Today, the Spies got their first seat time behind the wheel of the OTHER MINI.
The Clubman.
And it's everything you love about MINI but with more...
Stretching the wheelbase a mere nine inches in comparison to the MINI hardtop does virtually nothing to diminish the go-kart-like driving characteristics of the new 2008 MINI Cooper Clubman and MINI Cooper S Clubman, but it significantly enhances interior room and utility as well as driver/passenger comfort and convenience for those who want more of this iconic British brand. And – in true MINI fashion – mixing the traditional with the modern results in both the car’s unique, but unmistakably MINI appearance and unique ways to access this interior: The tailgate carries forward the twin, outwardly hinged “split-doors” found on the Clubman’s ancestors, while rear-seat passengers ingress and egress is eased through the rear-hinged “Clubdoor” incorporated in the car’s right side.
The new MINI Cooper Clubman, an expansion to last year’s introduction of the second-generation of the modern MINI, mirrors the latest MINI Cooper hardtop – both inside and out, in terms of equipment – from the radiator grill to the B pillars. This means the new variants share the 172-horsepower turbocharged engine of the MINI Cooper S and the 118-hp, naturally aspirated four-cylinder powerplant of the MINI Cooper, both driving the front wheels, as well as dashboard, seats (with the exception of some upholstery colors and materials as well as interior trim colors), comfort and convenience features and switch gear. And they share the chassis components, as well as the soul, which have earned the MINI accolades on its fun-to-drive, go-kart-like handling characteristics.
Not shared between the MINI Clubman and MINI hardtop is the area behind the front seats and the number of doors providing access to the interior. Stretching the Clubman 9.4 inches and the wheelbase 3.2 inches results in a very different environment for passengers and life’s cargo. Virtually the entire extra wheelbase is translated into additional leg room for rear passengers and the revised body work provides a bit more shoulder room for them as well. The most dramatic transformation comes in terms of luggage space: the Clubman offers 61 percent more space (9.18 versus 5.7 cubic feet) with the rear seats up or 37 percent more (32.8 versus 24 cubic feet) with both seats folded. And the Clubman offers an optional flat-luggage-floor system which also brings a covered storage bin between the rear split-doors and the seatbacks.
Those rear split-doors offer the most striking visual differentiator for the Clubman from the hardtop. In keeping with the marque’s heritage, the new MINI Clubman’s rear look is modeled along the design of the rear doors found in the Austin Mini Countryman, Morris Minor Traveller and the Mini Clubman Estate from the 1960s. The new MINI Clubman eschews the more common hatch for a pair of split-doors hinged on the outer edge of the C-pillars, thus providing a wide, open access to the luggage area. Opening/closing operation of the doors is very specific: the left, or main, door must be opened prior to the right one (and closed in reverse order) and the doors effortlessly glide open with the aid of a pair of gas struts.