Inside Line Tests the Automatic Clubman S

Sections: In the Press | R55 (Clubman) Mar 17th, 2008 2 Comments

A solid review of the automatic Clubman S. Here’s an excerpt:

It wouldn’t be hard to get all cynical about the 2008 Mini Cooper S Clubman. It’s really not that much bigger than a normal-size Mini Cooper. Its cabin looks the same. And it carries a $2,250 premium.

>But when you drive the Mini Clubman, you see it’s a bit more than a marketing exercise. You can actually get regular use out of this backseat. You don’t have to drop the rear seats every time you want to carry more than a few bags of groceries. And you can drive a few hours longer before the car’s boundless energy wears you out.

Mini could have built a bigger Clubman, but we’re not sure we’d still want to drive it. As it is, the 2008 Mini Cooper S Clubman responds to its driver almost exactly like our ’07 Cooper S hatch. And that’s what makes it so desirable.

You can read the rest below:

Full + Test: 2008 Mini Cooper S Clubman / Inside Line

Written By: MF Staff

c4

I agree on that the 6-speed automatic transmission in the Clubman S has been a very pleasant surprise. The road demeanor of this slushbox is very responsive and also provides lots of engine breaking power when you let off the gas pedal as it match revs instantly. It doesn’t go into neutral or allows the car to coast to a stop. This is been one of my pet peeves with regular automatics since the beginning of time.

But the review also mentions the sort of sluggish pedal response in low speed situations. Without the sport button on, you have to push the gas a little more to get the car going. Its like a tenth of a second delay. With the sport button on, the car lurches forward with the slightest touch of the gas. It is like a badly calibrated on/off switch with no smooth transition point in between. It is not a big deal after you start driving the car but it is noticeable at first. Nothing that a ECU software update can fix.

But generally speaking, the Aisin has been tweaked very well for the Clubman application. All I can say is that I don’t miss the clutch pedal while driving it!

In case anyone is interested, Toyota owns about 60%-70% of Aisin Transmission.
emtrey

There will be a fix…its called the JCW upgrade. Changes the shifting of auto trans to give much better throttle response (first gear start ??) w/o needing to use sport button. Also, shift points not as high as sport mode unless induced by throttle or manual shifting.

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