Friday, October 23, 2015
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SPECIAL SECTION courtesy of
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Visit the Mini Clubman gallery at DrivewayCanada.ca
Clubman pushes Mini to the max STOCKHOLM, Sweden - It’s hard to stand out in this do, indeed, get to enjoy cupholders that spring from a stylish city full of blondes, boats and boutique prices fold-down armrest.) but a shapely rear end helps. Project leader Ernst Fricke proudly proclaimed that the The 2016 Mini Clubman’s caboose earned its share Clubman can “be used as the first car in the family.” of stares during a recent debut on the cobblestone The interior certainly lives up to the premium label, streets of Sweden’s capital. and the dash, steering wheel and heads-up display This third-generation Clubman is the biggest Mini fairly bristle with infotainment connectivity. The yet, taking the famous BMW-owned brand from presence of a real console (yes, cupholders and “subcompact” to “premium compact” storage) comes courtesy of the use of territory. an electric parking brake, and adds It would have been easy to mess this unprecedented (for Mini) elbow room. assignment up: Upsize an odd-duck Lots of very cool LED lighting would subcompact model (the previous help ward off some of the inevitable Clubman, with its bizarre fifth “suicide blues brought on by long, dark Swedish door” layout), add a host of roomy winters. creature comforts, religiously adhere to The front seats (electric is an option) the spunky personality of the car, and The look is lower, offer just the right amount of bolstering make it look like a Mini. for go-kart moves, and legroom is fine Thankfully, the Mini-ons were up to the longer, and wider but for an almost-six-footer. A short ride the front of the car task. aft revealed almost un-Mini-like room They started with a new chassis, shared remains resolutely for backseat drivers, although road with BMW’s front-wheel-drive 2-Series noise and roughness seemed more smiley-face Mini! Active Tourer. pronounced than up front. The look is lower, longer, and wider but Gord Scott Trunk volume with the rear seats folded the front of the car remains resolutely down is listed at about 44 cubic feet smiley-face Mini. As the elongated roof stretches over (compared to the Volkswagen Golf Sportwagon’s the four full doors and begins to taper, however, things cavernous 66.5 cubic feet), and there is an optional become interesting. The new Clubman is pleasantly three-way splitting rear seat back to juggle loads. two-faced - the trademark “barn doors” combine with The barn doors allow plenty of access for those Ikea sheet-metal and taillight curves to give the rear an boxes, and get even more fun with the optional easyarresting “I’m-watching-you” look. opener feature. With the key in your pocket, one kick All of this design work has one aim - more cupholders. under the rear bumper opens the right door, another Well, not really. It’s about making it possible to fit in kick opens the left. Chances are most shopping trips four of your friends or family, plus some luggage. (If will only require a single kick at the Clubman’s can to you reduce that to four in total, the two in the back stow the stuff.
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The Clubman shares engine choices with the rest of the Mini clan; a base three-cylinder with 102 horsepower, the Cooper’s three-cylinder at 136 horsepower, or the Cooper S’s four-cylinder with 192. Transmission choices are the six-speed manual, or a new eight-speed automatic. BMW’s usual arsenal of road-conquering technologies are either built in or are available. The Stockholm area presented a few challenges. Firstly, it is city of 14 islands, with hundreds more nearby. This means a lot of water, which means a lot of bridges - and a good number of ferries. The rolling, lake-studded Canadian Shield-like landscape northeast of Stockholm does present inviting stretches - but the tempting country roads are home to the very vigilant police force, and dreaded Blue Meanies. Once the Clubman broke free from these constraints, its inner go-kart was revealed. There was never any doubt that there was more Mini than usual to throw around, but fun could be summoned - especially with Sport mode selected. The manual certainly kept it real, but the automatic really needed to be in its own Sport mode to simulate the experience. This new six-door strikes a nice compromise between Mini mania and multitasking. Like the car, the families who take delivery after the Clubman shows up in showrooms early next year are growing out, not up. The Mini Cooper Clubman starts at $24,990, the Mini Cooper S Clubman at $28,990. Of course, these being Minis means infinite (almost) options and individualization, which would take you north of that pretty quickly.
Question of the Week New Driveway team member Gord Scott writes about the new Mini Clubman this week. Tell us about your memories – fond or otherwise – about the original Mini. Go to DrivewayCanada.ca for the question of the week
Safety Tip: As the days get darker in fall and winter, crashes involving pedestrians increase in B.C. When you’re driving, take extra precautions to watch for pedestrians who are harder to see at this time of year. Do your part to help share our roads safely.
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