Mini Wagon rolls
Longer wheelbase Cooper S range-topper
For those of you who find the interior of the Mini hatchback a bit weeny for your needs, BMW is introducing the Mini Clubman, with an extra 80mm in the wheelbase and a much bigger boot.
The engine range is the same as for the hatch, topping out with the 172bhp 1.6 turbo of the Cooper S, although performance is slightly blunted by the extra 65kg the Clubman has to haul around. For example, the Cooper S Clubman has a 0-62mph time of 7.6sec – half a second slower than the hatch.
The Clubman has a pair of barn doors at the back and a suicide rear door similar to that of the Mazda RX-8 on the driver’s side – unfortunately it was deemed too costly to re-engineer the bodyshell for right-hand-drive markets to enable passengers to alight kerbside. At least the stretched wheelbase gives rear passengers welcome extra legroom.
Strictly speaking, of course, to be true to original Mini nomenclature, this new model ought to have been called the Traveller – the original Clubman was just a clumsy Leyland facelift of the standard car. Nevertheless, Clubman it is, and it goes on sale in November with prices ranging from £14,235 for the Cooper to £17,210 for the Cooper S – before options, that is.
