2024 Mini Clubman

There will soon be one less Mini – and it’s the one that’s not as “mini” as the ones that will remain.

It’s the Clubman version of the Mini Cooper – which will be retired after the end of this model year.

But why is it being retired? And is it worth considering one before they’re gone?

What It Is

The Clubman is the largest Mini currently available.

It is also the only Mini that’s a wagon – with a pair of outward opening rear doors rather than a single liftgate – and that may be why it’s being cancelled. Not because wagons are bad. Or because having two outward opening rear doors that can be opened individually rather than a single upward opening lifgate is a bad idea.

Wagons just aren’t popular in this country.

Every major manufacturer has tried to sell them but Americans seem to prefer buying crossovers and SUVs instead. The latter offer similar (or even greater) utility and they’re not low to the ground – which is likely the main reason that wagons like the Clubman don’t do very well here, because there are so many tall-riding crossovers and SUVs out there and many people don’t like feeling towered over by them, apparently.

And so they buy crossovers and SUVs – which means that’s mostly what’s out there – which makes the handful of wagons that are out there feel towered over by them. The circle is now complete, as Darth Vader told Obi Wan.

Still, some people who think the mini Mini (two and four-door) is cute but too small might want to check out the also-cute but not-as-small Clubman – before it’s gone.

Prices start at $34,050 for the base S trim, which comes standard with a 189 horsepower, 2.0 liter turbo four, a seven speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and front-wheel-drive. The S also comes with 17 inch wheels, LED headlights, ambient interior lighting, a leather trimmed steering wheel and a six speaker stereo.

The $36,150 S All4 comes standard with all-wheel-drive and the same engine, paired up with an eight speed automatic.

The high-performance John Copper Works (JCW) version of the Clubman gets a 302 horsepower version of the 2.0 liter four, also paired with AWD and an eight speed automatic – plus a performance-tuned suspension, upgraded brakes and bolstered sport seats.

What’s New For 2024

A Final Edition package ($1,385) is available for the Clubman’s . . . final year. It bundles a set of two-tone 18 inch wheels and piano black exterior accents with “shimmer” copper interior trim offset by dark maroon leather seats, Nappa leather-trimmed steering wheel and a gray anthracite headliner.

This package is limited to 1,969 numbered examples.

What’s Good

Not as mini as other Minis – but still a Mini.

Standard 2.0 liter engine is much stronger than the 1.3 liter three cylinder engine that’s standard in the mini Mini.

Cheerful, distinctive personality.

What’s Not So Good

Much pricier than the mini-Mini (which you can buy for $7,250 less for the four-door iteration, which stickers for $26,800 to start).

Mandatory automatic transmission detracts from the fun.

Only a little bit more room for cargo than the four-door (hatchback) Mini.

Under The Hood

Unlike the mini Mini – two and four-door hatchbacks – the Clubman does not come standard with a three cylinder engine that only makes 134 horsepower. Instead, it comes standard with the 2.0 liter, turbocharged four cylinder engine that’s the optional engine in the two-and-four-door mini Mini. It makes 189 horsepower, enough to get the base Clubman to 60 in about 6.5 seconds. That’s more than a second quicker than it takes for the three-cylinder-powered Mini four-door hatchback to make the same run.

However, the two-and-four-door Mini is still available with a six speed manual transmission whereas the only transmission you can get with the Clubman’s standard engine is a seven speed dual-clutch automatic (with front-drive versions) or an eight speed conventional automatic (with AWD).

However, it looks like 2024 will be the final year of availability for the six speed manual in the mini Mini. The 2025 models will reportedly become automatic-only, too. But they will also reportedly come standard with the larger 2.0 liter engine, tuned (reportedly) to make 201 horsepower.

The Clubman is also available with a 302 horsepower version of the 2.0 liter engine, in the John Cooper Works trim. On a power-per-liter-of-displacement basis, the JCW’s little four makes more horsepower than the supercharged V8 that used to be available in the Dodge Charger and Challenger Hellcats. It only made 717 horsepower out of 6.2 liters. If the JCW’s turbocharged 2.0 liter four displaced six liters, it’d be making in the vicinity of 900 horsepower.

Not surprisingly, the JCW Clubman is the quickest wagon you can still buy in this country for the money.

It is capable of getting to 60 in about 4.5 seconds. Interestingly – and laudably – going with this engine vs. the less potent version of the 2.0 liter engine that’s standard in other Cllubmans hardly costs more gas. The 189 horsepower version rates 25 city and 35 highway while the JCW’s 302 horsepower iteration posts 23 city, 31 highway.

On the downside, both versions of the 2.0 liter four come with a premium fuel recommended sticker, which means you don’t have to pay extra for premium but if you don’t, the engine won’t make as much power as it’s capable of making – because the engine’s computer will sense the lower octane fuel and dial back the turbo boost that makes the power.

Put another way, if you want to get the maximum-rated output, you have to pay extra for premium unleaded.

On The Road

Driving the Clubman is like driving other Minis in that you will find yourself driving one of the smallest vehicles available right now. This has its good – and bad – points, depending on how you feel about it. And whether you’re the kind of driver who will take advantage of this car’s advantages.

The Clubman’s tiny footprint – it’s only 168.5 inches long, which for some sense of just how small a footprint that is, consider that a Toyota Corolla has a 182.5 inch footprint – allows the driver who’s willing to exploit holes in traffic that are closed to larger and less nimble vehicles.

If you have ever played Frogger – and liked to play it – you may like driving the Clubman, because that’s what it’s made to do. It’s a fantastically fun urban-suburban car for just that reason. It can actually make driving in traffic enjoyable, like playing a game of Frogger.

But you have to be willing to play.

If not, the Clubman’s small footprint – and thread-the-needle agility – isn’t much of an advantage and the car may feel intimidatingly small among the behemoths.

The Clubman has another advantage – over its even-smaller-footprint two-and-four-door hatchback cousins. It is heavier by several hundred pounds (3,333 for the base FWD version vs. 2,846 lbs for the four-door hatchback Mini) and it rides on a significantly longer (105.1 inch vs. 101.1 inch) wheelbase. These two attributes help the Clubman feel more planted on the highway, especially when a semi drafts by at 80. They also help tamp down the bumps on local roads.

On the downside, the extra weight and the longer wheelbase attenuate some of the famous Mini slot-car agility.

Even so, it’s still a fun little car to drive, if you know how to make use of a little car.

At The Curb

The Clubman’s not as mini as the two-and-four-door Mini hatchbacks, but it’s still a small car, especially for a wagon.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that much more room for cargo than the four-door Mini hatchback, which is 158.5 inches long but still has 13.1 cubic feet of space behind its second row and a total capacity of 40.7 cubic feet, which is a lot of space for such a small vehicle. The Clubman – which is nearly a foot longer – only has 17.5 cubic feet of space for cargo behind its second row and a total capacity of 47.9 cubic feet.

It’s more – but not a lot more.

On the other hand, the Clubman does have more backseat legroom – 34.3 inches vs. 32.3 inches in the Mini four-door hatchback. And the Clubman has what you can’t get in the Mini four-door hatchback – which is a pair of side-opening rear doors.

They are certainly more interesting than the same-old-same-old hatchback that almost everything else has because no one else has a pair of side-opening rear doors. There’s a “neat” factor there that’s intangible but valuable, to those who like not being the same.

The doors can also be opened (or closed) individually, which differs from the either it’s open or it’s closed hatchback.

What’s the same is the cute factor that has made Minis – all of them – kind of like what the old VW Beetle was. That being a car most people like, even if they don’t own one. It’s also one of the few cute cars that isn’t also a chick car. It’s pugnacity makes it manly but also  . . . cute. Which is why it appeals to both sexes without alienating either.

The other thing the Clubman has in it favor is its cheerful personality – right down to the pleasant-sounding beeps it makes. There’s also a bevvy of factory and dealer-available paint/stripe combos, trim options and so on that you’ll want to get a cup of coffee before wading into. It’s getting hard to find a new car that isn’t a homogeneous car.

Here’s one that isn’t.

The Rest

Part of the reason for the impending cancellation of the Clubman may have less to do with its being a wagon that with it being an expensive wagon – especially relative to how much less you might pay to get a Mini four-door hatch that’s nearly as spacious inside but only costs $26,800 to start – vs. $34,050 for the least expensive version of the Clubman.

It would be interesting to see whether the Clubman would have sold better if Mini had offered a base trim iteration that cost just a little more than the four-door hatchback Mini. Offering it with a manual transmission might have helped, too.

Unfortunately, the time for that has passed – and so we’ll never know.

The Bottom Line

If you’re interested in a different kind of Mini, this is your last chance to get one.

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