So we got a 2009 Mini Clubman S

So we got a 2009 Mini Clubman S


In a bit of a surprise, I got a call from BMW’s people yesterday morning saying they have Mini Clubman S lying around, and whether I wanted it. I have nothing better to do nowadays so I said “sure, why not.” And now it stands under my apartment, thanks to BMW’s awesome home-delivery service for press cars. It goes back to their stable after five days.

So far, I’ve only driven it about 10 metres, giving it a once-over. The Mini Clubman S looks like a van in photos, but my tester actually looks better, thanks to a funky sticker-job and black-painted wheels.

The conversation piece remains the rear-hinged door on just the passenger side. The story was that it would be too expensive to redesign the fuel tank port to make way for another door on the other side. Check out the legroom and the checkered side-sills.

A dual glass sunroof is available with transparent shades, which would probably be hell in the summer.

Check out that side-mounted sun-visor for the driver, which is in addition to the regular sun-visor at the front.

The front cabin is the same as that in the standard Mini Cooper. This is our first automatic Mini tester, and it comes with paddle shifters exactly like any other BMW. It also has all the funk that was missing in our staid 135i. Also see the entertainment/nav screen in the middle of the central speedometer gauge, controlled by a tiny iDrive-style knob just behind the shifter. There is another gauge just behind the steering wheel for the tach, with a digital display within that can be configured to show speed.

The rear doors open up like an old van, more for nostalgic purposes than for any practical reason, since it reduces visibility, and the space isn’t too impressive anyway. More checkers overkill on the sills. Check out the dual non-burning exhaust tips.

This should be a fun car to drive, even though I’m not a clubbin’ man. But I don’t expect too much of a difference in driving feel from the standard Cooper without doing a direct side-to-side comparison drive.

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Comments

  1. I seriously dont understand why people would dish out so much money on such a dumb-looking car… 😕

  2. mash do u stay in karama?

  3. Cool Car! reminds me of the Kia soul. Not by design of course. I had seen it at the Dubai motorshow in 2007 and I just feel the rear cargo doors make no sense opening the way they do and not best when your in a crowded parking and you can’t keep big things directly beside the car before opening the doors to load. And its rather weird that they have two speedos. Bit like the new phones with a menu button assigned to the centre button of a D-pad as well as one of the soft keys. But its still a desirable car to me. 🙂

  4. is there any genuine reason to build this kinda a van? it must be fun to drive but it looks ugly. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

  5. of course there’s a reason. there are billions of people on this earth. Out of those there is bound to be people who like this design. everyone’s taste is different.

  6. Author

    My mistake. The gauge behind the wheel is an analogue tachometer. A little LCD on that can be set to show speed.
    And yes, I live in Karama. I am not as fortunate as some of the British car journos out here who prefer villas.

  7. I like this cars interior…though I wished it looked better on the outside…

  8. btw take a night shot of the dials….they look really nice with those red back light..I remember doing a shoot of my friends normal cooper…

  9. bad looking car..

  10. No wonder we havent been hearing much of Mash,it seems he likes it and hes been too busy driving around the Mini Clubman.

  11. mash i use to live there to i miss that place 😥 but now i stay in jumeirah 😀

  12. mash would u like to see my M3 which will be given to me by 18 next month ??????

  13. Author

    I’ll probably get an M3 tester by then too, hehe.
    Yeah, I’ll be missing a lot till Sunday. Better than feeding parking tickets every hour to the Mini.

  14. ……….. er, Am I the only one who likes this car by design?

  15. mash, i found out that the avalon is 280hp (net), from the owner’s manual in the dealer’s avalone. i think the engine of it here is stronger than in american market.
    http://www.arb-up.com/files/arb-up-2008-6/EGb34175.jpg

  16. and also there is that GS460 which costs AED 245k.
    http://www11.0zz0.com/2008/12/31/15/392233338.jpg

  17. i thought it was a van type. my bad as i saw this car and i think it looks nice and attractive as the other minicooper. 🙂

  18. Author

    Thanks for the updates, assassin. As for the Avalon, here is the story from wikipedia:
    “Due to changes in the SAE’s testing procedures, power has dropped to 268 hp (200 kW) and torque has dropped to 248 lb·ft (336 N·m) for the 2006 model year. However, this is due to being rated on 87 octane fuel. When supplied with 91 octane and with the air-conditioning turned off, the engine matches the 280 hp (209 kW), 260 lb·ft (353 N·m).”

    American 91 octane is UAE 95 octane, as far as I’ve figured out. It is likely all Aurions have 280 hp here too.

  19. Alright guys! See you all next year!!! 😉

  20. I prefer the 2-door, and the manual tranny is heaps more fun !

  21. Happy new year people!!!

  22. LOL ok np mash
    park in the sand area behind karama its free :mrgreen:

  23. 😯 at last. mash used ( I ) refering to himself.

  24. Author

    “We” is not leaving such expensive cars in the shittiest parts of Karama.

  25. The Cars r lucky to have u mash 😉

  26. ……….*..m…a…g…6…g………..
    ………***..a…v…o…s…e……….
    ……..*****..s…a…t…p…a………
    …….*******..h…l…….e…r……..
    ……*********..f…o…….e…b…….
    …..***********..i…n…….d…o……
    ….*************..q……………x…..
    …***************..u………………..
    ………’-‘………e……………….
    ………’-‘………………………..
    ………’-‘………………………..

  27. Aww…now RS and Mash will hug reminiscing about good ol’ karama….Whats the purpose of this car?

  28. why is that toyota fan telling Mash the Avlon has 6 speed gearbox?

  29. Author

    Apparently it does, from 2008 onwards. Not that anyone noticed.

  30. been seeing this car around the car magazine head quarter in Garhoud…I wounder what they’re upto!!!

  31. Author

    Those dix keep hogging the cars, taking the same ones again and again, getting my test dates cancelled.

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