When drivers enthuse and salivate about fun, enjoyable and thrilling cars to drive, certain sorts of cars come to mind - sports cars like the Porsche 911, perhaps a roadster like the venerable Mazda MX-5, or maybe hot hatches like the BMW M135i or the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
What doesn't immediately come to mind, is a car like the new MINI Cooper Clubman. It is a car that touts a heavy dose of good, conventional sensibility, appealing to the mature adult. It's not even that 'mini' anymore, growing rather significantly in size to offer greater legroom, a bigger boot and better overall usability.
With the new MINI Cooper Clubman already a hoot to drive, we were decidedly excited to find out how its badder brother would fare on the road.
Up close and Personal
Trying to tell the Cooper Clubman and the Cooper S Clubman apart is a bit like doing one of those spot-the-difference puzzles. At first glance, it's hard to tell the two apart aside from the S badging. The overall dimensions and styling of the car remain true to its practical sensibilities.
What doesn't immediately come to mind, is a car like the new MINI Cooper Clubman. It is a car that touts a heavy dose of good, conventional sensibility, appealing to the mature adult. It's not even that 'mini' anymore, growing rather significantly in size to offer greater legroom, a bigger boot and better overall usability.
With the new MINI Cooper Clubman already a hoot to drive, we were decidedly excited to find out how its badder brother would fare on the road.
Up close and Personal
Trying to tell the Cooper Clubman and the Cooper S Clubman apart is a bit like doing one of those spot-the-difference puzzles. At first glance, it's hard to tell the two apart aside from the S badging. The overall dimensions and styling of the car remain true to its practical sensibilities.
But there are some tell-tale signs that the Clubman S is a slightly different and more aggressive package. There are the go-faster stripes that run along the bonnet of the car. Also, the front and rear bumpers feature air inlets and vents that give the car a more aggressive disposition, and there is an additional exhaust at the rear.
The stylish and sophisticated interior also features some upgrades. The bigger, 8.8-inch colour display shows vehicle, infotainment, phone and navigation functions. The LED ring around the display can be programmed to serve as a tachometer, conceivably to alarm the rest of your passengers as it glows increasingly red. MINI's Your Interior Styles also means that LED interior and ambient lighting can be programmed to create an atmospheric ambience.
The stylish and sophisticated interior also features some upgrades. The bigger, 8.8-inch colour display shows vehicle, infotainment, phone and navigation functions. The LED ring around the display can be programmed to serve as a tachometer, conceivably to alarm the rest of your passengers as it glows increasingly red. MINI's Your Interior Styles also means that LED interior and ambient lighting can be programmed to create an atmospheric ambience.
The Drive
It is under the bonnet that the Clubman S really sets itself apart. The powerplant is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology, putting out 192bhp and 280Nm of torque, which can be briefly increased to 300Nm via an overboost function. It is mated to an eight-speed Sports Automatic transmission, available for the first time with shift paddles on a MINI.
It's an incredibly soulful engine that really grows on you. It hits a sweet spot between being powerful enough, and not having too much power so as to scare you. The linearity of power delivery and the lack of any discernible turbo lag mean that it feels inexplicably like a naturally aspirated engine, and all of that power feels entirely usable.
Using the 'Driving Excitement' display page on the central console, we were told that we were pulling around 230Nm of torque in second gear, accelerating to 80km/h all too easily. The gear shift paddles also mean that at every opportunity that the road clears up, you feel obliged to drop a couple of gears and let the engine do its noble work. And it makes a delightful, stirring noise that makes you want to drive endlessly so that the excitement never stops.
The car also has an incredible chuckability that is almost appalling for something of its size and stature. In Sport mode, the suspension stiffens up and allows you to pile into sweeping corners with little worry, and the feedback from the steering wheel feels mechanical and honest. The 'go-kart feeling' that MINI touts is entirely justifiable, which is again hard to wrap your head around when you remember that this is an estate that shares its mechanical underpinnings with the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.
It is under the bonnet that the Clubman S really sets itself apart. The powerplant is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo Technology, putting out 192bhp and 280Nm of torque, which can be briefly increased to 300Nm via an overboost function. It is mated to an eight-speed Sports Automatic transmission, available for the first time with shift paddles on a MINI.
It's an incredibly soulful engine that really grows on you. It hits a sweet spot between being powerful enough, and not having too much power so as to scare you. The linearity of power delivery and the lack of any discernible turbo lag mean that it feels inexplicably like a naturally aspirated engine, and all of that power feels entirely usable.
Using the 'Driving Excitement' display page on the central console, we were told that we were pulling around 230Nm of torque in second gear, accelerating to 80km/h all too easily. The gear shift paddles also mean that at every opportunity that the road clears up, you feel obliged to drop a couple of gears and let the engine do its noble work. And it makes a delightful, stirring noise that makes you want to drive endlessly so that the excitement never stops.
The car also has an incredible chuckability that is almost appalling for something of its size and stature. In Sport mode, the suspension stiffens up and allows you to pile into sweeping corners with little worry, and the feedback from the steering wheel feels mechanical and honest. The 'go-kart feeling' that MINI touts is entirely justifiable, which is again hard to wrap your head around when you remember that this is an estate that shares its mechanical underpinnings with the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer.
There are admittedly some niggles, unfortunately. In Sport mode, the car becomes rather twitchy even in a straight line, which may worry some drivers. There is also the occasional lurching when braking and downshifting to second or first gear. But it almost doesn't matter, because the quality of the overall drive, coupled with the excitement and enjoyment that the car delivers, washes away everything else.
Conclusion
The MINI Cooper S Clubman is a car that doesn't really make sense, but in the best sort of way. It ticks all the sensible, practical boxes, offering generous amounts of space, a luxurious and comfortable interior and every bit of the quirky charm of past MINIs. It is a sensible man's car, a grown-up MINI as it were. And that may not sit well with everyone. The Clubman's looks can be divisive, with many comments on how it looks too fat and un-MINI like.
But once you get behind the wheel, all of that immediately evaporates away. You don't care about how the car looks, about the extra boot space or expanded dimensions, or kicking the air under the rear bumper to open the split rear doors. You just want to keep on driving, soaking up the incredible piece of machinery that it is, and revelling in the intoxicating excitement that the car delivers.
There's a Clark Kent quality to the car. It is a sharp, tie-wearing business man in the day, but transforms into a guitar-wielding rockstar at night. And woe be to those naysayers, we say, because the MINI Cooper S Clubman is an absolute riot.
Conclusion
The MINI Cooper S Clubman is a car that doesn't really make sense, but in the best sort of way. It ticks all the sensible, practical boxes, offering generous amounts of space, a luxurious and comfortable interior and every bit of the quirky charm of past MINIs. It is a sensible man's car, a grown-up MINI as it were. And that may not sit well with everyone. The Clubman's looks can be divisive, with many comments on how it looks too fat and un-MINI like.
But once you get behind the wheel, all of that immediately evaporates away. You don't care about how the car looks, about the extra boot space or expanded dimensions, or kicking the air under the rear bumper to open the split rear doors. You just want to keep on driving, soaking up the incredible piece of machinery that it is, and revelling in the intoxicating excitement that the car delivers.
There's a Clark Kent quality to the car. It is a sharp, tie-wearing business man in the day, but transforms into a guitar-wielding rockstar at night. And woe be to those naysayers, we say, because the MINI Cooper S Clubman is an absolute riot.
