What It Is: To say the final Mini Clubman was a compelling oddball would be an understatement. It was half hatchback, half station wagon and nearly completely strange, with a 5-door layout that integrated rear barn doors and a rear-hinged suicide door on one side only. It was as well modest to ever be taken seriously as a load-lugger—despite Mini trying, and failing, to make a case—but it undoubtedly had an abundance of character.
This is our rendered take on what the new version to be launched later this year will look like. We know that it will be larger and much more sensible—indeed, it’s set to be the greatest Mini but in terms of all round dimensions. The big question is whether or not it will be able to match any of the idiosyncratic charm of its predecessor.
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2013 Mini Cooper Clubman |
The Clubman will, in essence, be a station-wagon version of the 4-door Cooper hatchback, with an extended cargo area. The rear-hinged “clubdoor” has gone, replaced by standard doors (and one particular on every single side!), but it will stick with twin side-hinged doors at the back, with the glass in every getting its own dinky tiny wiper blade. If it sticks to the published dimensions of the apparently production ready Clubman Concept that was shown at the 2014 Geneva auto show, it will be some 10 inches longer than the last Clubman and a half a foot up on the Countryman, which, till now, has been the greatest Mini.
Why It Matters: In the U.S. we fear that it won’t. Promoting station wagons is enough of a challenge here in the ideal of times, let alone a little one particular that carries the price premium that comes with a Mini badge. But in those components of the planet where tourers still reign—like Europe—this is a sensible move to broaden the appeal of the Mini hatchback. Luggage accommodation is unlikely to be overly generous, but it will nonetheless be the most spacious Mini to date for both men and women and stuff. Mini insiders have hinted that we can also count on to see an all-wheel-drive version later on, which will broaden its appeal still additional.
Platform: Like its F56 Mini brethren, the Clubman sits on BMW’s new front-drive UKL1 platform, which also underpins the not too long ago launched (and thankfully not-for-the-U.S.) BMW 2-Series Active Tourer. Mechanically it will share all main elements with the Mini hatchback (and the 2er), including the very same independent rear suspension. BMW has resisted the temptation to match a less costly (and far more space-effective) torsion beam at the back, which need to make certain the Clubman drives as crisply as its hatchback siblings but efficiently precludes offering third-row seating in this model provided the packaging constraints.
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2013 Mini Cooper Clubman |
Powertrain: All will be familiar, with the same 3- and 4-cylinder gasoline engines as the existing Cooper hatchback, probably running all the way to the 228-hp John Cooper Operates powertrain, and with a decision of automatic or stick-shift transmissions. Europeans will also be in a position to pick diesel versions, although they practically undoubtedly won’t make it to the U.S. And as mentioned above, the platform gives all-wheel drive, which we think will be presented as an choice some time following launch.
Competition: Fiat 500L, Ford Focus ST, Volkswagen Golf SportWagen.
Estimated Arrival and Value: Appear for the new Clubman to arrive in the 4th quarter of 2015, and to command roughly $ 1500 far more than the commensurate 2-door, non-Clubman hatchbacks.
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2016 Mini Cooper S Clubman Rendered, Detailed: It’s Coming to Haul Your Stuff
