WITH two other ‘New’ MINIs on the Collins’ fleet, I suppose I was the obvious choice when MINI offered us the chance to run a MINI Clubman Cooper D for six months for Business Car Manager.

But this Cooper D is a very different proposition to the other MINIs I own and enters the hotly contested upmarket hatchback sector, going up against talented rivals such as the Audi A3 and Volkswagen Golf. How?

Well, unless you hadn’t noticed, in Clubman form this MINI is well, not very mini in size at all. In fact, this MINI estate is bigger than the previously biggest Countryman SUV – a Cooper version of which I own.

That extra rear and boot space has certainly come in useful over my first couple of weeks with the Clubman. With rear passengers making positive comments about the legroom, plus how comfortable the rear seat is. Even with their bulky child seats in place, with the extra room over my Countryman, it means I can’t feel their feet pummelling the backs of the front seats.

Good thing they aren’t kicking the seats, as I would hate them to mark the soft and classy optional Chester Indigo Blue leather (£815).

In fact, classy best sums up the rest of the Clubman’s interior; my other favourites include the softest leather on the hand-stitched steering wheel, the three-stage heated seats, the way the blue LEDs light up the front door cards and the projected MINI logo from the driver’s door, which my children thought was pretty cool.

The new Clubman might now have six doors, as the quirky barn doors from the first-generation car remain.  While the split rear view out of the back is taking a little time to get used to, the 350-litre boot is proving to be useful.

With the rear seat folded, it passed the flat-pack test with ease. Although waggling my foot underneath the rear bumper for the Comfort Access has been more miss than hit so far.

I’ve only had the Clubman a couple of weeks, but we’ve already covered almost 500 miles together. Supplied with half a tank of diesel on delivery, I’ve made just the one fill-up and haven’t got a proper MPG figure yet. However, the first half tank took me almost to 250 miles, so the 68.9mpg fuel figure and 500+ mile range sound realistic.

In fact considering the 148bhp performance of this 2.0-litre turbo-diesel, I can’t quite believe the affordable fuel economy and 19% Company Car Tax Band.

One area where the latest Clubman feels like a proper new MINI is in the driving experience. Yes it’s bigger and wider, but the steering is almost hot-hatch sharp and with the tight handling and different driving modes, the Clubman can be a different car on a daily basis.

Downsides? Well, the Clubman’s design has some unflattering angles, plus it’s not just rear visibility that’s compromised – the front roof pillars are on the thick side too and this doesn’t bode well for those vulnerable optional 18-inch alloy wheels.

Those wheels also make for an unsettled low speed ride and the polished part of the top of the dash reflects annoyingly on the windscreen at night. But these are minor gripes and I’m really looking forward to spending the coming months in the Clubman.

MINI Clubman Cooper D – the figures