Hi All,

Not a stranger to auto forums, but new to MINI! Having driven it a few times, I love it. Was a proud owner of a WRX and their i-club, Tacoma/Tacomaworld *still current*, and I know this forum will be as welcoming as ever. Now that I have a wife and child, priorities change but a passion for driving is still burning Need to get out of my truck for a vehicle that sips gas, comfort, and its still a blast to drive. Told myself that I wouldn't touch a darn thing on my Tacoma and leave it stock... didn't happen. I'm now telling myself that I'm going to leave this MINI stock and unmolested. Fingers Crossed. Anyhow, looking into the clubman, and looking forward for all the great support I hope to find here! Thanks everyone!

 

Welcome to the MINI community! I'm sure you'll learn a lot by reading the various threads and forums on NAM.

You didn't mention what model you were thinking about, but based on your past enjoyment of a WRX and the driving experience, I'm pretty sure any turbocharged S, or JCW model will give you the driving enjoying you are looking for.

Spend sometime at your MINI dealer to sit in and test drive a number of MINI models, and you'll find the one that is calling you! Best wishes for your search and be sure to let us know what you get.

 

I really want the Clubman S, but my wife can't drive a stick, so we might as well get the Clubman Cooper. As long as I can still throw it into corners, I'm happy. I commute 90 miles a day to work now, so I'll be happy getting top notch mpg. It's also got the long hearse style that's eye candy to me.

The hardest part is choosing a color combo that I'll love. Not easy at all. 95% heading towards ordering the Hyde Park exterior with the 15" 7-hole. Looks gorgeous with those colors and the 15"s brings thoughts of the original Mini. Tires are super affordable, maintenance without a turbo will be easy, and I get big discounts on all the oils from the Redline warehouse near me.

The only thing that I really hope for is it'll bring me some extreme miles as long as I'm religious about maintenance. My '05 Tacoma has 260k, but I have faith in this car.

One question though, the N16b16 non turbo motor is timing chain, correct?

 

I'd still suggest you test drive a few models...I wonder if you'll be happy with a non-S Cooper after driving a WRX...not even close in driving experience. My wife can't /won't drive a stick, so we got the automatic and I just drive it in the sport mode with the paddle shifters. The S can get almost as good mileage (> 30 hwy) as the non-S if you drive it conservatively.

Even with religious maintenance, MINIs can get expensive to maintain and fix after 100K miles. Good luck with your tough decision!

 

Thanks all. I'll definitely try em all and keep nam updated!

 

I think the Justa Clubbie makes a great daily driver! You won't beat Mustang GTs on the straightaways, but it's plenty zippy, and handles just like the S. And, we you can thrash it all day and still get 30mpg minimum. Caveat - this is my wife's car, she came from a minivan, and I drive a Prius, so it doesn't take much to impress us!

 

Hope you copyrighted the slogan "Justa Clubbie: more fun than a minivan" before someone in MINI marketing uses it! :-)

 

Welcome to NAM, winL. Glad to have you with us. Can't wait to see what the outcome will be to your decision making process. Whatever MINI you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy every driving minute.

 

I just picked up a Clubman S last week, best thing ever! I went from a Dodge Challenger R/T to this, and this Mini gives me a ton of driving fun. Much better for zipping around city streets, that's for sure. And it has great passenger room (front and back), and more than enough cargo space for grocery-getting and such. I did get the manual 6-speed, but my understanding is that the automatics are really great too. Good luck!

 

coming from the evo world myself (which I've still got) I can tell you the Mini is a blast, and I just have the base Cooper.

 

Just got 35 mpg this weekend on a highway trip. Clubman S manual. 75+- cruising speeds. faster up some hills and on boost. They don't tend to point radar guns at the traffic going up the mountain, do they?.

 

Tip: if you buy new, order it with the Sport Suspension. Without it's wobbly and gets upset when you throw it hard into corners.

If you buy used and it's not got the SS, put in a 19mm rear sway bar. $200, an hour of time, and totally fixed the handling. I speak from experience -- my used clubman S didn't have SS and didn't feel like a Mini until I put in the RSB.

 

I just ordered my Clubman S and waiting for 6 (hopefully) more weeks.. I am coming from an Evo X and I test drove the countryman S and clubman S and they immediately put a smile on my face, a blast to drive!

 

Good Stuff man. I ordered mine last night. I did choose the Justa Clubman just for the sake of keeping it simple under the hood. I'm not a big fan of turbo car's strict maintenance, I still believe in the old school maintenance for turbo cars. I put about 30k mi per year, so I'm keeping it simple. I got the BRGII body color, C-Pillar in body color, black roof/mirrors, black 16" twin spokes, black headliner & dash. I did consider the sports seat, but it felt too cramped for my thighs (I'm not a big dude by all means) heated seats, and Automatic (one of the few and only conditions from my wife).

I did my test drive and purchase in SF (it's close to home). The roads in SF Bay Area are one of the worst, and the Clubman is suppose to be my personal cruiser, the regular suspension is exactly what I want, super comfortable!

I'll be working on "most" everything myself. I'll be picking up a ScanGauge II for this vehicle. Since I'll be trying to hit at least 250k in this vehicle successfully, no expenses will be spared. I'll be changing all fluids to Redline at first 3k. Redline 10w-60 for the motor. I understand that motor oil grade use is all personal belief (no one will change anyone's mind). But, I'd like to report to the community as time passes with my maintenance regiment that got my previous vehicles into 250-400k mi territories, and what'll happen to this MINI.

Finally, before I end my rant: this vehicle is one of The most comfortable compact cars, ever; and very engaging/fun too!

Wish me luck in motoring the hell out of this thing!

 

How does one go from a gorgeous Challenger R/T to an S??????

 

Please look into BITOG before running 10w60 for your car - especially if you want to run the car for 250-400k mileage. If anything you want to run thinner before having to go thicker. the thickest i'd ever run is a 0w40, and in reality a thick 10w30. Hopefully you have some sort of knowledge in the matter, not just someone you know spouting nonsense.

Or at the very least, send your oil to be analyzed at blackstone or any other independent oil analysis shop. try a variety of oils, see what comes out as the best for your motor. I think this is a pretty minimal expense as far as maintaining a car for that long. Who knows, I may get surprised - but I doubt it. 70-90% of engine wear is on cold start up, where oil is not up to operating temp and can't lubricate the engine properly. 10w60 seems like a terrible idea, unless that is a typo.

I'm not saying this to challenge you, just looking out for the motor. I've run an 08 justa which I essentially traded in for 13 justa, after 500 miles I'll go to Amsoil 0w30, and probably remain there throughout the cars lifetime. I'll be running UOAs in the summer when I start autoxing the car to see if 0w30 or 10w30 ZROD will give me better protection when the car while its getting run a little harder than normal. Like I said though, run UOAs and see which oil gives your motor the best protection. I guarantee it won't be the 10w60. Thicker/higher grade does not equal more protection

 

Whoops, my bad. I meant 10w-40. I have to run the car a few times to get a good feel of how hot the engine might run. The 0w's aren't needed in the temps around here, I do warm the vehicle up for about 10min before I drive off. If the season for some reason this winter hits lower than ave, I'll be running 10w-30. But 95% of the time I do use 10W-40. The 15W-50 was perfect when I use to live in an area where 97-103F are averages in the summer. I'll stick with 10W-40 first and go from there. Heck, I might even be off because of how this motor behaves! I'll definitely report back and keep you guys updated.

For sure though, I am extremely curious as to how this motor behaves, and how hot it runs. Any inputs are extremely welcomed, I'm always open to learning more, especially on this little motor. And this honestly is the smallest motor I've ever owned.

 

Oh ok whew. Didn't mean to go nuts, was just surprised by the 10w60 - only normal-ish car I know running that is (I believe) the e9x M3.

Just FYI, 0Wx is less viscous at all temps, not just winter temps. So even in hot temps, all the way up to operating temp, 0w flows better than a respective 5w or 10w. also, 10w30 has a lower vicscosity than a 0w40 at all temps. I run 0w30 year round, its the best you can do.

Finally, no need to let the car idle for 10 minutes before driving off. I do 30s-1min max, and even that is considered a lot by some.

 

Yeah, the E46s, E60s all had the 10w-60 recommendations. And BMW switched to it after quite a few motors starting nuking with thinner grades.

 

Good point, and I do look at the flash point too. From experience so far, 40s have been keeping my motors clean, the 30's not so much. One thing I do swear by is letting the car warm up at least two min even if I'm in a rush. It lets all the seals and gaskets seat, set, and expand properly. Coming from a motorcycle background growing up. I'll take that to the grave. None of my past vehicles have any leaks or rebuilds with 250k+, even for the infamous EJ20's and EJ25's in the subies I've had in the past. For sure there's no harm in warming up! I mean... it does drive better warmed up~

 

If you decide you'd like a bit more cornering stability, you can replace the rear sway bar with a stronger one for under $200 and an hour's work. It won't affect the softer ride of the standard suspension but noticeably improves handling. Source: I drive a clubman with non-sport suspension and the 19mm TSW rear sway bar from Way Motor Works.

[QUOTE="winL;3838674Redline 10w-60 for the motor. I understand that motor oil grade use is all personal belief (no one will change anyone's mind). But, I'd like to report to the community as time passes with my maintenance regiment that got my previous vehicles into 250-400k mi territories, and what'll happen to this MINI. [/quote]

I theorize that most modern engines, with moderate care, will outlast the rest of the drivetrain. My wife's 2003 Subaru Outback has over 250,000mi on it. Oil changes tend to be forgotten for 10k at a stretch. The engine is running as well as ever, but it's time to replace some worn CV joints and suspension components. Ymmv.


[QUOTE="winL;3838674Finally, before I end my rant: this vehicle is one of The most comfortable compact cars, ever; and very engaging/fun too! Wish me luck in motoring the hell out of this thing! [/QUOTE]


You'll have a ball! Enjoy!

 

Stupid question, I bought mine used, how do you tell which suspension you have? Mine certainly does not feel bad at all, pretty stiff actually.

 

If you have the original vehicle order info, it will list "sport suspension" if it was added. If not, there is a MINI dealer on NAM who will run your VIN and send you the original BMW build info. I'll go dig that up for you shortly.

 

Try going to bmwarchive.org and type in the last 7 digits of your VIN and you can see all the original options your car has. Presto! = )

Sent from my iPhone using NAMotoring

 

Thanks guys