(R56) Cooper S v (R55)Cooper S Clubman

[XJSJohn]

Aside from the obvious (bigger boot on clubman / club door on wrong side of Clubman) are there any other Pro's and Cons between the two?

some more info, I am looking at buying a Mini Cooper S (Around a 2010 / 2011 year) and am torn between the Mini Hatch and the Clubman. Aesthetically I like the looks of both, and the extra boot space of the Clubman would definitely be handy but are there any issues to consider or be aware of?

Also, where i am (Singapore) there are only Auto's on the market, or at least a manual is like Hens Teeth and i could be waiting for months for one to come on the market, whats the general consensus on the Auto??

[TheAlastair34]

I have a clubman and find it great

can fit my bike in it no bother, although i dont think the boot is much bigger but there is more room in the back vs a hatch

[sad61t]

Clubman's longer wheel base gives a more relaxed ride, but not as sharp turn-in. (Caveat, this was an R55 Cooper SD test drive vs an R56 Cooper.)

The auto suits the car well, I prefer it to the manual. Do try to find one with the optional paddles as they give selection options in D without having to go into S and use the sequential mode.

[XJSJohn]

Cheers for the comments guys, so for general daily driving there is no major downside, and the auto box is good / suits the car

TheAlastair34 said:

although i dont think the boot is much bigger but there is more room in the back vs a hatch

I think i get what you are saying

[Maracus]

We've got an R56 facelift 2010 Cooper S with the later N18 engine in. It's an auto and I find it no different than any other torque convertor autos.

We've owned it 4 1/2 years and the auto suits it IMO. Mid 40s on a run is easy enough, with a long term average of 39 showing on the trip.

I do like the R55 Clubman, but finding a Cooper S auto version with the N18 engine was nigh on impossible at the time, and still is!

[XJSJohn]

Maracus said:

I do like the R55 Clubman, but finding a Cooper S auto version with the N18 engine was nigh on impossible at the time, and still is!

Quite the reverse here, there are about 30 cooper s for sale here in varying style, not a single one has a manual!

[mike9009]

XJSJohn said:

Cheers for the comments guys, so for general daily driving there is no major downside, and the auto box is good / suits the car

TheAlastair34 said:

although i dont think the boot is much bigger but there is more room in the back vs a hatch

I think i get what you are saying

The Std hatch has a boot capacity of 160L, the clubman has 260L. We owned an R53 and looked at the R56 when kiddies arrived. A small pram fitted in the R55 (clubman) relatively easily but would not fit in the R56.

So we bought a R55, owned it for five years and loved it. Contemporary reviews at the time suggested the handling was not noticeably different between the R55 and R56 (I couldn't tell the difference - but my skillz are not the best!)


Mike

[XJSJohn]

mike9009 said:

XJSJohn said:

Cheers for the comments guys, so for general daily driving there is no major downside, and the auto box is good / suits the car

TheAlastair34 said:

although i dont think the boot is much bigger but there is more room in the back vs a hatch

I think i get what you are saying

The Std hatch has a boot capacity of 160L, the clubman has 260L. We owned an R53 and looked at the R56 when kiddies arrived. A small pram fitted in the R55 (clubman) relatively easily but would not fit in the R56.

So we bought a R55, owned it for five years and loved it. Contemporary reviews at the time suggested the handling was not noticeably different between the R55 and R56 (I couldn't tell the difference - but my skillz are not the best!)


Mike

sounds like you have identified my dilemma ... new bin-lid on the scene, hence getting a car rather than running around in Uber and Grab, and the Mini Hatch looks like i would struggle to fit a slab of beer in there, never mind the buggy as well!!

and same as you, i doubt my skillz would notice the difference anyway either ....

conclusion -

for an average numpty like me, there is no noticeable performance / handling downside between Mini Hatch and Clubman
The Auto box suits the car well, especially as it will be mostly driving in a country that is basically a city anyway.
The clubman gives me 100 litres more boot space so can fit a baby buggy and my beer in without folding seats.

conclusion - Cooper S Clubman it will be. Watch this space as i go hunting for one that meets all the requirements (SWMBO will now no doubt get the colour pantone's out and i will be expected to match this on the second hand market!)

Edited by XJSJohn on Wednesday 6th June 02:37

Edited by XJSJohn on Wednesday 6th June 02:38

[mike9009]

XJSJohn said:

sounds like you have identified my dilemma ... new bin-lid on the scene, hence getting a car rather than running around in Uber and Grab, and the Mini Hatch looks like i would struggle to fit a slab of beer in there, never mind the buggy as well!!

and same as you, i doubt my skillz would notice the difference anyway either ....

conclusion -

for an average numpty like me, there is no noticeable performance / handling downside between Mini Hatch and Clubman
The Auto box suits the car well, especially as it will be mostly driving in a country that is basically a city anyway.
The clubman gives me 100 litres more boot space so can fit a baby buggy and my beer in without folding seats.

conclusion - Cooper S Clubman it will be. Watch this space as i go hunting for one that meets all the requirements (SWMBO will now no doubt get the colour pantone's out and i will be expected to match this on the second hand market!)

Edited by XJSJohn on Wednesday 6th June 02:37

Edited by XJSJohn on Wednesday 6th June 02:38

Just be careful about what buggy you chose. Many don't fit in the clubman. We chose a basic Mamas and Papas model. We also had a roofbox for holidays and stuff, just to get everything crammed in. It was an excellent car though.

[vikingaero]

I've got a Cooper S Clubman Auto. It has a 6 speed box that also does downchanges as you say slow down for traffic lights. Most people who haven't owned one always say that the Club door is on the wrong side. I personally like it and prefer it as it is more useable in terms of you controlling kids in and out and placing stuff into the back. I've gone to Ikea and bought chest of drawers and wardrobes for my daughter and got everything in.

My advice is to go for a decent spec. Lounge leather is much better than the standard Gravity leather. I have Gravity and prefer the Lounge in other cars. Check for rattles in a car as they can be hard to trace and fix. The barn doors can suffer corrosion where the rubber seal meets the first opening door and also on the metal panel underneath the high level brake light. BMW/MINI in the UK were pretty good and were respraying cars affected even 6 years + into ownership. The OBC servicing can be annoying. It will ask for a service, then a month later ask for new brake pads etc etc. Reliability isn't premium so be realistic and expect niggles. It's really a French car with all the Valeo components.

But the positives outweigh the negatives. It's much more practical and usable than a 3 door Cooper S, decent on the twisties and it just changes from a B-Road blaster to I think an amazing high speed motorway cruiser/GT car where it becomes refined and composed. And of course being a MINI there are 1001 things you can do to it if customisation is your thing. I don't have any interest in modding the engine or suspension of mine - I just do interior mods - front and rear dashcams, rear parking camera, USB ports for each seat, rear seat iPad holders and I'm even thinking of installing a spare rear parking camera as a front camera in the front grille just for fun! Our car is the choice car to take for breaks of up to 5 days over and above a 5 series BMW.