The 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman offers the driving enthusiast a combination of fun-to-drive performance, engineering and unconventional attitude, while providing more space than the two-door hatchback MINI. For 2010, cruise control is now standard on all models, which also have a new steering wheel with multifunction controls. A Harman Kardon sound system is a new option for all models. MINI celebrates its 50th anniversary with two packages for the hardtop, the Camden and the Mayfair. Both have unique paint, wheels, and exterior and interior trim; they come with the 172-horsepower turbocharged engine. The 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman is pulled from the same design as the MINI Cooper hatchback and convertible, but it's stretched longer and adds doors in an attempt to make the endearing MINI Cooper a little more practical. Standard safety equipment includes six airbags, ABS, traction control and stability control. A wide variety of interior trim materials and colors are available. Features such as xenon headlights, sport suspension, Dynamic Traction Control, power sunroof, navigation system, parking sensors, Bluetooth wireless connectivity and satellite radio are optional. Besides added rear passenger legroom, the other benefit of the bigger MINI is an increase in cargo capacity by about half. The cargo space in the MINI Cooper Clubman increases to 32.8 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. And because the cargo space is box-like, the MINI Cooper Clubman can accommodate large boxes. The particularly clever design can even make large flat items fit by putting them in on the diagonal.
Powering the Cooper Clubman
The 2010 Cooper Clubman is powered by a 118-horsepower 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission or optional six-speed automatic. With the manual, MINI says the Cooper S Clubman can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 7.0 seconds, which is just 0.3 seconds slower than the regular Cooper S. The Clubman gets a combined 32 mpg in mixed driving. Just like the regular Cooper, the Clubman takes premium fuel. Operationally, anyone who has driven a standard MINI Cooper and liked it will like the MINI Cooper Clubman as well. The MINI Cooper Clubman, like other MINI Coopers, feels quick and it's an ace handler. They're many reasons to love the MINI, whether standard size or the bit bigger MINI Cooper Clubman.
2010 MINI Clubman Design
The Clubman is nearly ten inches longer than the Cooper hatchback, and features a rear-opening third passenger-side door and pneumatically-assisted split rear cargo doors. Differences between the regular Cooper and the Cooper Clubman are most apparent in back, where the Clubman's rear-quarter pillars are painted in contrasting black or silver. It matches the rear bumper and, if desired, the roof. The swing-out doors necessitate a split rear window, and each portion gets its own wiper. MINI stretched the length of its Cooper by 9.4 inches to make the Cooper Clubman. The extra length benefits legroom for the Clubman's two rear passengers and cargo room behind the backseat is larger.
There's a pair of split-opening rear doors that swing out to either side, rather than the regular Cooper's conventional hatchback. There's also a rear-hinged access door on the passenger side. The Clubman comes in three trim levels: the Cooper, the turbocharged Cooper S and the turbocharged John Cooper Works edition. The wheelbase is 3.2 inches longer, which MINI says helps the Clubman keep its wheels near the bumpers to improve handling. The Clubman has more than 40 possible color combinations, as well as options like checkered side mirrors and a Union Jack roof. All the styling hallmarks of the Cooper hatchback carry over to the 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman, with a few more cutlines and a more vertical rear end. The classic pop-eyed headlamps, the chromed grille's 'smile,' the vertical windshield, and low, flat roof of the vintage MINI Coopers are here. The Clubman's elongated body stays true to form even in back, where the doors and tail are modeled after 1960s wagons like the MINI Countryman and Traveller.
Inside the MINI Clubman
The interior looks much like the regular Cooper, with a large circular speedometer mounted in the center of the dashboard and plenty of toggle switches among the center controls. Backseat passengers have 32.3 inches of legroom, up from 29.9 inches in the regular Cooper. Cargo room behind the rear seats totals 9.2 cubic feet; with the rear seats folded, maximum cargo room totals 32.8 cubic feet, up from 24 cubic feet in the regular Cooper. Making the cargo area even more useable is that with rear seatbacks folded forward the cargo floor is flat. In part that's because the main cargo area's floor is raised to match the folded seatbacks, which would seem to reduce capacity. However, an underfloor cargo bin adds secure stowage so the raised floor detracts little from total cargo volume, just repositions it. One more external difference is what makes the MINI Cooper Clubman's back seat useable, a second door on the right side, rear-hinged like on some extended-length pickup trucks, or more exotically, the Mazda RX-8. With no B-pillar on that side and the right from seatback slid forward, the back seat area is actually accessible, the first step, so to speak, towards the rear seat being useful.
Conclusions
Not surprisingly, the added length makes the MINI Cooper Clubman look longer than the standard MINI because, well, it is. But from the front seats forward, the Clubman is the same as the standard MINI and the rear overhang hasn't changed much, so the MINI Clubman doesn't appear so much stretched as longwaisted. The roof of the MINI Cooper Clubman also differs from the standard MINI's roof, with two ridges along the outer edges.The MINI Cooper Clubman also has a 'ring' around the rear doors that MINI paints black or silver. The 2010 Cooper Clubman is a 3-door, 4-passenger family coupe, or sports coupe, available in 3 trims, ranging from the base to the John Cooper Works. Upon introduction, the base is equipped with a standard 1.6-liter, I4, 118-horsepower engine that achieves 28-mpg in the city and 36-mpg on the highway. A six-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard, and a 6-speed automatic transmission with overdrive is optional. The John Cooper Works is equipped with a standard 1.6-liter, I4, 208-horsepower, turbo engine that achieves 26-mpg in the city and 34-mpg on the highway. A six-speed manual transmission with overdrive is standard. For more research, read visit the official MINIUSA website.
The 2010 Cooper Clubman is powered by a 118-horsepower 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission or optional six-speed automatic. With the manual, MINI says the Cooper S Clubman can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 7.0 seconds, which is just 0.3 seconds slower than the regular Cooper S. The Clubman gets a combined 32 mpg in mixed driving. Just like the regular Cooper, the Clubman takes premium fuel. Operationally, anyone who has driven a standard MINI Cooper and liked it will like the MINI Cooper Clubman as well. The MINI Cooper Clubman, like other MINI Coopers, feels quick and it's an ace handler. They're many reasons to love the MINI, whether standard size or the bit bigger MINI Cooper Clubman.
There's a pair of split-opening rear doors that swing out to either side, rather than the regular Cooper's conventional hatchback. There's also a rear-hinged access door on the passenger side. The Clubman comes in three trim levels: the Cooper, the turbocharged Cooper S and the turbocharged John Cooper Works edition. The wheelbase is 3.2 inches longer, which MINI says helps the Clubman keep its wheels near the bumpers to improve handling. The Clubman has more than 40 possible color combinations, as well as options like checkered side mirrors and a Union Jack roof. All the styling hallmarks of the Cooper hatchback carry over to the 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman, with a few more cutlines and a more vertical rear end. The classic pop-eyed headlamps, the chromed grille's 'smile,' the vertical windshield, and low, flat roof of the vintage MINI Coopers are here. The Clubman's elongated body stays true to form even in back, where the doors and tail are modeled after 1960s wagons like the MINI Countryman and Traveller.
Conclusions