A belated posting, picked up our Clubman at the Dealer on Friday afternoon - here are 10 initial (under 3500 rpm) observations.

1. The online configurator and marketing brochures do not do any justice to a Clubman in person, like seeing a baby for the first time - your baby, love at first sight - definitely in the honeymoon phase of the relationship.

2. Break-in period - probably a nice thread out there on the myths/realities of this period, does everyone really wait until 1250 miles to start driving with a little more punch?

3. The ride w/the R/F and Sport Seats was more comfortable than I expected/recalled from the test drive (maybe my test drive had 17" tires w/sport suspension?), ours has 16" and no sport suspension. Love the road feedback, steering is tight and the shifting is clean.

4. MPG - mostly in-town weekend errand driving, 26 MPG, noticed my MPG gets killed as we spend a lot of time in idle loading/unloading the kids or if I run into the store while the family sticks in the car, etc. Also, most of the miles were w/2 adults, 2 kids, power wheelchair (100+ lbs, yes it breaks down and fits in the boot..) and stroller. A change in ballast may improve things during the work week..

5. Roof Rack - had the dealer install it (Inskip), looks great, no leaks in downpours and Thule box arrives this week.

6. Stock Stereo - sounds more than adequate to my un-trained ears, was happy with the iPod Touch sound quality via aux port.

7. Wish I had... after noticing the splatter pattern of the wheel armor-all on the quarter panels, thinking the mud flaps would have been nice to order up-front vs. after-the-fact

8. Brake dust - holy crap!

9. Glad I have... climate package, live in the northeast, power folding mirrors are also very handy in the garage (ours is tight)

10. Central Parking at Logan - the corkscrew ramp was built for a MINI, wish there were 20 levels.

Will post pictures this week.

 

Congratulations!! We'll be looking forward to your photos when you get the chance, too. Love those folding mirrors, too.

 

Brake dust is us! 26mpg isn't unusual around town especially loaded up. 28-9 is pretty good in town.

 

Myth or not, some have said that if you push it during break-in, the on-board computer stores that info and they could use it against you. Probably a myth but I still followed the procedure because I like to play by the rules. Congratulations! I was very happy and still feel the same after almost 5 months.

 

My mpg was in the 26-28 range when I first got the car. It gradually improved as the engine broke in. Now I get in the 30+ range in the city.

Can't wait to see the pictures!

 

Also regarding the brake dust..

Do yourself a favor and get some quality wheel wax (prima wheel armour is great). It will make cleaning the brake dust off infinitely easier!!

 

They store the info to use it against you? Like if the engine fails?

The only way that possibly be true is if you expressively signed a specific piece of paper saying you would keep it under 3500 rpm for x amount of miles. If its just suggested in the manual, that is no binding contract.

How do they know the VDC guys or the dealership didn't dog it? When I see the mini salesmen going to fill up with gas up the street, they are CERTAINLY not under 3500 rpm.

I am calling snopes.com on this one.

 

Congratuations on getting your clubman.

Yes, well i did at least, an I wil also change the oil earlier than the first oil change recommended.

You will probably find it also get a little softer ahs the car breaks in a little.

Glad to hear that the dealer did it for you. removing them when not inuse will increase your gas mileage a little bit. it increased mine by about 2 MPG.

I would recommend not using any Armorall products. there are many ohters that are much a better and at similar costs.

You said it. WOW

It really would be nice if it were more levels but i think we can find you one somewhere. And then you just make a vacation out of traveling there.

Waiting patiently

 

What I've heard is that if you keep it over 90 mph for a little bit, it puts up a "red flag" in the OBC which tells them that the car is in "race" condition. Then if you come complaining about engine failure, it wont be covered by warranty.

I don't know if anyone has verified if this is true or not, but that's what I remember hearing before I bought my car.

Also, I believe in the manual it states to keep it under 4000 rpm, not 3500 rpm. Not a huge difference, but is slightly more doable.

 

Like I said above, unless there is a contract stating the break-in period parameters, and you sign it, this is not possible. You could always take them to court and say the valet at a restaurant did it, or the dealer did it. See how many variables there are?

Personally I think break-ins are more for if you are going to own the car ten years from now, which I will not.

 

Folding Mirrors? Part of a package or standard? How initiated?

 

Part of the Cold Weather package

Owners Manual
Mirrors
Folding Mirrors In and Out

"Turn the (mirror) adjustment **** beyond the pressure point in direction 2. The mirrors can be folded in at speeds up to approx. 20 mph/30 kph."