The Mini range has been growing for some time in terms of vehicle size, even if the lineup has lost a couple of models that even the automaker finally decided were too niche. But one of the Minis whose growth made sense with the latest refresh was the Clubman.
The previous generation Clubman, if you recall, was a small wagon with one passenger door on the left, and one and a half on the right, offering slightly more generous accomodations than the base Cooper. With the redesign for the 2016 model year Mini made the Clubman the flagship of the range, giving it a total of six doors and a longer wheelbase. The debut of the current Clubman model coincided with a reorganization of the model range that ended up prioritizing five core models, bringing focus to a lineup that once seemed to go off in very narrow directions. The reworking of the Clubman similarly refocused this model, making the six-door model the flagship of the range even as a larger Countryman debuted.
The redesign brought more interior space to the Clubman — 47.9 cubic feet with the second row of seats folded down — as well as rear passenger doors that won't make your guests carefully think about how to get into the back without getting stuck.
In keeping with its range-topping status, the Clubman John Cooper Works All4 is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter I4 pumping out 228 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque — 39 hp and 22 lb-ft more than the non-JCW 2.0-liter Clubman S model — with an eight-speed automatic with paddles sending that power to all four wheels. The base models, meanwhile, use the 1.5-liter I3 borrowed from the two-door and four-door Cooper hatchbacks, churning out 134 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque.
With a curb weight of 3,252 lbs the Clubman isn't a featherweight — the doors alone have some serious heft to them — but this Mini hasn't gone Maxi and become a sibling of the BMW 3-Series wagon. A small footprint still matters, and the current Clubman tries to keep its size and weight modest, even in an age when the crossover is now the new standard family sedan.
Mini has revamped the interior with luxury in mind, but the Clubman does not depart far from the tone set by the Cooper hatchbacks, even though there are some notable differences. The dash is still dominated by a large circular screen housing an iDrive controlled infotainment screen, with a mood lighting ring that responds to acceleration inputs and driving modes. The iDrive knob is just south of the very tall gear shifter, also kept within a circular housing. Overlapping rings make up the small, retro-themed instrument panel, while the doors feature an intricate design topped by circular pull handles. BMW has not gone crazy with various retro design elements in creating this interior — there a still some dose of a buttoned-up, strict German aesthetic — but it's whimsical enough to entertain. If there is one major unintentionally retro touch to the cabin, it's the now-retro heads-up display which is a thick pieces of glass that sits on top of the dash, like in a 1980s fighter jet.
The Execution
On the road the Clubman JCW All4 lives up to the promise of go-kart handling, even if this is one of the most hefty and pricey models in the range.
The Clubman is equally at ease tackling curvy B-roads as it is cruising on the interstate for hundreds of miles on end, and over the course of three days I did just that by driving from Portland to Los Angeles via the most scenic parts of Oregon and California's central valley. 228 hp is plenty for a car this small, or rather a car that's small on the outside but can be generous inside if you're under 6 feet tall. The 2.0-liter offers a good range of power at all speeds, as well as a delightful soundtrack that delivers plenty of exhaust pop in Sport mode. It doesn't take much to get this four-cylinder to bark at other cars while delivering brisk acceleration, with the Clubman rewarding high revs with menacing pops from the tailpipes, living up to the British bulldog image cherished by the brand. Its bite is just as potent as its bark thanks to the JCW power boost, so the small wagon feels at ease playing with other small sports cars like the Miata despite being heavier.
Pushed a little past its comfort zone, enough to catch some air on a wall-paved and snaking road in the California countryside, the Clubman delivers easy to predict handling and refuses to get flustered in corners. In fact, tackling corners with precision is what this model does best, delivering surefooted handling thanks to all-wheel drive, and plenty of power in reserve. In more relaxed driving the Clubman served up 28 mpg on the highway (hurt a little by the absurd 116F degree temperature outside Bakersfield, Calif), but in town it can get 26 mpg pretty easily if you're not trying to scare away other cars with the exhaust pop.
When it comes to versatility the rear barn doors buy a little more room over the four-door model, but not by a huge margin. Mini did the right thing by making the Clubman the flagship of the range, even though it's smaller than the Countryman, but it makes sense to maximize versatility by adding a couple more side doors. Otherwise, the Clubman may not have survived as a standalone model with the debut of the four-door Coopers a few years ago.
The question, then, is whether the Clubman JCW All4 is worth the price premium over a Volkswagen Golf or simply a four-door Cooper, given the fact that the Clubman and the Cooper models are spaced pretty closely together. Having driven plenty of examples of both models, as well as the Golf, I'd lean toward the four-door Cooper hatchback just to keep the cost down. It's easy to get carried away with a small but premium-priced car, and at the end of the day you're pretty much getting the same interior dimensions for many thousands less. The advantages of the Clubman over the four-door Cooper are better sound insulation and a slightly smoother, more forgiving ride, but you're unlikely to be able to haul a vastly greater quantity of IKEA furniture on the inside with either car.
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