MINI CLUBMAN
The Mini Clubman is a not-so-mini Mini, but does it still deliver The Thrill of Driving?
Is it too much of a stretch?
IT STARTED WITH THE ITALIAN Job. I remember sitting glued to the television, with the VCR player humming in the background as the tape played. I remember my six-year-old brain not being able to comprehend what Michael Caine was doing or saying on screen, or what the movie was about in the first place. But I do remember the three Mini Coopers zipping around on footpaths, down staircases, into busses and then eventually rolling down cliffs. I’m pretty certain I didn’t know what a Mini was at the time, but somehow, the thrill that I got from watching those three little cars on that television screen has stayed dormant in my subconscious.
As a teenager, I’d read about what a hoot the Mini Cooper was in just about any auto magazine I could get my hands on. I’d heard of its ‘go-kart-like’ handling, its hot hatch cred, the way it delivered The Thrill of Driving time and time again. I’d seen them, sat in them but never managed to get behind the wheel of one. I was immensely curious about what that would feel like, and waited a long, long time for it to happen. Imagine my disappointment when the key to the first Mini I’d be driving was to ‘the most practical Mini yet’. No, this wasn't even a Cooper 5-door. That clearly wasn't practical enough, because they went ahead and made this. This is the Mini Clubman. It’s bigger, more practical and… it has six doors.
That’s one of the major changes here — the split tailgate that swings outwards. It was first seen on the previous generation Clubman (which never made it to India) and has been carried over to this new one as well. But that isn’t the only difference between this and the Cooper 5-door. The Clubman is the largest production Mini ever built (we’re not counting Dakar buggies here, duh) and at 4.2 metres long and 1.8 metres wide it is longer than the 5-door Cooper by 270mm and wider by 90mm. The wheelbase is longer by 100mm as well, and all this translates to a lot more space inside the cabin. Oh joy! But the changes are more that just skin deep. To make the Clubman more usable on a daily basis and on longer drives, the suspension set up has been revised and made a little softer. What Mini is essentially trying to do is tap in to those people who’re considering more conventional alternatives from the German big-three, but can’t seem to get over the Mini badge tugging at their heartstrings. But can the Clubman, after all
Mini is trying to tap in to those who are considering a more conventional option from the German big-three
that’s been done to it to make it more usable, still tug heartstrings?
To be fair, it still has a lot going for it on that front. The Clubman is only available in the Cooper S guise, and that means it gets BMW’s punchy 2-litre in-line four engine with a twinscroll turbocharger. This comes mated to an 8-speed auto ‘box that sends drive to the front wheels. It also shares its UKL1 platform with the other Coopers. So that means a lot of the dynamics of the smaller car should manifest itself here. Which is precisely why I have brought the car up to our favourite driving road around the evo India base. The road up to Lavasa features plenty of twists and turns and will put the Clubman’s fun-cred to the test.
Shifting the driving mode selector at the base of the gear lever to Sport and pinning the throttle, the Clubman flings itself at the first set of corners up the hill. Sport mode changes a lot of how the car behaves — the steering becomes much more weighted, the throttle is more sensitive to inputs, gearshifts are quicker. The engine is super refined and once the turbo is spooled up, the tacho needle makes a quick dash for the redline. Up here in the twisties, it is far more fun to slot the gearbox in to Sport and move up and down the cogs using the steering wheel-mounted paddles. If you do leave it in auto though, the gearbox is quick to respond to your inputs and rarely has you reaching out for the left paddle. The steering gives you a tremendous amount of confidence — it is super-sharp, turn the wheel and the car darts in to the corner belying the fact that this is such a big car. The heft is perceptible, but not as much you would expect. The suspension is softer, but I think this adds to the experience more than taking away from it. I clearly recollect the Mini Cooper S being a little skittish over mid-corner imperfections in the road, when I was up here sitting shotgun with Anand. The Clubman was far more composed, the suspension cushioning the ride while keeping the tyres in constant contact with the tarmac. And it does all this with minimum body roll, and real tight body control around bends. Spec your car with the optional dynamic dampers and things should be even more fun around the twisties.
However, Sport mode is too dialled in for the city and Mid mode is more suited for daily use. The steering lightens up, the car is less sensitive to throttle inputs and the gearbox upshifts well below the red line. The engine though is still responsive and the driving experience is
engaging. You know, even as you’re overtaking cars from one stop light to the next, that you are in something special. Green mode on the other hand, really kills the Mini experience. In a bid to save fuel, the throttle response is really dull. What is interesting though is that the Clubman has an engine decoupling feature, where it disconnects the engine from the rest of the drivetrain while coasting between 50kmph and 160kmph, allowing the engine to idle and minimising fuel consumption. But all this again, has been done in the name of practicality. Speaking of which, there is far more space inside the cabin. Your passenger sits further away, and the back is far more spacious. You also get a relatively big boot – 360 litres with the rear seats up, and 1250 litres with them folded. Imagine the amount of gold they could have squeezed in to this not-so-mini Mini Clubman, compared to the tiny Cooper S they used in their heist!
As for the way it looks, an untrained eye could be forgiven for mistaking it for the standard Cooper from the front. Mini has tried to retain the retro Cooper styling, and haven’t really experimented like they did with the Countryman. Things change on the side though, and the estate-style rear end sets it apart from the other Minis. The most odd (yet striking) angle is the rear, with the split tailgate. I honestly don't see how this aids practicality though, it is a neat party trick. On the inside, it retains the funk of the other Coopers, with polished knobs and switches adorning the dash and the hard-to-miss 8.8-inch screen taking centre place.
Safe to conclude though, that the Clubman is a whole lot of fun. However, it is also expensive. The standard car is `38.5 lakh, and the options list is long and pricey. Something that you would take for granted like a reversing camera is a `45,ooo option. However, while driving up and down the hills around Lavasa, and even while scuttling around the city that didn’t really matter. I couldn’t help but imagine what Michael Caine felt while hooning around in his Mini, trying to shuttle his stolen gold to safety. Minis may have grown considerably in size since then, and this one is the portliest of the lot, but it is a car that hasn’t forgotten its roots. The Clubman still delivers The Thrill of Driving and does so in spades. ⌧