So I've had my clubbie for about a week, and thought I'd post my initial impressions. First a little background on me, I'm coming out of a 2005 Mercedes C55 AMG, which I loved until it started breaking down every month leaving me with thousands of dollars in repair bills.

Once the benz started acting up, and I began to look for a new car, I was immediately drawn to Minis. Coming from a legitimate sports car, I wanted something with speed that was fun to drive, and the Cooper S seemed to tick both of those boxes, while being in my price range. I also considered the GTi and Mazdaspeed3, but in my heart I wanted the Mini. Also, I live in NYC so parking is a real issue, and I have to admit, getting 12mpg on my daily commute was getting a little old. Finally, I actually lived in England for 10 years and really liked the old Mini's so all that combined made it a no brainer in the end.

So on Monday I picked up my new 2009 Clubman S. Initially, I had no intention of buying the Clubman as I didn't think that I liked how they looked, but once I saw it in person the style grew on me immensely, and the extra space was too hard to pass up. British racing green was the only color for me, as it is by far my fave car color, and I've ALWAYS wanted to get it.

My first impressions driving away from the dealer were very positive. I love how responsive the throttle is. There is more than enough power on tap for me, even coming from the torque monster benz, and the handling blows the AMG out of the water. Where the C55's wheel was heavy and unresponsive, the Mini's is light and eager to go wherever you desire. My only complaint is that because the Mini is so light, when I hit a bump (of which there are a lot in Brooklyn) I feel like the car is going to take off. The C55 felt glued to the road at any speed, and was definitely more stable upwards of 80mph, but had significantly more body roll when cornering at speed.

The interior is growing on me. Initially, I was a little bewildered with all the buttons and switches, but now that I know where everything is and which way to push, twist and turn things I'm liking it a lot more. My biggest complaint about the interior is the speedo, despite being ridiculously large, is just not positioned well. To look at it I need to completely change my sightline, rather than just glancing downwards. I know that I can choose to display the speed in the center of the tach, but I don't feel that this should be necessary. Also, I don't like that there is no oil temp gauge, battery voltage level or other standard gauges. I know its nit-picky, but I like to know these things. Lastly, the passenger seat belt is messed up. It doesn't feed out smoothly and doesn't retract sometimes. This makes me nervous, as I'm not 100% confident that it will lock in the event of a crash. Obviously, I will be making a service appointment ASAP to correct this, but I feel like it should have been caught by quality control.

All in all, I love the car and just want to drive it all the time. Look forward to sharing my experiences on NAM and hopefully meeting up with some of you soon!

 

WillF, I understand your feeling, I just got mine (slightly used) in December and the Clubman has grown on me quickly! Excellent respond, fast and roomy for such a small car!

Before I decided to buy mi Clubman, I was debating between a used 08 BMW Z4 and a new 135i (looking for something "fun" to drive), but because my job is moving downtown, size become a "need" for me.

The Clubman S hit the spot for the "fun factor" and the "parking space" needs.

Enjoy your Clubman!

By the way, great taste on color

 

I agree with all of your opinions.

The handling thing is something you just have to watch out for -- it requires more active driving and can indeed be unsettling (and unsafe) at times, but the fun factor far surpasses any car I've driven; even far more powerful ones.

The speedometer is simply kitschy in my opinion, and I agree that it's not positioned well at all. When I first got the car I looked into getting an add-on digital speed gauge to the right of the tach, but after a month with the MINI I'm now used to using the silly speedometer, though it's still in a place that's far from ideal. I think it was enlarged to appeal more to the "cute" side of women or something. The 1st gen speedometer is a FAR better size -- it's not cheesy at all.

The additional gauges that you mentioned would be welcome, as dummy lights are...well....dumb. Again, you can add on gauges with those functions that will look really nice and fit right in with the stock gauges. There are links in another thread somewhere about that.

Oh, and don't get too hung up on the quality control thing -- it's clearly not MINI's strong suit, so you just have to accept it. My dealer has fixed almost everything as far as that is concerned.

 

The speedometer doesn't bother me I only use the digital one. I agree on oil temperature guage, it would be nice to know when the engine is warm like my 335i especually with a turbo. I hate the power window location it really irritates me. It's my wifes car but every time I drive I have to ask again where the window switches are. Seems like the door or having switches that look like window switches would be a lot easier and more useful.

 

I agree with much of what has been said. Fun car but seriously quirky stuff that takes time to get used to.

 

LOL at least you can actually see the center speedometer on the new MINI's. On my classic Mini, the center speedometer is blocked by the steering wheel so you have to move your head to see it instead of just glancing down...