MINI Clubman
You weren't supposed to see this until Sunday, but US sites this afternoon broke MINI's strict embargo. So here goes...This is one for the pedants. The new MINI Clubman is described as a 'five-door'...and it actually is...
On the driver's side, there is now a 'suicide door' behind the driver's door to allow easy passenger access to the rear seat. Add those two doors to the passenger side door and the two 'barn doors' at the rear (not a tailgate or hatch), and you have five doors all up.
The Clubman (more here) adopts a name applied to the original Mini facelifted near the end of the sixties with more angular frontal styling. As for the body style, it harks back to the Mini van sold in Australia alongside the standard Mini sedan.
With the new access points and the longer wheelbase, the Clubman provides a slightly more practical alternative to the standard hatchback and Cabrio versions, without detracting from the essential 'flavour' of MINI.
The information we have to hand is based on European specifications, but we can say that the MINI Clubman improves in the area of crash safety with six airbags, seatbelt force limiters in the front and three-point inertia reel seatbelts for all sets. In the rear seat, child safety capsules can be fastened by means of ISOFIX mounting points. These features help the MINI Clubman attain a five-star rating in EuroNCAP testing.
Drivetrains are as for the R56 models (more here) and the Clubman will introduce a new colour, 'Hot Chocolate', unique to the Clubman.
As standard, the Clubman features 'Brake Assistant', 'Dynamic Stability Control' with hill-start assistance. A limited slip differential is fitted to the turbocharged Cooper S Clubman.
The 'suicide door' on the driver's side of the car is rather more tactfully named the 'Clubdoor' by MINI. MINI says that no other passenger car has one -- although they might be forced to concede that Mazda's RX-8 has two.
Germany will be the first market in the world to see the MINI Clubman on sale, from November 10. That date is one week shy of a year from the launch of the R56 MINI Cooper and Cooper S.
The German market will be able to specify the Cooper S version with the turbocharged 1.6-litre BMW design four-cylinder or the MINI Cooper with the naturally aspirated version of the engine. There'll also be a four-cylinder turbodiesel engine option for European markets.
The turbo engine produces 128kW of power and 240Nm of torque. Torque peaks between engine speeds of 1600 and 5000rpm. An overboost facility lifts torque to 260Nm when required.
Equipped with this engine, the Cooper S Clubman can reach 100km/h from a standing start in 7.6 seconds. Top speed is 224km/h.
Acceleration for the MINI Cooper Clubman is 9.8 seconds to 100km/h and the car's top speed is 201km/h.
The MINI Cooper D (for 'diesel') Clubman actually produces as much torque as the turbo petrol engine in the Cooper S Clubman -- 240Nm -- but actually occurs higher in the rev range, at 1750rpm. As for the Cooper S variant, the Cooper D Clubman features an overboost function and adds 20Nm more torque, just as in the Cooper S. It takes 10.4 seconds for the Cooper D to reach 100km/h from standstill and the top speed is 193km/h -- respectable for a small diesel.
Performance, economy and emissions figures are lineball for the equivalent variants of hatchback and Clubman, according to MINI.
Standard transmission for the MINI Clubman, irrespective of engine fitted, is a six-speed manual. All engines are also offered with the option of a six-speed automatic transmission.
The MINI Clubman is 240mm longer than the hatchback and 80mm of that adds to the wheelbase, making for greater luggage-carrying capacity behind the rear seat. With the rear seat upright, the cargo volume is 260 litres and with the seats folded flat, the cargo volume increases to 960 litres.
The rear seat features a 50/50 split and provides accommodation for two passengers, but some markets may be permitted to option a three-place bench seat.
From the 'B' pillars back, the MINI Clubman has unique panels. The rear doors' colour matches that of the roof. Two colours are available for the roof and rear doors; Silver or Black. Buyers of the Clubman can option the roof and doors in body colour, if they prefer.
Solid colours Chilli Red, Pepper White and Mellow Yellow are joined in the colour selection by metallic colours Astro Black, Sparkling Silver, British Racing Green, Pure Silver, Lightning Blue, Nightfire Red, Dark Silver, Laser Blue and Hot Chocolate
To comment on this article click here
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
