Read an interesting article on where all the automakers are heading over the next few years. In that article was Mini and their plans for all the 2014 to 2016 lineups. They mention that the 2015 Clubman will be revised and will have 4 traditional doors instead of the "club door" . Everything else seems to be retained and it will use the new 2L turbo for the S model and the 1.5L for the regular. A few other articles suggest that there may also be a hybrid Clubman, but I think that did not come from Mini and may just be speculation.

Thoughts on a 4 door Clubman?

 

So what they're saying is they're lowering the Countryman, giving it a split rear door, and re-badging it as a Clubman?

To me, the club door is what makes the Clubman a Clubman.

 

I believe this is a rendering....







Is the third door not referred to as a "club door" ? If that is gone than how is it still a Clubman? Of course anything can change over the next year or so.......

 

Not "lowering and rebadging the Countryman". This is a completely different platform. The new Countryman/Paceman will not be out until around 2017.

 

I was being sarcastic

As for that rendering.... EW.

 

1/10, Would not buy.

 

Rear image...

 

I would say that mini is trying to fill the need for a sedan type of mini. As all of the upper scale products are doing, like the Porsche With the panorama . They already have the sport hatch and the SUV . I guess other think the clubman is the oddball.

 

America loves its 4 door people carriers...

I'm glad I don't fall into that category.

Love the 3rd door... But, as I understand it it's the same format in the UK.. Which means passengers exit on the road-side...

Yea, that's a serious issue.

 

Yeah, that was why Jeremy Clarkson knocked the Clubman so bad in his review.

 

Take the story & rendering (it's what an artist THINKS it MIGHT look like) with a grain of salt. I've read that same story, and it kinda sounded like the writer's source was a guy, who heard from a guy that has a neighbor, who knows a guy, who knows a guy that's next-door neighbors with a guy that works in the BMW/MINI design department.

 

All I know is that's not the information Motoring File has given on the next generation; they're saying there will be another Clubman, and that will be playing up the "shooting brake" angle more which presumes it will be a two/two-and-a-half door wagon.

I don't know what this article's writer or source heard, it sounds like maybe they are mistaking the Clubman/wagon for the supposed 5-door version of the "regular" Cooper that is supposed to debut after the 3-door is released.

 

Not the article I read but similar if anyone is interested...

http://www.automobilemag.com/feature...ans_deep_dive/

Again, none of this is in stone and it is not coming directly from mini, so anything is possible.

 

Hmm. Not impressed by the prospect of a 4-door Clubman. In my mind, that's the niche that the Countryman was filling (4-door people movers). The Clubman seems to fit better into the quirky image that MINI used to foster; if the reports of a 4-door Clubman turn out to be accurate, it makes MINI seems like they're just chasing market share... Eh, I'll just keep mine...

 

It's the shooting brake type style that I love. My two door wagon reminds me of the '55 - '57 Nomads.

 

In May of this year, i was lucky enough to go to a Mini marketing customer feedback event.
i saw and was inside the new Clubman. it is a 4 door and the prototype i was in had the barn doors. i saw the next generation Countryman and the Mini XL. My favorite one was the Clubman, though, it has lost some if the uniqueness, it was still the nicest of the bunch.
Countryman has a longer bonnet/hood. i am assuming it was done for the bigger engine. Did not like the gap between the wheels and the fenders. nice interior. It was next to the current model and l i personally like the current model better. It looks more balanced. the longer hood on the prototype did not match the rest of the body very well.
Clubman- 4 doors, longer hood and really roomy inside. Did not like the stop lights. they looked very honda/lexus/ nissan like.
Mini Cooper Xl- is the 2 doors on steroids. It looks bigger (because it is) and rounder all around
There was no way to take pictures. they had more screenings than Homeland Security at the airports. You could not take any electronic devices into the show room.

 

Well, on the positive side, I heard rumors this year that 2014 was the last year for the Clubman, period. So, I'm glad it's still going in production.

On the negative, if it's not broke, don't fix it. I like it the way it is. Main transportation is myself and 2 weimaraners. Always have middle seats down. Dogs enter/exit thru barn doors. Have the mini protector for the extended flat space.

Now, if we have guests from out of town, I can put the seats up again, and they can get in & out much better than a 2 door.

Glad I got the "last" of the great model...

 

Club door? lol i always called it a mini baby door

 

Lucky! So did the Clubman look much longer with the extra doors, or hard to tell?

I like the barn door look, but I do not like the utility of them. I much prefer a traditional lifting hatch. Loading thing from the side with the barn doors open has become a hassle having to walk around the doors and then back towards the car. just very awkward.....

 

Ditto. (well one of the last..)

 

While I will be disappointed if it doesn't end up as a shooting brake, it's still on the short list with the current Countryman to replace my aging Element in a couple of years.

 

That was the case in the early years, but they switched the door to the left side for the UK in 2011 if I remember correctly. I don't know why it took them so long to figure that one out. It's a pretty obvious problem.

 

Good to hear.

 

"America loves its 4-door people carriers." Yeah, that's why I ended up with my Clubbie! OK, so it's 2-and-bit doors, but still essentially a 2-door. The barn doors don't count, as ya gotta have a trunk!
Mustang - cool, love 'em, but everybody has one. To get one optioned like my Clubman I'd have spent over $30K.
Camaro - same. With the addition of poor visibility. If you've driven one you know exactly what I mean.
Challenger - not so many here, but to get a manual trans ya gotta spend 40K! No manual trans availability in the lower-spec models.
Corvette - yowza, especially the very newest iteration. But $$$. And won't carry much more than a bag of groceries.

Seems that none of the OEs, especially American, make any reasonable two-doors anymore. I was interested in Ford Focus, but they axed the two-door.
Oddly enough, for the three American makers I get supplier pricing as I work for a Tier 1 Supplier! Still looking at the numbers I mentioned, even with the supplier pricing...
We're also Tier 1 to several BMW vehicles and VW, but no employee pricing from them...

That said, I've wanted a Mini since they came out. Got the Clubman and LOVE IT. Oh, and if I didn't mention it, it is the lovely BRG color...

Regards,
XLXRider

 

I had never thought about that, but maybe that's why I like the Clubman so much