MINI UK: “Clubdoor” Not Ideal for UK

Phooey…it’s too small and awkward to please anyone, no matter what market it’s in! At least it looks good, overall!

I think it is harsh calling the single rear door on the right side of the car a “flaw”. While it is not ideal for a RHD market, it should be remembered that is will be no more difficult gaining access to the rear seat of a Clubman (without using the 3rd door) than it is getting in the backseat of a regular MINI. Both front seats will still fold and slide forward.

From a LHD perspective, it could be argued that having the bonnet release in the the passenger footwell is “flawed”, but we’ve just learned to live with it.

And remember that not all parking is done on the street. Plenty of times people park in a driveway or in a car park where there is no nearside (curbside). With a RHD Clubman, having the door on the driver’s side could actually be more helpful and convenient in placing children in the car, especially children using a car seat. Driver and small children would simply enter on the same side of the vehicle.

I wouldn’t mind a half door on the driver’s side. They should have designed it like the RX-8 and put a suicide door on each side. I would have liked a half door on the driver’s side so I can put my laptop bag and lunchbox behind my seat. Right now I have to put them in the trunk or the passenger’s side footwell.

Yeah, I’m all for symmetry – there seems to be two of most of the important features I care to get my hands on in this world. Imagine Bettie Page without bilateral symmetry! Ack! My guess is the redesign wouldn’t be cheap, let alone cost effective, or they would’ve done it in a heartbeat. Most safety laws leave little room for placement of the filler neck, and if significant re-design was required, likely new crash testing would’ve come into play.

Yeah, it would’ve been nice to stick it at the rear lower corner like the classic’s, but then maybe it would’ve been better behind a drop-down hinged right rear tail light, but who would ever have done that? ;-) Safety, shmafety, let ‘em go without a crumple zone and we can have a one-shot lighter like the Pinto, yeah, huh? Reality will bite you on butt every time, tho. They had only so much to work with, and I guess the coin-toss for the fuel neck went in the left-hooker’s favor.

Someone will prolly eventually be sent to Siberia for it, but maybe next time they’ll ask a Brit before “oopsie, es ist zu spät”.

Oh what a horrible mistake- “pr” person should be put on holiday for a few month’s. The clubman’s door is a mild handicap for some folk’s but most understand it’s a mini not a mazda! I do wiSh BMW would listen to people outside the company who offer product development insight but lo the arrogance – I recommended a sliding door but never heard anything. And I’m still waiting on the new colors!!!!!!!!!!!!!It’s not that hard a few new colors!!!! Anyway the Clubman is one of the grooviest new vehicles on the market and I’m sure it will sell well- I’m considering one if I can get some new color choices. Maybe mystical blue or a silver white, phoenix bronze etc. I really don’t care what the names are as long as I don’t see it every few minutes driving up the street’s.

I just find it a little ironic Mini would choose to inconvenience their supposed “home” market. I also find the filler neck story hard to believe (didn’t they use that excuse once before for something?)

Easy, people. Let’s not call the dogs on our beloved brand here. Not fully understanding a company’s decision doesn’t mean we should jump to conclusions about lack of faith in the overall goal: to make a MINI that’s uncompromisingly cool and unique. They’ve definitely done that with the Clubman — even if I’d like my rear pillars in the body color (which ain’t happening).

The internet is the world’s biggest complaint box, which is cool. But I’d rather read about these small issues than how the “Clubman’s design is ordinary.”

One more thing… Of note in the above article is a quote by the national sales manager of MINI USA as to why they chose L.A. over Detroit for the U.S. debut of the Clubman. He says Detroit represents 1% of national sales, and Southern California represents 13%, calling it a “numbers game.” Something tells me this is the bottom line when all is said and done, and this goes for many design/manufacturing decisions, as well.

That’s the way it is in business. Sometimes to it’s ok to upset one customer if you can please more. The Clubman, imo, is aimed at the American mother. The ones that want to stop spending so much on gas yet not be inconvenienced by putting their child in a car seat. The passenger side is the logical side for a car seat in a MINI as most of the time no one is sitting on that side so front leg room is not an issue. With the door on the passenger side it makes it very convenient to place the child in the car seat.

As for the left hand drive countries. Maybe MINI felt the American market would provide more return on investment in the long run.

See my previous posts – I told you so. RHD markets are gutted. Yeah Eelke and BartMack I agree. The Clubman had to be designed from scratch yet they chose the LHD configuration. While it’s ok for you folks in the USA and LHD markets, it’s not ideal for RHD – England included.

I am not saying that the RHD markets won’t be affected, rather the base fact is I am sure what Mini did is to look at the total sales and projected sales of the current Mini’s and the future Clubman and then to build the car for the largest market share which is LHD.

I can compleatly understand how this will affect those in RHD markets. The fact though if they would have set up a second Clubman for the RHD market it would have driven the development and production costs up, and the sales price. I am sure they have spent a lot of time and effort to figure out likely this will do for their markets long before the first production model was made.

I can close up the driver’s door more so that it doesn’t stick way out into the path of oncoming traffic to let people out of the rear seats.

Nope. You will have to have the driver’s door open before you can open the Clubdoor, in the RHD version.

My England should join the rest of the word and switch to left hand drive. It’s long over due.

I am in the market for upgrading my R53 and I love the “looks” of the Clubman. However it does not look like there will be significant extra space or accesibility over the R56 … I mean in a “our family mightbe expanding” kind of way.

And in reality, if you are single or a couple … the R56 does just fine for hauling pretty much anything.

The extra door doesn’t seem to be much aid to anything significant in accesibility. Also I heard before that MINI IS NOT marketing the car for couples with small kids … so not sure why they are “apologizing” for the location of the door. Adults are more than capable of watching for traffic :)

Here is s list of Right hand and left hand drive countries.

R Afghanistan R Albania R Algeria R American Samoa R Andorra R Angola L Anguilla L Antigua and Barbuda R Argentina R Armenia R Aruba L Australia R Austria R Azerbaijan L Bahamas R Bahrain L Bangladesh L Barbados R Belarus R Belgium R Belize R Benin L Bermuda L Bhutan R Bolivia R Bosnia and Herzegovina L Botswana R Brazil R British Indian Ocean Territory (Diego Garcia) L Brunei R Bulgaria R Burkina Faso R Burundi R Cambodia R Cameroon R Canada R Cape Verde L Cayman Islands R Central African Republic R Chad R Chile R China, People’s Republic of (Mainland China) L Christmas Island (Australia) L Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) R Colombia R Comoros R Congo L Cook Islands R Costa Rica R Croatia R Cuba L Cyprus R Czech Republic R Denmark R Djibouti L Dominica R Dominican Republic L East Timor R Ecuador R Egypt R El Salvador R Equatorial Guinea R Eritrea R Estonia R Ethiopia L Falkland Islands R Faroe Islands (Denmark) L Fiji R Finland R France R French Guiana R French Polynesia R Gabon R Gambia, The R Gaza Strip R Georgia R Germany R Ghana R Gibraltar R Greece R Greenland L Grenada R Guadeloupe (French West Indies) R Guam R Guatemala L Guernsey (Channel Islands) R Guinea R Guinea-Bissau L Guyana R Haiti R Honduras L Hong Kong R Hungary R Iceland L India L Indonesia R Iran R Iraq L Ireland R Israel L Isle of Man R Italy R Ivory Coast L Jamaica L Japan L Jersey (Channel Islands) R Jordan R Kazakhstan L Kenya L Kiribati R Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of (North Korea) R Korea, Republic of (South Korea) R Kuwait R Kyrgyzstan R Laos R Latvia R Lebanon L Lesotho R Liberia R Libya R Liechtenstein R Lithuania R Luxembourg L Macau R Macedonia R Madagascar L Malawi L Malaysia L Maldives R Mali L Malta R Marshall Islands R Martinique (French West Indies) R Mauritania L Mauritius R Mayotte (France) R Mexico R Micronesia, Federated States of R Midway Islands (USA) R Moldova R Monaco R Mongolia L Montserrat R Morocco L Mozambique R Myanmar (Burma) L Namibia L Nauru L Nepal R Netherlands R Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba) R New Caledonia L New Zealand R Nicaragua R Niger R Nigeria L Niue L Norfolk Island (Australia) R Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan) R Norway R Oman L Pakistan R Palau R Panama L Papua New Guinea R Paraguay R Peru R Philippines L Pitcairn Islands (Britain) R Poland R Portugal R Puerto Rico R Qatar R Reunion R Romania R Russia R Rwanda R Saint Barth�emy (French West Indies) L Saint Helena L Saint Kitts and Nevis L Saint Lucia R Saint Martin (French West Indies) R Saint Pierre and Miquelon (France) L Saint Vincent and the Grenadines R Samoa R San Marino R Sao Tome e Principe R Saudi Arabia R Senegal L Seychelles R Sierra Leone L Singapore R Slovakia R Slovenia L Solomon Islands R Somalia (a part of Somalia trying to assert independence, Somaliland, also drives on the right) L South Africa R Spain L Sri Lanka R Sudan L Suriname R Svalbard (Norway) L Swaziland R Sweden R Switzerland R Syria R Taiwan R Tajikistan L Tanzania L Thailand R Togo L Tokelau (New Zealand) L Tonga L Trinidad and Tobago R Tunisia R Turkey R Turkmenistan L Turks and Caicos Islands L Tuvalu L Uganda R Ukraine R United Arab Emirates L United Kingdom R United States R Uruguay R Uzbekistan R Vanuatu R Venezuela R Vietnam L Virgin Islands (British) L Virgin Islands (US) R Wake Island (USA) R Wallis and Futuna Islands [Fr.] R West Bank R Western Sahara (ex Spanish Sahara) R Yemen R Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) R Zaire L Zambia L Zimbabwe

Ooops – the listing seems to be flawed. What does L and R mean? Australia, Japan, New Zealand are RHD – yet the lists has them as L.

USA – R?????? I don’t think so.

OK, now that makes sense, shoulda thought of that.

Recent post on Mini2.com; “In a review of the Peugeot 207 SW John Simister, writing for the Irish Independent has been heavily critical of the new MINI Clubman and it’s one sided suicide door, or Club Door, dismissing the new Clubman as competition for the Peugeot Estate by stating;

..that car [the MINI Clubman] is already fatally flawed because the side that has two passenger doors is the right-hand side, even on right-hand drive cars. For a car built in the UK, and inspired by a British past, this smacks of breathtaking arrogance.”