By Bill Zervakos & Cathy Droz
The MINI Clubman was introduced for the 2008 model year, offering additional passenger room and a unique door configuration. The MINI Clubman is 9.45 inches longer than the MINI Cooper with a 3.15-inch longer wheelbase to provide addition interior volume. To access the addition room, the innovative 5-door configuration replaces the rear hatch with two side-hinged cargo doors and a second, rear-hinged door is added to the passenger side for easier access to the rear seat. I have to tell you…when the rear doors are open it actually looks like a toy car which my wife thought was very cute. Not sure that’s what Mini was after but it is what it is.
The 2009 Clubman has several upgrades for 2009, like the availability of Dynamic Traction Control (DTC), roof rails, or a rear roof spoiler. MINI has also added Smartphone Prep which allows full access to a USB-enabled Smartphone. The Clubman is available as a base model with a 118-horsepower 1.6-liter engine or Clubman S, like the tester, with a 172-horsepower turbocharged 1.6-liter engine teamed with a 6-speed manual transmission and I must say, it was a pretty animated little car and a lot of fun to buzz around in.
The base price of our tester was $23,700 but it came with a host of extras that included the Convenience Package with Bluetooth Auto Dimming rearview mirror, Rain Sensing wipers etc that costs 1250 bucks, 500 worth of paint, another 1000 for leather seating accents, 1250 for 17-inch wheels, the dual pane panoramic roof was a grand, park distance control 500, xenon headlights and satellite radio another grand and with a few more extras and destination, 31,450 was the final tally on our test car. EPA rating on the Clubman is 26/34 and it get’s pretty close to those numbers unless you choose to work the turbo out all the time, and as with other BMW’s, the warranty on the Mini is 48 months and 50,000 miles.
The mini is really all about fun and to that end it works well, I like the performance of the S model, it has plenty of spunk and the 6-speed works well. It’s a formula that as I said provides a huge fun quotient and in truth a pretty large “cute” quotient so I found it interesting to buzz around in, being the sedate senior that I am. Okay, not so sedate and despite me not being the primary demographic for the Mini, there are a lot of folks my age that will like this car a lot.
While there is a lot to like about the Mini Clubman, one thing I don’t like is the panoramic roof that only comes with a mesh net so the Arizona sun can be pretty brutal on my bald bean, but that aside, the Clubman is an interesting configuration that I feel will work well in the European market but not sure how well it will do here. I haven’t seen a lot on the road but I can say that if you like the looks and pizzazz of the Mini but need just a bit more room, you should check out the Mini Clubman and specifically the Clubman S, it may be exactly what you’re looking for. Click here to find out more about the Mini Clubman S.
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