For those who subscribe and have their Sunday's NY Times delivered in parts - you can read it in print today, and probably later today online. Here's my take on the article - if you're interested: http://nemini.org/index.php?topic=10...;topicseen#new As I said, I think the reviewer is short on real car/driver info and long on what I perceive is his own bias.

See what you think when you read it in the Auto section of Sundays' paper.

 

The review is up online:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/au...ws/13mini.html

I wouldn't so much call it a bias as a narrow view--he seems focused on the size / usability of the interior. General tone: it's bigger than the R56, but smaller than some of it's competitors.

My response: Duh, that's the whole point.

 

Here is the link to the NY TImes article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/au...ws/13mini.html

I thought it was a perfectly fair and objective look at the Clubman. I wasn't catching any writer bias; as pointed out in otra's post on nemini.org the NY Times writer is not a devotee--as to be expected in objective journalism. I'm not sure why otra called it yellow journalism, there doesn't seem to be a whiff of the sensationalism or scandal traits of that style.

True the review focuses more on physically interacting with the car that with it's motoring capabilities but since plenty of those already exist from various Car and Driver type sources it's good to suppliment with other reviewer insights and feedback.

Here's the link to the second article referred to by OTRA :
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/au...ef=automobiles

 

Good to see MINI Clubman getting good press.

 

My "yellow journalism" comment was really meant somewhat tongue in cheek. As for the bias - perhaps that's the wrong term, but I felt he was mainly looking at it as a car geared towards "upwardly mobile parents" of toddlers. Not saying they aren't part of the buying public, just saying that this appeared his slant to me. Granted, I am a MINI devotee and my toddler is 18 now. Agreed that the more room factor is key. I did decide to buy the Clubman because I wanted more room for passengers - the grown up kind and the furry kind, as well.

Glad it's online now and hello Jimskater!!!

 

somehow it posted twice?

 

I thought it was a fair review - thanks for posting. The writer did point out the areas where MINI did definitely go for form over function (and this has also been debated to death on NAM). If this was the only review that I had ever read, I would be intrigued enough to go for a test drive.

 

Hey, that's me!!! (and one of the reasons I bought one! )

 

oddly enough MINI is has been pushing the marketing towards more "active" singles rather than folks with young kids.

there are very few cars (heck i can't think of any) that can balance an awesome sporty drive, looks, and be new family friendly.

I was even reading in Automobile magazine some months ago an editorial about the lack of such a vehicle on the market.

 

My story is that I wanted a sporty car that got good gas millage... fell in love with the minis after learning more about them (and riding in my friends' '04 through some canyons)

Went and test drove a few and fell MORE in love w/em.

Then I took the Wife and Kid with me to look. She fought for what seemed like 10 min to get our carseat into the regular mini. Then she spent about 15 seconds to easily get the seat into the Clubman. She looked at me and said "NO MINI! Clubman or nothing!!"

who am I to argue? :P

 

Hey, ColdFyre - you are not alone and I know it. Take me back 17 years and I'd have bought one, too.

rhawth99, I'm glad you found the review positive - and yes, I can believe that the form over function has been "beaten to death"...maybe that's why I yawned through parts of the review?

And lurch70, your point about how you think MINI has been marketing their Clubman is well taken. I really haven't seen many ads at all - except what people have posted on various boards...or on Motoringfile, but from what I have seen, I'd tend to agree with you.

I'm closing in fast on my mid 50's, always wanted a "sports car" but never could afford one. Loved my VW Beetles...became a parent...went the Volvo route (240 I think it was...pre front wheel drive), went the Jeep route, went the Subaru Outback route...and one day sitting in traffic on my daily commute and eyeing a beautifully restored Kharman Ghia...I thought "If not now when?" and began researching the MINI Cooper. The rest is history.

I think they have produced MINIs, including The Clubman, that span the ages, sexes and cover the concept of great driving, well put together cars - and fun - quite well. But then I would think that.

 

This is the EXACT reason I got the Clubman, the article got it dead on.

More rear cargo room, better rear seat access and comfort, still fun to drive, small enough to park in the city, and cool enough for me and my girlfriend.

Scion markets to people my age, but the Scions now are either overweight pigs with Camry engines or cheap cars with interiors that are full of too much hard plastic and uncomfortable seating surfaces. If they spent a little more money making them nicer, they might be worth the price and the performance hit.

 

I thought the overall review was fair, but I didn't get the focus on the utility of the Clubman for upscale Cobble Hill parents versus the original MINI. I'm sure some families will find the Clubman an ideal car for infants/todlers, but the majority of families will not be considering anything like the Clubman. Cobble Hill is not Main Street, and this is The New York Times, not USA Today. Also, describing a neighborhood as "baby-choked" is not exactly complimentary. The Times is a great paper, but it can be a bit parochial.

 

Hi Otra.. and everyone else, thanks for the article.
I'm new to NAM and MINI in general.
The article was mostly dead on for me. The the reviewer hit most of my Hmmm's on the head. The shopaholic comment was so, so true. I spent 2500 bucks more than I what I intended. Thank GOD my husband is almost as in love with this car as I am. I started new car shopping last December after my 91 Integra gave me a wakeup call with a small electrical fire. I researched EVERYTHING. For example, is anyone aware of the Toyota/Lexus class action lawsuite for 1.6 mil awarded to consumers with total engine failure due to oil "gelling?"
The Clubman brought the MINI Cooper into our realm of possibilities, and hands down is the only car that has ever plastered a smile on my face.

 

Yea, for some reason Toyota designed an engine with higher operating temps than the oil could handle, and that meant the oil sort of congealed and stuck to the valve cover and such. Sludge sucks. Something you may expect on a car that's 10 years old, but not a car that's still in warranty!

Honda as well. I own a Honda and it's on its 2nd transmission due to a manufacturer defect, and the new 5 speed autos in the Civic are also kind of shaky. It helped me make my mind up quick!

 

I was talking to my dad about it and he was saying that the only time (he used to work as a mechanic in the 70's and early 80's) he's ever experienced oil sludge was with two different engines one with Quaker State and one with Penzoil. He sent samples for analysis and it was traced back to bad batches with both, so now he dosn't use either!

 

...and oil sludge has what to do with the Times review???

 

Where did that come from - a different thread?

 

Oh, does this place actually try to stay 'on topic'?

That's a change for me

 

How 'bout those Yankees!

 

How 'bout them Red Sox (even though we did lose to the D... Yankees.

I guess my wife and I qualify as yuppies, and the fact that the carseat fit well helped seal the deal on the Clubman. However, she drives an Escape Hybrid, so it will be for hauling the crumb snatcher 95% of the time.

And I don't care if it is more "loaf" than "muffin". Love the styling, love the handling, and can't wait to take my very own version home....

 

Hi Miniclubman,

Oil sludge has to do with the Times Review only in that in a round about way it brought me to the world of MINI which I never would have considered until the Clubman, which is directly related to the NY times article. Sorry to offend.

 

I wasn't offended at all, sorry if I gave that impression. It was just my attempt to nudge the thread back on topic, but it came across as more of a shove than a nudge. Good luck with your new Clubman!