MINI Clubman Cooper D Final Report: 6-door MINI passes luggage test

MINI Clubman Cooper D

TIME flies when you’re having fun and it’s hard to believe I’ve had my MINI Clubman Cooper D for over six months now. But the last month of Clubman ownership was probably the biggest test of the ‘big’ MINI – a family holiday.

My wife was sure that all our luggage for a week away wouldn’t fit behind those neat twin rear doors, in that 360-litre boot. However after defending this MINI, I’m pleased to say her worries were unfounded.

In fact, despite two suitcases, various squashy bags and some shopping, it all fitted in the back – the cabin remained surprisingly clutter-free. I could even see through the split rear windows – or just about. The Clubman really is a MINI you could use as a first car.

The base carrier with the tablet holder, that was fitted by MINI along with other technology, communication and lifestyle accessories last month, certainly kept my children entertained on the three-hour trip to Somerset.

Among the other parts I’ve lived with and enjoyed over the last month was the head-up display – very useful for monitoring speed in controlled motorway areas. Finally, the MINI Advanced Car Eye, or front-mounted HD camera.

On top of keeping the car safe, gave perfect footage of every trip, just in case of other people’s dubious driving.

The holiday’s mixture of A and B roads also highlighted again how much fun and MINI-like this Clubman is to drive. Okay, so it might be diesel powered, but with the sharp steering, tidy handling, three driving modes, the slick six-speed manual transmission and power from the 2.0-litre Twinpower turbo diesel engine, meant that even after the shortest of drives I returned with a smile on my face.

The Cooper D’s performance might be punchy, but its Twinpower diesel engine proved to be pretty good at the pumps too. Although I never saw figures close to the claimed 68.9mpg figure throughout the loan, even with the mixture of driving on holiday, I still saw 39mpg.

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Shame I was never able to beat the 45mpg I saw on a trip to Manchester. Oh well, fully fuelled, 400+ miles was never a problem.

As a former press car, our Clubman had a pretty exceptional spec – although there were quite a few options we could live without! One we consistently appreciated was the Media Navigation XL sat-nav. Pleasingly simple to work, the fact that it constantly updates got us out of quite a few traffic jam scrapes.

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For every positive, I’m afraid there’s a negative and the holiday also showed up the Clubman’s biggest fault in my opinion – the ride on those optional 18-inch Star Spoke alloys! The fact this MINI always felt unsettled, made this and all the other long trips covered in the MINI more tiring than they should have been.

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Why, well because I never felt totally comfortable. The hard ride was also noticed by passengers too!

Driving other Clubmans, most recently the One D, has proved that the big MINI really suits 17-inch wheels the best, as it has a much more comfortable, controlled, ride. So while the big wheels look cool, for long-term comfort, I’d suggest going for smaller wheels.

Another quite important part of the Clubman’s character I warmed to, but never totally liked, was the styling. The front three-quarters and back in my opinion are best, but it looks plain odd from others. The thick roof pillars and twin rear doors compromise all-round visibility too!

Still, as a quirky alternative to the Audi A3 Sportback and Volkswagen Golf mainstream, the Clubman in Cooper D form is well worth a look.

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It’s cheap to run, has an attractive classy interior and despite it’s size, is still as much fun to drive as the rest of the range. Just be careful of your option choices!

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