I brought up a thread a while back about how the
euro version has 3 back seatbelts, and the US only 2.

Continuing along those lines I was wondering something.

My wife wants to have a baby. She came with 2 girls already,
so, that leaves 4 of us now.

She wants to wait and see about the mini SAV. What
if it
1 gets terrible gas milage
2 is way too expensive
3 doesnt actually get produced by 2010
4 some other such thing

Can a baby seat be stuffed into the middle, and held on
with, those nylon locking straps (not sure of the word)
or some other such thing/way to secure the seat.
I mean, in the middle of the clubman.

Or some similar idea to have it hold 5 (????)

 

I doubt that you can safely secure a baby's carseat anywhere other than where it's meant to sit - i.e. in the two "regular" seats. Even if you could get one in the middle, I think it would be quite a squeeze to get a carseat and two other people back there for anything more than a quick ride. I imagine that it would feel pretty crowded pretty quickly.

 

Even in the back of our Jeep Liberty, it is a tight fit with a car seat and 2 people in the back. I wouldn't want to do it for more than a short trip.

 

My wife would have hit me in the head with a pan had I asked this question, particularly the wording "stuffed". Considering you are now responsible for five lives including your own, I would go with the right tool for the job, which is not a Clubman, or Mini of any flavor. Putting three seats across the back guarantees that the impact felt on one side will most likely injure all three kids as the motion is transferred down the line. Tell the truth, did you consider a roof rack, if only for a second?

 

 

I believe the Clubbie (and correct me if I'm wrong) also has slightly molded seats like the R56, so it wouldn't sit right. Without the proper install, you might as well not use a car seat at all.

 

Easy. Just leave the child you like the least at home

 

or buy a clubman and a coupe you have room for 8 then.

 

Thanks for all the replies

I'm fairly new at this. We all piled into a
72 beetle when I was little. Being stuffed
in seems quite normal.

I guess we'll wait and see what the SAV is like.

A CRV or rav4 is the backup.

Also, no telling what The Man invents by then its
maybe 2 years away.

Maybe we'll keep the Passat and add to the fleet.

I really do appeciate all the comments even the sarcastic ones ha ha.

 

Those times when we, as children, could ride unbuckled and "stuffed" inside a car without risking being pulled over by police are long gone. I grew up in cars with no seat belts, no baby seats, no safety in the least. My parents were suicidal by today's standards but we all made it just fine. Unfortunately, unless you can get your hands on a 5 passenger rear seat Clubman conversion kit, I would never, ever recommend a parent "stuffing" a baby in the middle portion of the rear seat. This is seriously asking for trouble and a big ticket from the cops. Not worth the risks no matter how you look at it. If you love the MINI, get 2 and drive in 2 cars whenever you need to go out as a family. Otherwise, I recommend a vehicle with proper 3 rear seating positions. The BMW 3 series Sportwagon is a terrific car for this purpose. Sure it is more expensive, is not a Clubman but still one of the finest family haulers in the world today. BMW allows you to do Euro delivery (unlike MINI) and get a new BMW 3 series wagon with a 7% discount off USA MSRP prices. Plus BMW throws in 2 tickets in Lufthansa to Frankfurt at no extra charge and up to 1 month European road insurance. The MINI SAV is slated as a 2011 model, meaning that production will not start until late 2010. I do not expect the car to have any worse fuel mileage than the Clubman (AWD models may see a slight drop) but the car will have 4 real doors and slighter better accomodations. But seriously look into the grossly underrated BMW 3 series sportswagon. A fantastic vehicle for 5.

 

ClubmanS - I agree that the BMW Sportswagon is a great car, I traded mine in for my new Clubman. It's also a $40k car, and real-world mileage is probably about half what you'd get in a Clubman. For those that can afford it, it would be an excellent choice in a family car, but I'm not sure if it's on most people's comparison list if they're looking at the Clubman.

 

I have a clubman and my wife has the 328xiT. The 3 wagon is a squeeze and with 2 car seats in the back the "middle seat" is actually useless.

I actually think the clubbie is a better family car than a 3 series. I would like to get the new JCW and get rid of my wife's car. She'd never do it tho.

OP should get acquainted with LATCH. Bungie cords and locking straps are somewhat inelegant.

BTW I average 25 in the MINI and 19 in the 328.

 

25mpg in a Clubman? That's about the lowest number I've heard. You either have a very heavy foot, or you're doing a lot of local low-speed driving, with lots of stops and short trips. The 19mpg on a 328iT sounds about right, but that Clubman average is very, very low, although it's still about 33% better than the BMW wagon.

 

That inline 6 cylinder drinks lots of gas.

 

My Clubman is an S and its i6 drinks alot. JK. I do have a lead foot tho.

I got 30.5 on my first road trip but since then I've been just city-driving with a few quick <5 miles jaunts on the freeway. It can't be very fun to get much better milage.

If I really wanted to save gas I would not have sold my (at the time beloved, now loathed) Prius. My priorities are handling, pickup, and handling in that order.

 

Are you stating that the Clubman S engine is an inline 6?

 

Yeah. He ordered it off the super secret BMW options menu at your local Mini dealer.

Correction about Euro Delivery - BMW does NOT pay for the plane tickets...

 

Did you see two letter, "JK" up there? Hmmm... I wonder what THOSE mean?

 

Thanks.

That is really bad news actually.
Delivery of 2011 won't work for us at all I'm sure of it.

The requirements seem to be
4 cyl (me)
5 ppl (both)
new (her)
sits up high (her)
prefer $25k or less (me)

I guess I'll have to think up a new option.

The mpg on something like a rav4 is decent compared to
a monster truck, but not great at all when you're used
to really good mpg.

 

Yup, for a family I think you're exiting MINI territory. I doubt the SAV will be any/much bigger.

 

I would consider getting a dog instead of a third child. Their overall cost on the environment and your wallet is much cheaper.

 

Having just spent a weekend in Orlando using our Busch passes (Seaworld and Aquatica) with my wife, 5 and 3yr olds I can echo that sentiment. The only saving grace of visiting these particular parks is the availability of the eponymous beverage - gratis

 

lol... I did all the Disney parks with an 8 year old nephew last week. The nice thing about nephews/nieces/cousins is that I can give them back when I'm done having fun with them