Thursday 25th June 2015

New Mini Clubman launched

Six doors, three models and £20K upwards for latest Mini Mk3 variant

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Traditionalists best avert your gaze now. The Mk3 Mini, the largest and arguably ugliest of all the BMW Minis, has become larger and uglier still. With even more doors. Welcome to the new Clubman.

In case you hadn't guessed

Its styling is clearly influenced by the recent Vision Gran Turismo car; familiar from the hatch to the windscreen and then, well, sort of a lot more Mini. The Clubman is described as "a contemporary reinterpretation of its predecessor's design, combining sporting style with outstanding functionality." It's 270mm longer than a five-door with 100mm of that in the wheelbase and it's 73mm wider too. Mini says the boot is 360 litres, extendable to 1,250 litres with seats folded. And of course people can now reach those rear seats with the addition of actual rear doors (!).

Inside is pretty much unchanged from the hatch, with the usual raft of personalisation and infotainment upgrades available. New on the options list are electrically adjustable seats and 'Yours Interior Styles', which highlights the door trim with illuminated decorative strips... Sat-nav is standard on every model and of course upgradeable.

Reckon this is Pure Burgundy?

From launch there are three Clubmans available: the range starts at £19,995 for the 136hp Cooper, with a £22,265 Cooper D and £22,755 Cooper S also available. With a £2,785 Chili Pack expected to be added into the majority of cars, along with the auto 'box option (six-speed in the Cooper, eight-speed in the others) and various others, it will surely become very easy to spec a near-£30K Clubman. Lordy.

Cars are available to order now, with first deliveries expected in the autumn. When's the van coming Mini?

.

[HeMightBeBanned]

All I have is 'meh'

[GTEYE]

IMHO its actually not the ugliest of the Mk3 Minis, that has to be utterly grotesque 5 door.

Still hardly a looker though.

[chibbard]

Please KILL IT WITH FIRE !!!! Horrid things....

[toppstuff]

I like it. Don't understand the hate.

Its distinctive and with some character - something missing in a lot of cars.

Its also practical, good to drive and dealers are generally excellent. Overall ownership experience with Minis is very good.

Don't see much to dislike.

[Liquid Tuna]

I like the interior.

[toppstuff]

And another thing - why is PH complaining about the price?

VW charge similar sums for a Golf and that is generally as exciting as a Miele Dishwasher. Plenty of people seem to be happy to pay £30k for one of them...

[alock]

toppstuff said:

I like it. Don't understand the hate.

Its distinctive and with some character - something missing in a lot of cars.

Its also practical, good to drive and dealers are generally excellent. Overall ownership experience with Minis is very good.

Don't see much to dislike.

It's preferable to the vast majority of cars people choose as their family car. It's distinctive, practical, good to drive and cheap to run with low depreciation.

[Turbobanana]

toppstuff said:

And another thing - why is PH complaining about the price?

VW charge similar sums for a Golf and that is generally as exciting as a Miele Dishwasher. Plenty of people seem to be happy to pay £30k for one of them...

For me, it's the distance between this and the idea of the original Mini (or even the first of the BMW Minis, come to that): it's no longer a groundbreaking, cleverly-packaged small car. It's conventional in every sense except its individual style, and that's not enough for me.

[WCZ]

does anyone know whether they're likely to make a clubvan version of this?

[0llie]

As I had been hoping all along, this is definitely the best looking 'F' designated MINI so far.

Actually IMO it's probably the best looking MINI since the last Clubman, 8 years ago since that was launched!

[SPD14]

As a former owner of an R53 Cooper and Cooper S, I thought the R56 looked too bulbous, but the latest version takes the biscuit! Why on earth are though tail lights so massively out of proportion?!! All of the latest MINI variants look horrendous.

[0llie]

WCZ said:

does anyone know whether they're likely to make a clubvan version of this?

MINI are currently neither confirming nor denying at present. Apparently in the UK the last one exceeded sales expectations, so I'd say it's likely.

[Megaflow]

I thought we'd already had 1st April?



Seriously, that is a joke... isn't it... look at that back end...

[toppstuff]

Turbobanana said:

toppstuff said:

And another thing - why is PH complaining about the price?

VW charge similar sums for a Golf and that is generally as exciting as a Miele Dishwasher. Plenty of people seem to be happy to pay £30k for one of them...

For me, it's the distance between this and the idea of the original Mini (or even the first of the BMW Minis, come to that): it's no longer a groundbreaking, cleverly-packaged small car. It's conventional in every sense except its individual style, and that's not enough for me.

Really, you have to let go of the Issigonis Mini malarkey and just accept the car for what it is - a distinctive, well engineered car that makes an excellent purchase choice. It is infinitely more interesting than anything VAG have to offer.

It is what it is. And in the modern world, no "Mini" is ever going to be as small as the original while somehow not having the structural integrity and strength of a paper bag and pass all the crash tests...

Seriously, let go of the old Mini legacy and ask yourself the simple question - is there any other small (ish) car range that is as imaginative as this ? All the other makers are churning out same-looking boxes.

[Bungleaio]

SPD14 said:

As a former owner of an R53 Cooper and Cooper S, I thought the R56 looked too bulbous, but the latest version takes the biscuit! Why on earth are though tail lights so massively out of proportion?!! All of the latest MINI variants look horrendous.

This, even the size of the badges is silly.

[AlexHat]

To me those rear lights seem to be slightly hypnotising...'do you want to play a game?' it's called how ugly can we make a MINI

[WCZ]

0llie said:

MINI are currently neither confirming nor denying at present. Apparently in the UK the last one exceeded sales expectations, so I'd say it's likely.

nice, hope they offer a cooper s version !

[C.A.R.]

SPD14 said:

As a former owner of an R53 Cooper and Cooper S, I thought the R56 looked too bulbous, but the latest version takes the biscuit! Why on earth are though tail lights so massively out of proportion?!! All of the latest MINI variants look horrendous.

"Retrostyling" (a genuine thing) relies on taking something old and modernising it.

The original 'BINI' was great - not the warmest reception from the patriotic brits but BMW surely did a better job than Rover / MG would have at reinventing the Mini for the 21st Century.

Now though, one assumes that buyers of that MINI are fixated on sticking with the same car but want something newer. Hence BMW re-designing a re-design of the original retro-styled design. The styling cues become out-of-proportion expressions of their former selves, forever having to evolve and change to maintain an interested audience. The original Mini didn't change much during its' long production lifecycle, but modern cars must change every few years to keep up with this disposable modern attitude - once a new 'facelift' is released the old models become less desireable and so this increases demand for the newer model - people wanting to keep up with the current trend.

It's sad, really.

[24lemons]

Turbobanana said:

For me, it's the distance between this and the idea of the original Mini (or even the first of the BMW Minis, come to that): it's no longer a groundbreaking, cleverly-packaged small car. It's conventional in every sense except its individual style, and that's not enough for me.

You cant reinvent the wheel with every new car you launch. For a modern mass produced car to be commercially viable I suppose it has to be conventional in many ways. The styling issue will always divide opinion but wouldn't life be boring if everyone drove around in VW Golfs?

For what it's worth, I used to have a clubman but got rid of it because of the poor build quality and constant rattles. My girlfriend has just bought a new style MINI cooper hatch and the difference is night and day. I may even consider buying another MINI in the future.

Oh, and as for the people who constantly complain about MINI's not being Mini any more,

1, People have been saying that for 15 years or so since the first BMW MINI came out, I'ts boring and means nothing.
2, Try making a car the size of the original while conforming to modern safety regs and see how you get on!!!

[Turbobanana]

toppstuff said:

Turbobanana said:

toppstuff said:

And another thing - why is PH complaining about the price?

VW charge similar sums for a Golf and that is generally as exciting as a Miele Dishwasher. Plenty of people seem to be happy to pay £30k for one of them...

For me, it's the distance between this and the idea of the original Mini (or even the first of the BMW Minis, come to that): it's no longer a groundbreaking, cleverly-packaged small car. It's conventional in every sense except its individual style, and that's not enough for me.

Really, you have to let go of the Issigonis Mini malarkey and just accept the car for what it is - a distinctive, well engineered car that makes an excellent purchase choice. It is infinitely more interesting than anything VAG have to offer.

It is what it is. And in the modern world, no "Mini" is ever going to be as small as the original while somehow not having the structural integrity and strength of a paper bag and pass all the crash tests...

Seriously, let go of the old Mini legacy and ask yourself the simple question - is there any other small (ish) car range that is as imaginative as this ? All the other makers are churning out same-looking boxes.

You're absolutely right, of course, but the word "Mini" by definition means small so is completely misplaced here. Perhaps they could call it "Maxi"? Oh, wait...