front suspension issue that resulted in having the front sway link replaced after the 1st 12 days of owning it (somewhat common in the CLubmans the tech says). Other than that no issues, oh wait, the front wipers streak a lot when being used, something an MA had said was common as they "suck." Haha.

 

There is a lil mesh net thing to the right of and below the console (left of where the passenger left shin would be) for your iPod. At least thats where it is in my '08 MCCM-S.

I do think that they should have made something to the left of the steering wheel for the iPod though... getting to it in it's current position would be a hassle if you have back problems.

 

Unfortunately there's no playlist on earth that would keep me satisfied. Im always changing artists/tracks so having to reach over that far while driving is suicide for me haha.

 

no need to reach that far if you have the iPod controller in your stereo

 

No ipod/bluetooth add-on here.

 

light in sight is the greatest

 

My MINI's British ... I don't know what you're talking about.

 

I was at the Audi delership in Frankfurt airport adn when the Sales guy found out I was from North America, he made a special note to say, if you buy this A5 (this was 2007 when they were new to market) in North America, the car will even have cup holders for you over there. He said we Europeans never drink while driving. I tend to agree. I NEVER seem to have a beverage, unless I'm grabbing fast food to take home (and then its a short ride).