Ok, I guess I have not been around here much lately, it would appear this thing is being sold.... did not see one at my local Mini dealer... are they out yet? What is the point to this thing? Is this for people thay actually want to be able to use the back seat (because the current Mini, you pretty much move the seat all but 2" from the back seat, so no one can sit back there)? Is the overal length more? Isn't there allot more weight in the back? Doesn't this kill the performance? I guess this would provide more stereo space :>

 

I will attempt to answer your questions, in order:

They are on display at auto shows, but have not been released for sale in the US yet.
Improved profitability for BMW Group AG.
Yes.
Yes.
175 pounds more weight, but not all behind the rear wheels.
No.

 

Yep Tazio covered it all

 

Early reports are that it is difficult to tell you are in the larger car from the driver's seat; performance is down but not by much - it's about the same as adding a passenger to the coupe. In return for this slight reduction in performance, you get a very useable back seat. Sounds like a pretty good tradeoff to me.

- Mark

 

The mini third door also makes rear seat access much, much, better.

 

I'll throw one back at you.....What's the point of our current MINIs? As with any car development, it's called the evolution of progress for your 25" sub-woofer! I think the Clubman is kind of cool. The official sale date for the U.S. is not until sometime in February 08.

 

Sales, marketing.

LA Auto Show ends today, They have 4 at the show, 3 you can get in. They seem to be very popular at the show.

 

Well, I'll tell you this. To me, there was no point in the MINI Cooper. I always loved the Cooper, but would have never considered one because it just isn't practical for a primary car (for most people). And I dont have the luxury of owning a "play" weekend car. I think MINI saw that there were A LOT of people like me who wanted one, but couldnt bring themselves to do it for those very reasons.

The performance hit for the Clubman is minimal, but the benefits are grand.

 

Not practical for a primary car? Why is that? Oh wait, you are going to say something about families, kids.... I know nothing of that :>

 

It's so those folks with the baby carseats don't have to do 3 yoga poses before they can put the little baby in.

 

its MINI for me and my 2yr old. hes getting to heavy to toss in the back. that door was made for my my son. almost like magic.

 

Well, no. I dont have any kids either. "Practical" meaning just the way it sounds. You cant haul much in the Coopers, you cant fit passengers easily in the back, getting in & out for them is a pain, not much legroom for everyone, etc. Now, if you dont have passengers very often & dont wanna haul things besides groceries & such, then the Cooper will suit those people just fine for their main car.

The Clubman isn't a "family car" by any means (but I suppose it COULD be). Its just not so much of a PITA to own as a primary car compared to the Cooper for most people. And it is nice to know that if you DO decide to knock your women up, you wont have to sell the thing like so many Cooper owners do.

 

In fact, you might call the Cooper "practical" for those people. And there are quite a few of those people out there.

The MINI is "practical" for me because it has sufficient cargo space when I need it (by folding down the rear seats) and yet can squeeze into street parking spots other cars could not fit into.

I don't doubt that you did not find the Cooper practical for you, but there is a big can of worms associated with declaring it "impractical for most people" around these parts...

 

I went from an Isuzu Trooper as my daily driver to a MINI Cooper 5 years ago. I can get LOTS of stuff in my MINI! I live out of it every spring for my annual two-month road trip. It is truly amazing how much I can pack and still have full visibility.

I was fortunate enough to participate in a market research survey in January 2006 which required me to sit in a new Clubman (called "Project X" by the survey folks ), front seats and back. The coach door (the cool little third door on the passenger side) will make using the backseat much more practical, and as edbear67 said, won't require 3 yoga poses to enable loading a child's carseat.

 

Exactly, what would be impractical is a Mini the same too long length as other cars that cannot fit in those little between drive way spaces in SF And it is true the current Mini can hold a lot of stuff, its been our primary hauler for some time (although the M Coupe could also hold a surprising amount in its little breadvan hatch ). Guess it boils down to using the back seat a bunch.

I'll have to test drive one to verify any conjecture it handles like the mini Mini - also curious to see how much space the cargo van rear doors need to open.

 

I checked out the clubman at the LA auto show. I noticed that there is not a heck of a lot more legroom for the back seat. If you pull the front seats all the way back, you are still scrunched. There is more Boot room and the third door gives you better access. I don't really see the advantages for me and I like the shorter footprint of the mini.
Another bad thing for me is that Mellow Yellow was not on the configurator

I saw a JCW MY MCS at the show as well. Now that car looked fast and sexy! I'll have to remember that when I buy my next mini in 5 years
All in all, I love my 3 week old MC! 2400 miles and counting!

 

Because wagons are cool.

 

When I had the rear-facing car seat, it was really easy! I had her in the backseat in about 5 seconds each time! Now the front facing, that may be more difficult.

 

My Cooper is my primary car and since it's just me back an forth to work most days it's very practical. My other car is a 11 year old GMC 1/2 ton that only gets about 18-20 mpg, so it sits most days while the cooper is out running with 30-35mpg. If you look at the drivers commuting to work I expect a good 50% could easily get away with a smaller car.

 

^+1

If you can only have *one* vehicle, and it has to handle *everything* you might ever need to do, no matter how infrequently, then a MINI might not be practical. My wife and I both have MINIs as our everyday cars without undue burden, though.

But, we also have a 25-year old Dodge 4X4 that gets used about a half-dozen times per year for things like trips to the landfill and bringing home really large purchases that won't fit in a convertible MINI with the top down.

 

Please tell us what you think about miatas, porsches, etc... I wouldn't call 'em practical but they sell buttloads of them. The MINI is practically a SUV compared to those.

 

I like the Clubman concept. If it had been available in feb of this year, I would have bought it. The reviews indicate that the extra length improved the ride without destroying the handling.

 

The backseat of the Mini is adequate for an adult if the seat is about halfway up, I just did this recently. With 3 inches of extra legroom in the Clubman it should be way better. 3 inches doesn't sound like much, but could make the difference between comfortable and scrunched to a backseat passenger. If I used the back seat much at all I'd get it.

 

We have a a 2002 MCS and a 2002 MC, and on occasion stuff just won't fit, but it's close. I think the clubby is going to be our answer to just that little bit more space so I don't have to drag out the old Suburban at 10mpg. We use the 'burban about 6 to 8 times a year for the really big stuff and to tow a trailer. No way do I want to drive that to work 75 miles each day. The MINI is the perfect practicle commuter car for us. Most of the time it's just me, so I could even consider something smaller and more fuel efficient as practicle if there was anything as fun to drive (forget the Smart car and it's funny trans). But there isn't.

 

There are several important points to the Clubman.

1) To pave the way for Hummer-sized MINI SUV's while diluting the brand image
2) To further anger and incite the R50/R53 purists
3) To appeal to a mass market that is not as cool and special as we are.



If we were in the market for another MINI for my wife, we'd get a clubman in a heartbeat.