Mini Clubman Cooper test drive since 2007 Hatchback

Let's play?

Clock, expensive lighters, cufflinks are far from essential things. Time can be viewed on a mobile phone, cighed with an ordinary crystat or matches, and fasten the sleeves of the shirt with buttons. Why all this? To emphasize the status. This is the Mini fashionable toy. And the elongated version of Clubman did not particularly add utilitarianism to him.

Mini is a fetish, mini is a kich, mini is a challenge. No, he is not a little Bologna, which is trying to attract the attention of others with constant nasty barking. Mini has nothing to yell for, and so everyone is turning around after once again to look at its original silhouette, a magnificent muzzle and an unprecedented combined red-black color with two stripes on the hood. Take a look and smile.
He is a source of good mood. He is a bilateral mutually beneficial game. You play them, showing it to the people, like an elephant from Krylov’s fable, surprising the public with strange rear hinged doors and a small appendix on the right side, allowing you to leak into the rear seat not only of a circus acrobat, but also a quite ordinary person. He plays you. The first game is called find a blind clumper of the desired windshield. Front fogs are already included. That's the rear. As a result, you have to either run fingers throughout a number of switches, or take your eyes off the road several times.
The next game find out how speed we are. Track the speedometer float dangling in a huge plate on the central console is not easy. But Mini continues to make fun. Now we understand the wipers. They are turned on quickly, only the mode is never the one that is needed at the moment. Ten seconds go to choose the right one. Weather conditions have already changed. New. And then another five seconds you need to somehow turn them off! Wanted to listen to CD? Be kind, remove a special panel with an audio control handle, and then insert a disk. But first, guess what to do just that.

Fun? The playful atmosphere is supported by funny sounds that signal, for example, about the small level of fuel or loose doors. If you loved to cut into Dendy as a child, then this is yours. The gaming initiative illumination of the salon, capable of changing color, supports. Do you want me to hit him and he will become purple? To become, you need to click on the same toggle switch as the windows. Only it is on the ceiling, like the opening button of the hatch. It is uncomfortable, strange, impractical, but the smile does not leave the face. You look out the window and everyone laughs there, and some even show the thumb raised up. Yes, small, yes it costs a million, but how many emotions!

Who said that small? And why then the Clubman prefix and an additional 24 cm of length? We will be fair, the internal space behind the front seats has nevertheless increased. An additional 8 cm of the wheelbase made a landing behind quite comfortable. But first, the game is again. This time we disassemble the pyramid. First, we open the front door, then the very small piece called Clubdoor, then push the seat belt hanging in the formed opening and, finally, plowing the seat obedient for two. That's all, I'm in the house! Cosy. There is no particular spaciousness, but the knees no longer play the role of additional sound insulation, resting on the ears of the rear riders, as on the usual short -boiled mini.

Hint: The attraction with the landing in Clubman will be even more interesting if the number of passengers is four. Three will have to sit strictly in the order of the queue. And the people on the street will smile again, seeing it. A toy toys, but she has a motor, pedals, wheels and six steps in an automatic gearbox. And there is also a younger brother, just Mini, who, despite the same comic mood, is perfectly controlled. I sit behind the wheel, I do an effort not to be distracted by the ongoing flirting. I let Mini be laughed, it's time to check you in the case. The magnificent chair was the first to pick up my impulse, tightly streaming of the body with an excellent profile.
I insert the key-shabu into a special slot, press the engine start button. Having shitting briefly, Mini seemed to be seen, I noticed my serious expression in the mirror. Automate lever in Drive, let's go! Unfortunately, they did not rush, namely, we went. The younger version of Cooper with an atmospheric 1.6-liter 120-horsepower engine has a very restrained temperament. And the box does not support my endeavors calmly shock the programs, even despite the drowned gas pedal. Maybe something will change after the transition to the sports regime? Better, but not much. The machine is more likely to hold the transmission, and the reactions of the accelerator become faster. But these are just the remnants of a hurricane under the name Cooper S. without a turbine, and with it 55 power forces, Clubman has settled down.

Fortunately, the suspension has retained its magnificent mood! The notorious Mini Catomedness has not gone anywhere. Of course, Clubman has become more comfortable due to the extended base. It is no longer so thrown when crossing the coin, but it still remains the sharpest car in driving. And then I realized: this provocateur again starts a game with me, but at a more serious, now adult level. In every turn, he puts it: well, come on, click, don’t get lost, I still don’t know how! And I am getting stronger again, and again the fun! It’s good that the speed in the turns cannot be seen, otherwise it will become scary. The side overloads are great, the rolls are absent, like a class, and the rubber will not even squeak! And I can imagine how his face at that moment stretches in a smile.
I rejoice with him! Cool toy! Moreover, the level of complexity can be increased from simple with finding the desired toggle switch, to a complex race on the highway. Maybe for a small car the price will seem great. But what does the money mean when the soul sings, and the heart awaits the next turn with bated breath? Play, have fun and enjoy!

History reference
Clubman modification did not occur from scratch. Once, in the 1960s, the legendary old Mini also had elongated versions of Mini Clubman Estate, Morris Mini Traveller and Austin Mini Countryman. By the way, their bodies were longer than short -busy almost the same amount as now, 10 inches! Morris and Austin were distinguished by a special external wooden decoration of the rear. Long mini was produced until 1982.