2017 Mini Cooper S Clubman ALL4 Manual

Mini, initially a single-car brand, has sprawled out in every direction—quite literally, in the case of the Clubman tested here. It is both longer and wider than the earlier Countryman crossover and only slightly smaller than the just-launched second-generation model. But unlike that make-believe SUV, the Clubman presents itself as a more carlike wagon that rides low. Rather sleek-looking, it’s graced with split rear barn doors and teardrop-shaped taillights to set it apart. Its dual side-hinged doors provide good access to the cargo hold, but they also obscure rear vision where they meet in the center. You win some, you lose some.

In early 2016, Mini launched a version of the Clubman that is designed to do everything: the Cooper S Clubman ALL4, powered by BMW’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and fitted with all-wheel drive. It’s available with a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission; our test car had the row-your-own shifter, raising our expectations that it’d be more interesting on the road. Surely Mini would try to preserve the clichéd go-kart-like feeling of its tinier models, right?

To some extent, but that depends on the driving mode. Switching among three modes—Green, Mid, and Sport—is accomplished by moving a ring surrounding the gearshifter. That selector doesn’t exactly glide into position; pushing it feels like scraping plastic on plastic, not exactly giving a sensation of quality. Visual confirmation of your selection comes with chirpy on-screen messages (such as “Let’s Motor!” for Sport) and an illuminated strip that changes colors surrounding the pizza-sized central display. These colorized reflections of the car’s mood can be turned off or altered to different hues via the personalization menus. We usually find this kind of gimmickry annoying, but it’s part of Mini’s appeal. There are other ways to have fun in a car, and Mini thankfully trades on those aspects, too.

The drive-mode selector is somewhat indicative of the general material quality in this premium-price station wagon, which falls short of our expectations. The Clubman’s interior is not up to the level found in the Volkswagen Golf SportWagen 4MOTION, a competitor with a base price thousands of dollars lower. Toggle switches protected by chintzy hooks are spattered across the lower dashboard, and the central display, like the instruments in front of the driver, presents a sea of happy, bubbly shapes. For mysterious reasons, the indicator that the heated seats are on has green lights rather than the usual red or orange. At least the low-mileage example we drove seemed to have been assembled well, with none of the rattles and squeaks we’ve found in other recent Minis.

Not So Quick on Its Feet

You pilot the Clubman from a deep, firm, and comfortable bucket seat. We expected to have a lot of fun with this 2.0-liter turbo edition, which serves up 189 horsepower at 5000 rpm and 207 lb-ft of torque at just 1250 rpm. But the engine didn’t move the car with the degree of authority we anticipated. At 7.3 seconds, it misses Mini’s claimed zero-to-60-mph acceleration figure by 0.6 second and proved 0.3 second slower than the 170-hp 2017 VW Golf SportWagen 4MOTION we tested recently. Perhaps it would fare better with more break-in than the 1030 miles showing on the odometer. The Mini did get to 100 mph quicker than the VW and passed through the quarter-mile run 0.1 second ahead at an identical 90-mph trap speed.

Rowing through the gears to squeeze the performance out of this Clubman proved to be more chore than joy. This transmission is not Getrag’s finest. When you need it to act quickly, it gets notchy and reluctant to follow your wishes; it’s a decidedly average effort in a car that trades on sporting pretensions. Those who can manage their own heel-and-toe downshifts may find the standard rev-matching function patronizing.

Switching among driving modes makes a slight difference. In Green mode, acoustic feedback is almost entirely filtered out, while the powertrain sounds pleasantly guttural in Mid mode. Switch to Sport mode, and the Clubman’s four-banger sounds coarse. We preferred the Mid setting most of the time, finding Sport worth the penalties of intrusive noise and heavier steering only when we were challenging two-lane roads. Sport mode also alters the shift programming in cars with the automatic-transmission option.

Even though this Clubman was a Cooper S with the bigger engine, there is not nearly enough power to swing the Mini’s tail. The all-wheel-drive system, which distributes torque between the axles via a central clutch mechanism, doesn’t really come into play unless you’re driving on a slippery surface; most of the time, it’s just a front-drive car dragging around the weight penalty of all-wheel-drive hardware.

And then there were the Pirelli Cinturato P7 all-season tires, which squeal when approaching their threshold of adhesion but do cling to the pavement—we measured 0.87 g of grip on the skidpad, which was 0.2 g better than the aforementioned Golf SportWagen managed in the same test. Braking tilts the other way, with the Golf taking 171 feet to stop from 70 mph, while the Mini needed 184. Steering is sufficiently precise but lacking in feel, yet needlessly heavy—it’s trying a bit too hard to play at being sporty without delivering the promised goods.

Tipping the scales at a portly 3421 pounds, this Clubman felt solid and well composed. If it falls short as a back-road dancer, it is a decent long-distance cruiser. While the Cooper S Clubman’s ride is not exactly cushy, it will keep its passengers content for hours on a long journey. The Clubman comfortably seats four (the fifth seatbelt is more decorative than useful) with an un-Mini-like cargo hold capable of swallowing 18 cubic feet of stuff. That said, the equivalent VW SportWagen has more passenger space and significantly more cargo room behind the rear seat (30 cubic feet).

Mini asks a lot of money for this Cooper S version of the Clubman. Ours had a base price of $30,300, and optional heated seats ($500), metallic paint ($500), and a panoramic sunroof ($1000) bumped up the total to $32,300. An options list only $2000 deep is actually quite reasonable by Mini standards, but the bottom line was still $6550 pricier than that SportWagen 4Motion. Consider Mini’s own Clubman in non-S trim. With the 134-hp 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder and front-wheel drive, it’s a better price match against the VW offerings. In our test of a 2016 Cooper Clubman, which had a $26,500 as-tested price, it was only 0.7 second slower to 60 mph than this Cooper S with ALL4, but it felt lighter and altogether more entertaining to drive.

While the Cooper S Clubman ALL4 does everything well enough, it doesn’t excel at anything by enough margin over the alternatives to make a compelling case for its premium price. We didn’t feel it gave us an improved driving experience compared with the cheaper and lighter front-wheel-drive Cooper.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $32,300 (base price: $30,300)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 122 cu in, 1998 cc
Power: 189 hp @ 5000 rpm
Torque: 207 lb-ft @ 1250 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 105.1 in
Length: 168.3 in
Width: 70.9 in Height: 56.7 in
Passenger volume: 93 cu ft
Cargo volume: 18 cu ft
Curb weight: 3421 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 19.1 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 32.2 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 8.1 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 9.9 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 8.3 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.4 sec @ 90 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 142 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 184 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.87 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 21/30 mpg
C/D observed: 22 mpg