MINI Clubman Q&A (Part 1)
Based on the reader comments from our recent Clubman review, it looks as if quite a few of you have questions. Lots of questions. And since we’ve driven the Clubman extensively range and learned just about everything there is to know about the car from the recent MINI press event, we’re here to answer them. We’ll start by answering a few of the questions posed in the comment section of our recent review. If you have any further questions not answered here, be sure to ask them in the comment section below. We’ll plan on posting answers next week.
Q: Was the split in the window that noticeable/distracting? I’m sure that is another area of conern for many readers.
A: Honestly I completely forgot about it after ten minutes of driving.
Q: Any word if they ever plan on offering a white roof option?
A: There are no plans for a white roof. Design of the car Markus Syring mentioned that they tried a body colored Clubman but it didn’t look right – especially in lighter colors.
Q: Interesting that you did not make mention of the rear visibility with the barn doors closed. Perhaps it didn’t bother you at all. In all European reviews of the Clubman (Including those of your homologue over at MINI2, Paul Mullett) seemed to be bothered by the rear post dead smack on the center of the rear view mirror.
A: Honestly I zoned it out after a few minutes. I can’t imagine most will have an issue with it unless they’re looking for something to write about.
Q: I am also optimistic about your positive comments regarding the automatic in the Clubman S. In fact, this is the first time I read/hear you saying anything favorable about the AISIN slushbox.
A: It really wasn’t the bad experience I was expecting. It certainly wasn’t as fun as the manual but it’s a respectable transmission for those who must have it.
Q: Question: Did you get to drive cars with and without sport suspension? I’m hoping to get a bit more of an edge over the standard without the good but expensive for my budget JCW suspension. I’ll never track the car, but do enjoy “spirited” back road runs….
A: Unfortunately they didn’t have any S’s there without the sport package so I wasn’t able to drive the two back to back. However based on my previous experience I’d highly recommend the sport suspension.
Q: Great review. Do you know the timeline for Aero kit and stage 1 kit for clubman.
A: There are currently no plans for either the JCW aero-kit or dealer installed engine kit for the Clubman.
Q: Was prepared to hate it. Saw it, liked it. Was even surprised. Not for me but for alot of people it’s perefect.
A: I think a lot of people who didn’t like the car in pictures will have this reaction in person.
Q: I had just finished listening to White Roof Radio’s take on the Clubman MCS Auto (quite negative on the auto transmission), so it was great to find your review here – because it confirmed my own! What a difference a point of view makes, eh? Nice write up and interesting bit of behind the scenes
A: Yeah those White Roof Radio guys are almost always wrong… 🙂
Q: The Whiteroofradio guys are stick shift snobs 😉
A: I prefer the term enlightened.
Q: About that roof – in case anyone’s interested apparently the new roof rack does not have to be drilled in (no more plugs) but clips in…and is removable (according to the website, though one of the MAs at my dealership said they were not easy to remove??) perhaps that’s part of the reasoning for the roof line?
A: This is identical to the way the R56’s roof rack works.
Q: I cannot help but notice that the overall “tone” of the article isn’t nearly as excited as you were with the 135i. With the price of a very loaded JCW MCS hitting the 40 mark, it is going to be tough not to do the BMW.
A: I can’t lie. My experience in the 135i was a bit more profound. Likewise I’d expect a test drive in the new JCW factory car would be the similiar.
How very odd that MINI would offer a factory JCW Clubman but not a dealer engine kit. The factory JCW R56 will already be beyond the budget of many buyers and the JCW Clubman even more so. Many Clubman owners would be interested in some performance enhancement without the large jump to a factory kit. Surely MINI realizes that they are missing out on something that would sell well, and dealers must also be disappointed. Personally, I expect my next car to be a Clubman (in a year or two) and I would probably want the dealer JCW kit if it were available.
Thanks so much for your responses!
I appreciate the responses.
>But not as wearing as the torque steer. I do not know why the Clubman is so badly affected when the normal car, with exactly the same engine, is not. But I do know that there is no point paying extra for satellite navigation, because this is a car that goes where the camber of the road dictates. You, the man behind the wheel, have no say at all.
>And woe betide the chap who decides to put his foot down hard coming off a greasy roundabout, because what happens next, in my experience, gets perilously close to dangerous. At best, it appears to be an extreme flaw. Jeremy Clarkson’s review.
Did you experence massive torque steer?
While I generrally consider myself a fan of Jezza, I think he totally missed the boat on this one. The R56 and Clubman powertrain layouts are indentical to each other. How he did never experience torque steer in the R56 but a year later did in the Clubman with the same mechanicals is quite frankly beyond me.
But then again Jeeza is known to praise and bash (at the same time) 2 identical cars whose only differences are in trim/badge or body style.
Will a JCW Clubman really cost in the high 30s to 40K(US MSRP)? I was thinking somewhere between 30-34K?
I’ve tried asking this question in several places including here with no firm answer; what’s the lifespan suppose to be for the R55 Clubman before it’s replaced??? I’m trying to gauge whether or not I’ll be buying this generation or the next??
Chris, lemme take a guess here… Clubman (R55) introduced…2008. Add 5 years.. That puts the last production year of this car at or around 2013.
Hope this helps!
Just five years!?!?!? That’s wwayy too short. I’ts normally about seven years for the lifespan of a car, even thought I know the last generation Cooper was with us for only 5 years they have to have changed the number by now???
>I’ve tried asking this question in several places including here with no firm answer; what’s the lifespan suppose to be for the R55 Clubman before it’s replaced??? I’m trying to gauge whether or not I’ll be buying this generation or the next??
The Clubman will be in production for around seven years.
^Thank you sir!!! FINALLY, an answer.
“The Clubman will be in production for around seven years.” Does that also mean that spare parts will be available from BMW for a further 12 years afterwards?
I had to wait almost 6 months for the bonnet scoop foam spare on my 2002 MCS to arrive from Germany last year as I was advised that it had to go through a production run. Is there any indication on how much longer the R53 MCS spare parts will still be available for – and can we expect longer delays with obtaining spare parts from Germany?
Gabe, are you sure the R55 will be produced for 7 years? That is good news, but that sounds like an aweful long amount of time for a car to be produced. The 1st gen MINIs were produced in 5 year cycle runs:
R50/53 (2001-2006)
R52 Cabrio (2004-2008)
But the longer the car is made, the better for resale value.
Aussom, supposedly spare parts for a discontinued car must be made or kept for about 10-15 years after the model has gone out of production.
Maybe someone with better knowledge may want to chime in.
Seven years is a great time frame. Hopefully we can see some nice little tweaks and new developments with the Clubman.
Personally I’d like to see the interior/dash return to the old form as was in the 2006 era.
Seven years is the typical lifespan for most cars. Personally I think it should be slightly longer than that, but yeh, it’s typically 7 years. Changing every five would simply be spending too much R&D money, and apparently BMW plans on cutting back on R&D costs in the future to further increase earning/profit potential.
Most Japanese cars see 5 year production cycles. American cars typically have longer cycles.
I agree on that cars should not change so drastically every so often.
Well, the Japanese have endless architectures and components to work with so they can afford to change ever so often because it’s relatively cheap for them. BMW and the brands under the BMW AG umbrella are not what you’d call generic brands and have limited volumes when compared with the Japanese. Aside from that, because of higher standards of engineering that BMW and other premium brands subscribe to there is the associated higher R&D cost; developing new models and platforms is not cheap so costs need to be spread out within limited means. In the future you’ll probably see BMW doing more collaboration with neighboring competitors, such as the rumored collaboration with Daimler AG for future small car development. However that deal may have fallen through by now.
If anyone has a question like: How would the Clubman look like in Hot Chocolate/Black… here’s the answer.
I just picked up a brand new Cooper Clubman this morning.
Sooo happy. Even though I had doubts about the color. I really love the combination with the black.
Since I don’t know how to put a spiffy little gallery in my post (or if it’s even possible), here’s a link to my Flickr site.
[Hot Chocolate/Black MC Clubman]http://flickr.com/photos/pepperwhite/sets/72157603965432118/
Greetings,
Pat
Any reason why that added defrost wiring to the driver’s side rear window (window between B & c pillars) but not the passenger side window (between the clubdoor and C pillar…)?