I have just returned from an epic 3-week cross country road trip in my new Clubman S to break it in, dialing the odometer up by 7400 miles and escaping with only a cracked windshield courtesy of a rock just east of Albuquerque, and an unwelcome dent in the club door from a Chicago parking garage. I won't even start on how unfortunately efficient the grille, bonnet, mirror caps, and windshield are at collecting bugs.

I spent much of the time on or near I-90, I-40, and I-95. I started in Maine and hit Buffalo, Chicago, Minneapolis, SD, Fort Collins, Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Memphis, St. Pete, and Philly. Did anyone happen to see a Laser Blue Clubman with Maine plates on the road in the last 22 days??

Unfortunately, I could count on one hand how many MINIs I saw on the road until I got to FL. It was odd. No worries, though. A couple of them waved back.

 

Wow, sounds like a fun time!

I'm just curious if you tracked mileage over the course of the trip? I know it was break in, so the results may be different down the road.

I'm thinking of moving from my '06 MCS over to a Clubman. I'm also toying with moving to a non-S to get the better mpg. After running with a supercharger, I'm not sure that I'm ready to go non-turbo. Any issues with lack of "umph" on your trip???

Thanks!
Ed

 

I didn't do any direct calculations for fuel economy, but the OBC was giving me averages of 34 mpg. for the first few days. By the end of the trip, it was at 42 mpg. Granted, these numbers are somewhat inflated from the actual values, but great nonetheless.

With respect to the "umph" factor, I had no issues there, even with a copilot and full capacity cargo. Granted, it's an S, so I wouldn't expect there to be a problem. When I test drove the MINI before buying, I drove a non-S cooper hardtop. Just didn't have enough, so I ordered the S. No regrets

 

I did, but it was in a driveway in Biddeford. Sounds like you had a fun trip. You've got 3k more on your Clubman now than I have on mine.

 

Nothing like a good road trip Glad you got home safe and sound!!

Donna

 

I have a friend interested in getting one and will be doing a lot of trip driving. Can you give us a run down of how the car performed and anything that bothered you?

 

Now that sounds like a fun trip, hope you really enjoyed it.

have you driven cross country before?

Great story,
Larry

 

how comfortable was the MCC on a long trip? any complaints as far as the ride or seats or????

 

The ride was surprisingly comfortable. Even after several hours of driving, I couldn't really complain about any discomfort. Of course, I always remove my wallet from my back pocket to assure proper symmetry. My copilot, who is above average height for a woman (5'10"), also agreed. She was able to keep her legs completely outstretched if need be, which came in handy the night we slept in the MINI.

This was my first time driving cross-country, so I was super excited about the whole adventure. The car performed and handled beautifully. With both rear seats down, there was plenty of room for two full-size suitcases, a cooler, a box of food, a few backpacks, sleeping bags, tent, and other miscellaneous camping gear, and whatever else we acquired along the trip. And I could even still see out of the back. I did wish there was some more space for "stuff" between the front seats (I do not have a center armrest/storage compartment). However, the compartments in the door panels, the space under the center console, and the area beneath the hand brake were adequate for storing things that needed to be at hand during the drive. The secret compartment fit perfectly my EZ Pass and Garmin when not in use, and the air conditioned glove compartment brought car-warmed beverages back to a palatable temperature.

One thing that was a huge PIT was how quickly the windshield and grille got mucked up from bug splatter. You would have thought I was being pummeled by small flying rodents. I literally had to squeegee my windshield at every gas station. Even the mirror caps could not avoid them. I've never seen anything like it in any other car I've been in.

 

That's probably because you didn't care as much about bug spatter when you had our Saturn.

 

Ha. That's funny. But, actually no. I never had a problem with bugs on my Saturn. In fact, I've gone over 2 years between washes, during which time I had done several Philly to Maine and back trips. No bugs.