AUSmotive.com Clubman S Review
If you haven’t noticed, one of our new favorite automotive sites is AUSmotive.com.
>Which brings me to the inside of the car. Some parts of the test car were great, the wood trim with cream highlights just one example. While others were just plain wrong, the ghastly brown door trims the standout here. Again, thankfully with MINI you get countless options and there are better choices available. I could bore you with the details of why I prefer the look and layout of my 2004 Cooper S over the Clubman, but unless you own an R53 Cooper S you probably wouldn’t notice such things. Suffice to say, the centre stack aside, which houses the HVAC and radio controls, the new generation of MINI are a definite step forward in terms of interior build quality. The use of materials has, for the most part, stepped up in quality and simple things, like the indicator stalk, don’t feel like they will fall apart. The large centre mount speedometer, while very big, does not feel oversized and it was not until I hopped back into my MINI, with its smaller centre dial, that I realised just how big the new speedo really is.
And finishing with this.
>n conclusion, then, I found the Clubman Cooper S to be a car that faltered on first impressions, both visually and behind the wheel. However, with time spent driving and using the car, these impressions proved to be false and were gladly overcome with no lingering feelings of strong distaste. As a pure driving tool the Clubman Cooper S is a car that gets better the harder you push it. As a city car, the engine’s low down torque makes it easy to drive and a delight to use.
This makes total sense as I’ve heard that there is a little bit of ‘getting used to it’ involved with the Clubman.
Great review and photos. Check them out below!
[ MINI Cooper Clubman S ] AUSmotive.com
A great review from Australia, if you didn’t notice.
Interesting comments about the Clubdoor which are applicable to most of the other RHD countries not mentioned.
Well this ought to solicit the usual grousing over the center stack, build quality, cheapness, being designed by accountants, blah blah blah…
Guys, if you liked Liams review, I also reccomend you checkout his other site, <a href="http://www.ausringers.com" rel="nofollow ugc">http://www.ausringers.com</a>; it covers his other passion – the nurburgring.
Also – keep an eye out for his review of the BMW 135i coming up on ausmotive soon…
Glad that this article picked up succinctly on the “Clubdoor”. In order to be useful for people to access the rear seats, you need to move or tilt the front seat forward. In Australia (and other right-hand drive markets) – this means the driver’s door. So when there’s someone in the driver’s seat, it’s impractical to use the Clubdoor. This factor was one which turned me off the Clubman purchase decision in lieu of a possible future MINI AWD variant with four doors for full front and rear seat access.
Once you start adding acessories, the Clubman S price jumps up into the AUD$60k-70k price range. Australia is currently going through an increase in the luxury vehicle tax rate to 33%, as well as increasing fuel prices (like the US). Add to this the current higher inflation rate, it will be interesting to see what happens to Australia’s MINI sales figures over the next year or two.
Good through review, nce read but long like that guy’s reviews over at TwistyBitz.
Well said Aussom – the LHD market people just dont get the inconvenience of the Clubdoor or give a hoot.