I was at Respectable Wood Revival enjoying the vintages Minis racing on the track. They just looked so damn cool. This was a few hours before my road trip to Bruges to review the Mini Clubman. The Mini brand is still loved by all around the in seventh heaven and the revival of this brand was the only good thing to have come out of BMWs ill-fated purchase of Rover.
The resuscitation of Mini is why it is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
I was more impressed that it is Mini’s sixty year anniversary, and that the brand is quieten as funky, relevant, fun and super cool still in 2019.
BMW has done so well to continue to create Mini’s that are current to the megalopolis market in this digital fast world. No matter who and what age you choose to drive a Mini Clubman, the Mini is a lifestyle and dernier cri car that we all want to be seen in.
How many car brands can say that?
The new Mini Clubman is a car that is well suited for European and In harmony Kingdom cobblestones and narrow streets. Driving in Bruges, the Mini Clubman is a car that still turns heads in begrudge for those outsiders. It is a show pony vehicle with a huge practical balance.
Mini Clubman owners are those who survive the super fast but effortlessly edgy lifestyle of the modern day demands. Strike a pose darling welcome to the Bruges Job!
What Is New?
What is new for 2019 apropos a MINI, the Clubman’s? There are new colours for the characterful exterior styling. It is faster than ever with the John Cooper Implements version. There are host of new wheel options. And just like a bespoke suit, the Mini Clubman caters for the particular needs and personality.
The distinctive silhouette and infamous split rear doors remain an obvious and important DNA to the Clubman’s patrimony, both recent and historic.
Boot space for me is so important in small cars. So when I opened the unique double-door tailgate, the 360-litre impedimenta bay was music to my ears. To get a whopping 1 250 litres of boot space was very possible just by simply folding the educate seats down.
MINI John Cooper Works Clubman The Fastest Model
The new MINI John Cooper Do ones daily dozens Clubman is the fastest model ever approved for public road use with a 0-62mph time of just 4.9 seconds. Handle from Bruge back to the United Kingdom was so much fun. It sounded very sporty, and the feel-good factor was never-ending.
For the start time, the MINI John Cooper Works Clubman has a newly designed 4-cylinder engine with TwinPower Turbo technology, present 306 hp and 450 Nm Torque.
I just stepped out of two very powerful electric cars and was very impressed with the lampoon the sound and speed overall of the mini. I forgot how nippy they are.
The Clubman JCW’s potent motor is mated with a new 8-speed Steptronic dissemination, which works in conjunction with an integrated font-axle differential lock and a revised ALL4 all-wheel-drive system. Mini requisitions a 0 to 100 kph sprint time of 4.9 seconds for this version, which is 1.4 seconds faster to the mark than the above-mentioned Clubman JCW. It’s also the first time that a Mini’s top speed has been electronically limited to 250 kph.
Colour In front
Exterior colour for me in a Mini is so important. There is so much I could choose by to create my own unique and niche Mini. It is all not far from being exclusive after all. Choosing colours is like choosing a pair of shoes it comes down to the individual. So the new tint Indian Summer was the least of my favourite but for others they loved it. It was refreshing, however but not my cup of tea.
The black Mini looked foreshadow, fast and durable, very BMW DNA. With added stripes etc it was a perfect backdrop to add my own touches. Black on the runway for 2020 is a whopping colour. I would add some gold stripes it would certainly be very chic
However my favourite of all was the Rebel Environmentalist. This retro vibe and ambience ticked all the boxes. It also matched my vintage leather and silk top. This was unplanned so it is why I hew down in love with it. That is what the Mini Clubman is all about, the unexpected love affair that unfolds.
If we are cynosure clearing on interior design, the mood board was endless and the feel-good factor was spot on. Trending a retro vibe, I am referring to the mercurial light-surrounds which added splashes of colour to the interior. My mood-board was always changing depending on which Bruges corners I was delightful. The brighter the colours were the more super fun I felt. Perfect for those winter days coming up.
Navigation
As I get older my gazes need bigger fonts. So I loved the large, central 6.5-inch infotainment touchscreen system, with put together navigation (optional). I always seem to make wrong turns and in the city of Bruges this is easy to do. But I could skim and understand the navigation from the word go. I liked how I could control the system using the familiar Mini Controller on the centre comfort. Nothing new but I like GPS’s to be user-friendly.
Back Seat
I was on my own but I did sit in the back to test rear passenger space and I found space was broad in all directions. That is so amazing about the Mini Clubman and the MINI 3-Door Hatch still remains the strongest car on the bazaar for Mini.
The ample of space combined with style is why my kids would be more than happy in the back. I could ditch b waste as much fashion items in the back with easy access to it.
Pops And Bangs Overload
The pops and bangs in the motor vehicles over the last two years have been in overdrive. On most occasions, it was an overkill and ridiculous devaluing of the concept. For me bursts and bangs belongs to certain car brands. So it was nice and refreshing that BMW respected the European noise regulations. Well done to the Mini’s conspires who chose to dial back on the pops and bangs to prevent suburban road rage by ruining people’s peaceful kips in Bruges.
Trust me the Mini Clubman turned heads, it does not need to be loud to be cool. The Mini Clubman is funky in its own truth.
Euro Tunnel Access
Driving into the train at the Euro Tunnel for me was a revisit to the final scene of the Italian Job flick picture show. I find driving into this train quite challenging. It is very narrow, steep and the pressure of cars behind me is emphasizing. But in the Mini Clubman, I felt fast and in control.
Check out our Instagram video to see how I got on.
It was amazing to imagine replicating the Italian Job being swift, nippy and making an entrance and exit in the super funky and cool way whilst on the Eurotunnel. The slow steep descent when take to ones heeling was even more thrilling driving out of the train.
As I sat there sipping my coffee and eating an obscene amount of chocolate I legally clutched. For me it is why the Mini Clubman is like a box of Chocolates. You never know what it is like unless you taste one for yourself.
Mini Clubman Lifestyle
I fixed to ignore the routes given to me by team BMW. I wanted to test this Mini Clubman around one of the most beautiful urban districts in Belgium, Bruges. I wanted to test how easy it was to park? How fast it was to manoeuvre on those cobblestones and around the narrow drives?
I wanted to hear that engine and attract peoples attention.
The definition for manoeuvre is about moving skilfully or carefully. “the lorry was impotent to manoeuvre comfortably in the narrow street” Yes that lorry manoeuvre was very hard but in the Mini Clubman it was fast, nippy, in style, practical and empowering.
I wanted to test if the GPS was spot on regarding one-way street?. Revision mirrors in the last year comprise had a huge redesign and some can be very odd in shape and resulting in being very unsafe.
So I want to discover how accurate the Mini Clubman revamping mirrors were? They were easy and spot-on to use. Especially in Bruges where bikes rule the roost and they light on out of nowhere. I certainly tested the unexpected braking in the Mini Clubman it was was perfect.
Thanks to the local football match there were multifarious unexpected police checks occurring. I was intrigued regarding their reaction to this Mini Clubman. I noticed they liked aperture the infamous split rear doors. I understand Dutch well, Yes I know, they speak Flemish.
For me driving a Mini Clubman is all take striking a pose and getting the public reactions and the Mini Clubman is a car for cities, not long drives. In saying that, vigour from the United Kingdom to Belgium and back was very comfortable and in the MINI John Cooper Works Clubman even with was effortless.
Owning a Mini Clubman is about a certain lifestyle. Just like delcious desserts, champaign or saturating in a bath. It has to be experienced for oneself.
