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The Smoking Tire slightly veered away from the highly tuned performance cars for this episode and decided to test a normal car that a lot of people would actually use. The host of the show is Matt Farah and he has been very vocal in the past about not liking to test everyday cars because they tend to be slow. However, the MINI Cooper Clubman may just change that preference. Watch here:
The MINI Cooper Clubman used for this review is not the most exciting variant of the brand. In fact, this was only just the standard Cooper and not the Cooper S. It is powered by a 1.5 liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, instead of the 2.0 liter turbo-four. This engine delivers 134 hp and is mated to a pretty regular six-speed Aisin automatic gearbox, without paddles. Despite these factors, the MINI Cooper Clubman still manages to impress.
Farah took the car into twisty bits of California in just one take so this is really as raw as it gets. On the mountain roads, the Clubman performs decently at high speeds and the front-end clings on pretty well.
The only disadvantage is the lack of grunt from the 1.5 liter engine, so it is hard to go faster. It feels like a MINI, says Farah, but nothing short of a good car. In fact, it was actually quite fun to drive. With great interior space, a quirky look, and advanced technology, it does bring value for money.
