Story by Daisy Hutzell-Rodman // Photography by Bill Sitzmann
Onyx Automotive is Nebraska’s premier luxury vehicle destination
The words Mini Cooper cause most people think of a small vehicle. It’s the classic English car of the Swingin’ Sixties. According to miniusa.com, in 1957, engineer Alec Issigonis was tasked with creating a car that could comfortably hold four people and sip fuel while being racy.
That made the car attractive to families and celebrities alike. It became a fashion statement. Every Beatle owned one, as did Steve McQueen. The millionth Mini Cooper rolled off the line in 1965, and by 1972 over 3 million Mini Coopers were on the road.
New MINI Coopers have been around for less than 20 years. When they first came available, they won the “2003 North American Car of the Year Award,” determined by an independent group of automotive journalists. It is compact enough to handle narrow London roads and comfortable enough for a 6’4”, 250-lb. man.
This ONYX Magazine editor took the S Clubman for a weekend of fun—fun being the operative word. The first thing we noticed was the color package on the dash display, which can be changed according to taste and mood. We chose red as the car we drove was painted the limited edition Coral Red metallic. The ambient lighting comes alive at night, with lights highlighting all the geometry of the car, from the dash to the map pockets. A full digital instrument cluster is available for all MINIs, a plus for being able to turn the radio station or look for a map quickly.
Its touchscreen navigation was a good feature for ease of having a map at our hands, and the split screen was convenient for showing both the stereo and the map at one time.
The previously optional sport version of the steering wheel is now standard. This is where we found driving the MINI to be like driving a go-kart. The wheel is small, but the grips at 10 and 2 are large, making it better to realize where one’s hands should go for maximum handling.
Handle it does. We took the MINI on Highway 275 through the Loess Hills of Iowa from Omaha to Glenwood, Iowa (where my husband and I reside). On first entering the highway, I put my foot on the gas and increased speed to where I thought the speed should be. Then, I looked at the speedometer—I was driving 65 mph in a 55 mph zone. This vehicle gets 0-60 in 6.9 seconds. Throughout the entire weekend, I discovered the comfortable speed was about 5-10 miles over the speed limit and backed my foot off the gas, although I thought I was barely moving. The car drove smoothly around the turns on the hilly highway, and when accelerating onto the interstate, I discovered I was driving 70 mph halfway down the on-ramp.
The MINI Cooper S Clubman also has a variety of driving modes. The car always starts in mid mode which gives a blend of performance and fuel efficiency. Fuel efficiency is a big reason why I purchase any car, and the MINI offers the green mode, which regulates fuel responsiveness and adapts the climate control to maximize efficiency. As with other vehicles, the MINI offers sport mode, which allows for better cornering and increases throttle response for faster acceleration.
There are four trim levels available, a relatively new feature for MINI, which is known for being customized by owners, from psychedelic color schemes to installing a V-8 engine (the latter, incidentally, is not recommended by either MINI or car enthusiasts).
“Before that, for 68 years, it was Clubman, or S Clubman, and everything else was a la carte,” said ONYX MINI Sales Manager Dave Arbaugh. “When I built cars for my inventory, I thought about what people absolutely want to have. I would pick leather seats, or a good stereo, and a customer would come in and build it. They went to trim levels in hopes of the vehicle holding its value, because banks want to have a projected value three years down the road.”
The biggest plus, for us, was the visibility. The blind spot was reduced to next to nothing, making this good for those with reduced eyesight or fears of being in a smaller car.
“A lot of people, when they look at it, say, ‘We want blindspot monitors,’” Arbaugh said. “Every car on the market now has a triangle in the mirror that will beep and let you know someone’s in your blind spot.”
MINI, however, doesn’t offer this as an option—it’s not needed. With the sunroof and the six windows down the sides, along with the front and back windshields, we felt as though we were riding in a glass carriage. The dual back doors create a split in the back windshield that took a moment to adjust to, but within half an hour of driving, it felt natural.
On the second day in the MINI, I took the vehicle to run errands. The trunk held several shopping bags and included a sunken trunk space that could be covered and a space above with a pull-out cover. This is convenient and necessary for those who don’t want others to look in and see items in the trunk. The back seats had enough room for two more adults and offered child safety features.
Overall, the S Clubman is a fun vehicle that could easily be used as the family car. With a price range from $29,900 to $39,500, it is affordable for many.
“The Clubman and the Countryman will compete head to head with anyone looking for a small SUV like a RAV 4 or a Kia Sportage,” Arbaugh said.
For more information visit miniofomaha.com.
