Mini Cooper Engine (2009) - How should it sound?

[Progressive]

Hello all,

Silly question perhaps but anyway... I hadn't even sat in a Mini until yesterday when I test drove two. Car 1 was a late-2009 Mini Cooper Hatch. Car 2 was an early-2008 Mini Cooper Clubman. Both had the 1.6 engine which, I assume (?), is the same unit. Both automatics (the missus 'can't drive' a manual). One notable difference is that the Clubman had a 'sport' button whilst the Hatch did not.

Anyway, I would like to proceed with Car 1, as I preferred it overall. My only sticking point is that the Hatch sounded noticeably different under acceleration and also generally. Not tappety, rattly or like anything was going wrong. Just 'louder'. It drove OK and seemed to pick up as expected. Took it up to 70mph smoothly and drove a variety of roads over two separate test drives. The Clubman seemed quieter, smoother and more refined overall. I am coming from a quiet BMW 3 series (e46) and haven't drove a small car for years. Does something sound wrong here or is this normal and the Hatches are louder than the Clubmans due to how much smaller they are?

The car has 40,000 miles, has just passed its MOT and has FSH from Mini with the last service being three months (and 2,000 miles) ago. It comes with a relatively comprehensive third party 12 month warranty.

Any advice would be much appreciated...

Thanks!

Edited by Progressive on Sunday 1st May 14:19

[Boogs]

Might be worth posting up the links, could be a number of things, bigger wheels, rft etc.

[rigga]

Different exhaust on the clubman, differing sound absorbtion properties of the larger body etc, could be anything, but as long as the engine and running gear itself felt fine then I wouldn't be worried.

[bazza white]

I found the clubby quieter on test drives. The hatch may have a noise maker pipe. I think mine has as the turbo hiss and record noise is quite loud when driving. Mine still pops and bangs to.