Ahoy everyone! It's been awhile that I haven't get into here for months. As for today, I'm bringing you another car review, the second-generation modern Mini Clubman, one of the latest models that just unveiled this month by Mini of Malaysia.
In general, the Clubman moniker was once used back in the 70s, where it was belonged to the classic Mini with the square front end. It was supposed to call it the Traveller but the Beemer Co had no interest to buy all these variant names, so they revived the Clubman name with a new vibe.
The new Mini Clubman now gains extra doors at the side, making it to have 6 doors, with the two rear doors counted. It is also wider and longer than it's predecessor, making it easier for entry and exit, and bigger cargo space. Headroom is also bigger than before.
Side profile no longer looks like a hearse thanks to two extra doors for the rear passenger. And obviously, it is longer than the 4-door Mini Cooper. Long gone the stupid "one door at passenger side, and another one and a half door (suicide door) at the driver-side."
You might think that the front section is identical, but it isn't. As I mentioned earlier, the Clubman is wider than before, means that it has a longer "mustache" grille and front fascia.
I don't like the look of the rear tail lamps though. I kinda prefer the previous-gen one with the vertically-positioned ones. But the positive side is, the lights look amazing at night.
Here is the base Cooper Clubman. The front bumper looks conventional like most normal spec Coopers.
This one only has the 17" Net spoke wheels and features white roof paint over the glossy black.
One of the new feature that I loved the most is the Mini Comfort Access. Yup, we know it's a BMW thing, but it's more special than them. As we know, to open the rear door, you have to get close to the back and try to make a "shadow kick" to the sensor, leading to:
Boom! Right door open!
Kicking it again, it goes:
Boom! Left door open! Wait..the word rhymes to it. Kick, kick Boom! Sounds like a new rap lyrics to me. Okay, nevermind then.
The downside of this feature is that it sometimes don't work pretty well at a far range and you have to practice it all over again to make it open at the right angle.
It does have a good amount of space behind, and you can put someone behind. Since it is also a wagon, folding the rear seats down and you can bring tons of long items like a coffin, or maybe not.
This particular Cooper S Clubman has the 18" Black Star spoke wheels. To me, I think silver looks better. Maybe Mini wants to bring this one because most color selection for this one look way darker than before.
Under the hood, the Clubman has two engine options which is similar to every Mini cars. The Cooper S version like this has the inline-4 B48 engine that produces 192 hp at 4700 to 6000 rpm, bringing 280 Nm of torque to the front wheels. The base Cooper trim got the three-cylinder B38 that puts about 134 horses at 4400 to 6000 rpm, whilst producing 220 Nm of torque. Both of these power plants are mated with the Aisin-made 8-speed automatic transmission and the ordinary 6-speed autobox respectively.
Inside, the dashboard gets a Jaguar-ish lounge-looking design to make the Clubman looks elegant over the normal Mini. The air vents as well as the center console have been redesigned especially for the Clubman in order to add premium touches all around.
The Cooper S Clubman gets power seats with memory as standard to make yourself easier to adjust. The normal Cooper Clubman only gets the normal seat.
Also, this one has a burgundy-coloured leather seats. Base models get the black fabric seats. With this color, it really matches the whole car.
Sitting behind, you do get another air vents. Most importantly, it is very comfortable and the headroom is kinda wide since the car is bigger than before.
Electric parking brake, a one-off feature for every Clubman. Better yet, it adds more space.
Like most Minis, there is a drive selector rotary switch around the gear lever to change your driving style and performance whenever you needed. Push it to the left, the iconic Mini center lighting shines from blue to red. Push it to the right, it switches to orange. By pushing it again, it becomes an eco car and showing its eco green ambient lighting. These particular system changes the behavior of the transmission and the electric power steering system whenever you wanna go steadily fast, or go eco.
Alright, it's time to go for a spin.
The drive:
If you recap the previous-gen Clubman, most people do not like them due to the heavy and less helpful power steering system and underpowered due to the extra weight and a smaller 1.6 litre engine. The good news is that Mini just made the Clubman to be perfect with the electric power steering system for better cornering and a better engine. Now that is how they treat a wagon, making it easier to turn and power at the same time for city driving of course. Driving the new Clubman is closely having the same go-kart like feel like most Minis. However when I do a U-turn, the turning radius is a little big compared to the Mini Hatch due to the length. Even though it is heavy, but the 2.0 litre turbocharged engine enables it to tackle the weight. Planting my foot to reach 100 km/h is just about 7.1 seconds, only 0.7 seconds slower than the Hatchback counterpart, but I forgive that because it is a wagon. Visibility is kinda okay for the Clubman, except for the rear view as it is blocked by a center gap due to the fridge-style doors behind. However, you will get used to it if you drive this for a long time. And to be honest, I think this is my first time driving a wagon in my entire life.
Final verdict
The Clubman is another state-of-the-art vehicle made by Mini. It gets all the tech you need, bigger space and most of the luxury amenities that never existed in the Hatchback. If you have a small family and wanted a vehicle with the funky-modern-chic type that makes your long drive journey to be cool and awesome, I really urge you to get one of these. For a typical wagon, you can bring tons of stuffs with the seats fold down behind, or maybe you can bring a miniature casket, for Halloween props. And since it's a Mini, you can bring back the memories of the 70s to your parents.
The Cooper S Clubman only costs around RM 253,888 while the base Cooper Clubman only starts about RM 203,888.
- Thanks to Ingress Auto of Bangsar to provide me a test drive for the new Mini Cooper S Clubman.
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