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| Road Test MINI Cooper D Clubman |
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More Space, Less Style
The MINI Clubman reminds me of that joke. If your starting point is that you want a smallish estate car, this is probably not the car for you. It's not especially practical, it has too many fussy design elements, and at over £15,000 it's way too expensive, even if MINI residual values are so strong that you're likely to get a lot of that back at resale time. If, on the other hand, you begin the process by wanting a MINI of some sort but need more space than the hatchback provides, this is exactly the car you want. You may or may not consider that the styling involved in creating the Clubman from the more conventional MINI has been successful. During this test I asked several people what they thought about the car's looks, and their replies ranged from "I quite like it" to "God, that thing looks foul". Be that as it may, there's no doubt that the transition has been a big success in terms of interior space. The Clubman is 24cm longer than the hatch, and all the extra room is provided from the centre of the car back. Unlike the hatch, the Clubman is at least worth considering if you need to carry four adults (though legroom in the rear is still quite limited), and luggage capacity of 260-930 litres, depending on whether or not you fold down the rear seat, is outstandingly better than the hatch's 160-680 litres.
One feature which seems particularly cute is the so-called Clubdoor, a rear-hinged door allowing access to the back seat from the right of the car only. For UK buyers, right is wrong in this case, since you're obliged either to park on the far side of the road to allow passengers to enter and exit from the pavement or to put them at the mercy of traffic in the middle of the highway. This is just tough luck, since it would be far too complex and expensive to put the door on the left (the fuel tank is in the way) and MINI ain't going to do that.
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