Hi all! I attended the mini clubman challenge in Calgary at the Olympic Park site on April 27. Mini Canada let us drive and compare the Mini clubman, mini clubman S, VW GTI 5 door, Mazda3 Sport and the Vovo C30 on the same track. We sat through a presentation that explained the differences of the cars but did not once mention their preference but gave horsepower and other facts. Drivers took us around the track first and those guys could really drive!!! There were sharp curves and an ABS cornering curve that demonstrated the steering under hard braking, then more curves and a straight of way to demonstrate performance and again panic braking.
Both of the minis performed outstandingly and I would give the edge to the auto transmission mini S probably because of my lack of track experience. Second I would rate the VW GTI which had good exceleration but a lot of body roll, next the Mazda3 Sport, nice car but not up to the challenge. I was really dissapointed in the Volvo C30 it was almost dangerous on the track with vague steering and lots of body roll, fading brakes and really poor interior finnish.
I was very impressed by the clubman, I own a silver 04 Mini Cooper S and I thought that the clubman would feel large and clumsy but it proved me very wrong. I could not believe the performance of the Mini Cooper non S, on a short track I thought it did extemely well. Just my opinion, and I would like to thank Mini Canada for the oportunity to Have so much fun at their expense. Sorry for the long post.
Minilui.

 

very cool of MINI Canada to do that ... yeah, the MC non S is a wolf in sheeps clothing. very nimble and tossable, much more so than the S. don't tell the S guys though

I have a Mazda3 currently and it handles much better than one might think, but nothing beats a MINI in the price range as far as handling.