After reading several reviews and watching a few video reviews:

I'm impressed with the:

• Design - the Clubman looks like a Mini
• Increase in rear legroom
• Club door design, both appearance & function (ease of entry / exit)
• Reports that indicate that the Clubman still has MINI agility despite the added length & weight
• Reports that state the longer wheelbase results in better ride quality.

I wish MINI had given rear visibility (ability to safely change lanes on crowed urban streets & interstates) and function greater priority over uniqueness and appearance. A hatchback like the Cooper and most wagons would have been preferable:

• The combined effect of limited rear visibility from the divided rear window, c-pillars, and rear headrest is a definite disadvantage mentioned by more than one reviewer.
• An open hatchback acts as an umbrella when it rains and one is loading/unloading or when one has long cargo that prevents closing the hatchback.
• It obviously takes 2x as long to open or close 2 doors - not helpful during a downpour.
• With a hatchback, the door is completely up and out of the way when loading bulky or long items or in tight parking or loading zone situations.

I'm sure some will feel that the barn doors are essential to the personality of the Clubman due to the design of the original Traveler & Clubman. However, I think all the positives bullet points listed above are more than sufficient to make the Clubman unique and appealing. In the case of the barn doors, I think MINI may have taken uniqueness & heritage too far for today's crowed metropolitan areas.

 

*I wish MINI had given rear visibility (ability to safely change lanes on crowed urban streets & interstates) and function greater priority over uniqueness and appearance. *

I do wonder how well the visibility will be in the rear with how those barn doors close. Hopefully it won't be too bad. I guess will just have to see how it is in person.

 

See the fourth image in this review.

 

Well that sucks. The middle does look annoiying sort of and lowers visibility Those head rests look like they might be an ubstruction too, but those can be removed probably.

 

After having a suburban with the barn doors for 9 years, and now having a suburban for the last 10 years with out the barn doors, I find I prefer the barn doors. The loss in visibility becomes a non-issue after a short while of getting used to it, and is easy to compensate.
In the case of suburban I have a tail gate now, which makes the loading a different issue than with my Mini, so I won't speak the ease of loading issue, but that does contribute to my preference on the suburban. I do plan to replace by 2002 cooper with a traveler, and I won't mind the barn doors, but I'm not a big fan of giving up the torsional rigidity that the half side door causes. I need to see the weather stripping to see how much of an issue Mini engineers think the flex willl be. Stop by a Mazda dealer and look at the weather stripping on an RX8 and you will see what I mean... it's huge and designed for significant gaps to stay sealed in motion.

 

The clubman weighs about the same as the current Cabrio so performance should be similar. The lengthened wheelbase will probably contribute to better ride quality over bad roads. The gokart response will probably be similar to the Cabrio too.

 

In the photo the Passenger head rest is half way up, which does obstruct your vision.
With them both all the way down the view is improved dramatical. (The rear head rests in the lower position are sightly higher than the read seat.)

This is what a discovered at the San Fran autoshow, with ends on the 2nd Dec

 

While the MPG is pretty decent, I wish it were better. And I wish the cargo room was a bit more.

Its gonna be a tuff choice for me to trade in my '05 Scion xB for a Clubman. Seeing that the xB gets better MPG & has more room, while virtually taking up the same size footprint.

I REALLY wish they would release the diesel engine Clubman for the US. I'd be all over that & could cope with the cargo space.

Decisions.

 

it's a station wagon

 

Regarding mileage, check out this thread about the 2007 Cooper and Cooper S. I realize that the Clubman has a slightly different shape and weighs 175 more pounds, but they're rated the same on the MINI website, so, hopefully mileage will truly be similar. If you get the automatic transmission, your mileage will be significantly lower.
Oh, have you test driven the 2007 Cooper yet? You should try it out as it should be a very similar experience to the Clubman.

 

This seems like a major blunder to me. Along with all those negative I can imagine the production costs associated with the different rear doors. Sometimes BMW needs to be a little more like the Japanese. I understand they wanted unique styling but I am pretty sure most people would have accepted a lower price tag and a rear hatch.

 

The Barn Doors are a major point for me as it helps to load and unload the dogs. With a hatch they can all scramble out at once. And you don't want to be the one chasing down Greyhounds and a Doberman in traffic. With the Barn Doors I can control them. Actually the little side door will be extremely helpful too as long as the 141 pound Doberman doesn't get wedged in it.

 

Thanks for the link. That alleviates some of my concerns. I didnt know that the Cooper & Clubman were rated the same MPG. I also never owned a standard before, but I dont mind giving it a go, especially with these cars. It looks like it gives significantly better results as far as MPG.

Yeah, I test drove a Cooper a few weeks ago. I loved it. Really solid driving & a well built machine overall with attention to detail. Certainly more than my xB.

The cargo Im willing to overlook, its good enough. Fuel efficiency & quality/safety are my biggest concerns & while I would like a tad better MPG, it looks like this Clubman just might fit the bill.

 

TheWrks, Did you happen to take a photo with the passenger head rests down while you were at the SF Autoshow?

 

Here is the Clubman I wish Mini had built (without the wood).
The discussion of this special Clubman can be found in this thread starting with post #5.

 

Sorry I did not but I will be at The INDY show next and they are suposed to have one. I will be driving from MI to the show so I will take my camera to get better photo's

Scott

 

Scott,

Thanks for offering to take a picture at the Indy show with the head rests down. It would be great if you could shoot the image from the same perspective as the 4th image in this review - what is seen in the rear view mirror.

 

Shame Shame ... It's NOT a wagon!! If MINI or BMW intended for the Clubman to be a wagon, I'm sure it would have looked for like a Passat or STI or place brand here either way you get the point ... and ... most importantly ~ had more doors!

 

Rear visibility issues are severely overstated, imo. I do not find it to be a problem. The car drives very, very well and it's all MINI!!!

 

I personally find the whole argument about the Clubman having a bad rear visibility pretty lame. I totally got used to it.

The ride quality is like 2% better on the Clubman, but you won't really notice any difference. I've driven a Cooper S R56 with sportsuspension and 17 inch wheels, and yes the Clubman has a slighty better ride (it's definitely more stable) but it's still very hard!

 

The bar through the rear view window was a little wonky at first, but you get used to it just like any other MINI quirk. I can't see how it's going to be a serious issue unless you're in the habit of being tailed by very thin guys on bikes.

The Clubman S I test drove handled just as well, if not better than my Cooper S. It seemed to feel a bit more stable in situations like high speed highway on/offramps. (Probably due either to the slightly extended wheelbase, or my mind playing tricks on me.)

 

In regards to the barn door design, considering I live in Arizona, most of the rain issues are a moot point. As far as the visibility for vehicles directly behind, I find that I'm using the side mirrors most of the time unless I'm checking out a smokin' girl at a stop light.

We'll see how our opinions change once we all get our vehicles...will be good to compare notes and see if we change our stance.

 

That sums it up quite nicely