Mini Clubman Cooper D

SBT’s Motoring Correspondent, Simon Skinner takes to the wheel of the latest association with Vines of Gatwick BMW.

So the team at Vines have kindly pulled up at Life Media Group Towers with a shiny-new MINI Clubman. This particular model is the Diesel Cooper and it’s been a car that I’ve been keen to drive for some time.

By all accounts, if you’re going to try a new MINI, the Cooper D is a good shout as it’s spacious (they’re not so mini now), really comfortable and extremely reasonably priced when compared to similar hatches and other smaller cars that are currently on the market.

I say that because I believe that this is a car that proposes a real alternative to ‘regular’ hatchbacks and is the biggest MINI ever built! The Clubman Cooper D sits in the lower-to-mid range of the current MINI line up, with the next step taking you to the Cooper S, which is clearly a sportier version. Upwards from there, you’ll see the SD and ALL4 (4 wheel drive) versions.

Mine though, for the week at least, is the greenest of the set, offering up an alleged near 70mpg and B-rated for Co2 emissions – which is nice.

Green credentials aside though, and they are a serious reason for considering this particular model, you wouldn’t think for a minute that you’re not in a sportier version, or indeed a car with a bigger engine. The 2 litre engine in the Clubman Cooper D produces 150bhp giving you a 0-62mph in 8.6 seconds, but if I’m honest, being this low to the ground, you really feel like it takes half that time. It really moves, and with the option of stepping into sports mode, or go-kart mode as is the term which springs up on the display, the whole car changes its personality and you get the feeling that it wants to play.

So play we did! A week of driving this car was just about as much fun as I’ve had in any car for a very long time. Some readers of Sussex Business Times will know the marsh road that runs from Herstmonceux, across the A259 at Pevensey, past the Star at Normans Bay and onto Bexhill. Well, it has to be said that this must be one of the finest routes in Sussex for those who enjoy pursuits of the four-wheeled variety. Blasting the entire way in the appropriately named go-kart mode on a beautifully sunny afternoon for a meeting at the equally beautiful De La Warr Pavilion, the Clubman Cooper D delivered me to the venue with a HUGE smile on my face and with my heartbeat raised a good few BPM. The handling of the car is simply breathtaking, with a wheel in each corner, (a term borrowed from my father-in-law) a pounding engine and possibly the tightest gearbox known to the human race.

Sometimes when review cars are collected it’s easy to hand over the keys and to not look back. With the MINI however, the feeling was more akin to that of saying goodbye to a newly made friend at the end of a childhood holiday. You know that you’re likely to have fun with them again one day, but it won’t happen for a while. Thankfully, its replacement was the Range Rover Vogue SE, which we’ll cover in the next issue.

Getting back to the hatchback debate, I decided to test the space in the back of the car for good measure. It’s a little known fact that on occasion, I am known to play the drum kit and I am the owner of a gem of a Ludwig kit from 1978 that looks and sounds like only a Ludwig kit from 1978 can. It just so happened that, during my week with the MINI, I had reason to transport said Ludwig kit from 1978 to a music venue for an evening of 90s dance classics. After (auto) opening the double/barn doors and flattening the rear seats, the whole thing sat in the back with room to spare!

There’s oodles of room in there and it’s really quite deceptive for what appears to be a small car at first glance with 4.25m total length. The rear space making up a considerable percentage of that.

I have to be honest, this car has taken me by complete surprise. I’ve always looked at MINIs as being a bit of a joke; a lot like the (newer) VW Beetles, and certainly quite a feminine choice. This, coupled with a host of horror stories about the earlier models that were produced after the ‘new look’ was announced by BMW way back when, was enough to turn me off completely. How wrong I have been though; this is a serious motor car for people who LOVE driving. Really practical, spacious, comfortable, quick and well built.

Maybe I should call Volkswagen to see if I can try the Beetle?

Thank you for the loan, Vines BMW of Gatwick, it’s been a great week and I’m already looking forward to next time.