Dan Neil Reviews the Clubman
One of our favorite automotive journalists Dan Neil (a Pulitzer prize winner from the LA Times) recently had a chance to review the Clubman. As you would expect it’s one of the best (if not the best) to date. You can read an excerpt below:
>The Mini is diamond-laced Champagne, a piano-playing Shetland pony, sex on the wing of an airplane. Simply put, if the Mini Cooper doesn’t put a smile on your face, you’re dead.
>Now they’ve gone and made it bigger.
>…So, is the Mini Clubman still adorable, or does it look like Hello Kitty with a glandular problem? Is it every bit the dancing leprechaun as the regular Mini, or does it stumble like a drunken Irishman? The original was such a singular thing, a 300 game, a no-hitter. How can you change it without lousing things up?
>And yet behold a bigger, better Mini.
I highly recommended read:
+ Taking the MINI Cooper to the Max / LA Times
Great review. This guy has a way with words. It makes me that much more excited to see the Clubman in person…
I think the review is pretty good. Its been 2 weeks since we took delivery of our new Clubman and the car is one impressive package. So far I am very pleased with the handling, the automatic transmission, the power, the excellent fuel economy and how “Teutonic” solid this vehicle feels at highway speeds.
Getting close to the 400 mile mark. can’t wait to take out the family on a road trip!
Jeeves! JEEVES!!
I’m afraid I’ll swallow these diamonds in my champagne, what with all the piano-playing ponies having sex on the wing of my airplane.
Ready my Mini Clubman at once!
wow, he said dinner plate sized speedo without it being a bad thing…
You get used to the speedo, but the controls for the manual A/C (Fan speed and temperature) are akward to use…
The fun per gallon comment is the one thing that always brings me back to why I drive a MINI, and why my next purchase will also likely be a MINI.
Flirt with the new 1 series all you like, even the 135i with gobs of power and torque – methinks it will still not come close to the fun of MINI driving.
I flog my R50 Cooper only occasionally, but drive quick always, never worrying about wasting fuel. Try that in other cars and watch the fuel needle plummet.
When driving my Wife’s E90 3 series with the most economical engine available in North America, the 2.5 liter six, I’m always trying to squeeze the most from a gallon of gas, because it really is not very fuel efficient.
Nothing comes close in the fun per gallon category!
David, I agree. I think the MINI is one of the few cars in the market that you can have fun driving it while getting very good fuel economy in return. With the prospect looming in the horizon of $4+ per gallon of gasoline (By the summer some say) anything with 6 or 8 cylinders is of no interest to me.
Good review.
By the way, the only station I pass on my way to work showed premium at $4.19 as of this morning, up from $3.99 yesterday.
Damn… Just paid $3.62 for 93 octane Shell V-Power last night..
more fun than a barrel of strippers
More fun than a barrel of old, fat strippers! He’s hangin at the wrong clubs. But it was a nice turn of phrase…
Overall, I think the fear that the car would feel “big” or “bloated” compared to the other MINIs is pretty much dead….. Jon, are you out there? 😉
Matt
The Other MINI has just arrived in Malaysia. Head over to <a href="http://www.theothermini.com.my" rel="nofollow">The Other MINI</a> to find out more. =)