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June 28, 2012

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The MINI Clubvan gets ready to roll up

Munich - With two seats, five doors and wall-to-wall MINI style and personality, the MINI Clubvan – the world’s first premium compact delivery van – has it all. With this groundbreaking model, based on the MINI Clubman platform, MINI is translating the brand’s hallmark driving fun and inherent charisma to new applications aimed at the urban user. As the first premium vehicle of its kind, the MINI Clubvan sets new standards of style, quality and driving fun in the small car-based van segment. For the first time, trend-conscious commercial users can now make a stylish and sophisticated statement when carrying out deliveries to their equally discerning customers.

The enhanced functionality offered by the MINI Clubvan is based on a closed-off load area extending from the rear doors right up to the driver’s and front passenger’s seats. Cargo can be easily accessed either through the wide-opening split rear door or via the right-side Clubdoor.

 

With its two-seater configuration, its fixed partition between the passenger compartment and load area, and its opaque, blocked-out rear side windows, the MINI Clubvan is classed as a commercial vehicle and therefore taxed at a lower rate. So as well as being the world’s only premium model in its segment, the Clubvan is also the first MINI commercial vehicle.

The MINI Clubvan comes in three model versions: the 72 kW/98 hp MINI One Clubvan, the 90 kW/122 MINI Cooper Clubvan and the 82 kW/112 hp MINI Cooper D Clubvan. This charismatic cargo carrier will hit the showrooms in autumn 2012.

The MINI Clubvan is built at the MINI plant in Oxford. Its roots, too, are firmly in the British Isles. They can be traced back to 1960, when the original Mini – just one year after its launch – was followed up by a further creative and space-efficient solution in the form of the Morris Mini Van. This van model, with a wheelbase extended by ten centimetres, a closed-off load compartment and split rear door, offered exactly the sort of extra functionality urban commercial users of the time were looking for.

 

Now the MINI Clubvan is poised to follow in the footsteps of its early forerunner and carry this tradition forward into the 21st century – in the same way and with the same panache as the MINI Clubman is already reprising the success of the fully glazed, four-seater Morris Mini Traveller, also from the 1960s.

The MINI Clubvan brings an unprecedented level of driving enjoyment to delivery assignments. The powertrain and chassis technology is familiar from the MINI Clubman: the Clubvan boasts powerful but efficient four-cylinder engines, the familiar MINI front-wheel-drive set-up, Electric Power Steering, MacPherson strut front suspension, multi-link rear suspension and powerful brakes. An extensive range of MINIMALISM features including Auto Start/Stop, Shift Point Display, Brake Energy Regeneration and on-demand operation of ancillary units keeps a tight rein on fuel consumption and offers unbeatably low running costs. For example, with average EU test cycle consumption of 3.9 litres/100 km (72.4 mpg imp), the MINI Cooper D Clubvan offers better fuel economy than any other model in the compact delivery van segment, despite delivering up to 20 hp more power.

For all three engines, however, it’s not just from a cost point of view that the balance between driving fun and fuel consumption is so attractive. Even the entry-level MINI One Clubvan offers trademark lively MINI performance. Its 1.6-litre engine with fully variable valve timing produces maximum power of 72 kW/98 hp and provides 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration in 11.1 seconds, with a top speed of 185 km/h (115 mph). The MINI One Clubvan’s average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle is 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres (51.4 mpg imp), with CO2 emissions of 129 grams per kilometre. The MINI Cooper Clubvan, which develops maximum power of 90 kW/122 hp, is livelier still. This model has a 0 – 100 km/h (62 mph) sprint time of 9.8 seconds and a top speed of 201 km/h (125 mph). Once again, average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are 5.5 litres/100 km (51.4 mpg imp) and 129 g/km respectively.

The most fuel-efficient model in the line-up is the MINI Cooper D Clubvan, whose four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine with common rail direct injection delivers 82 kW/112 hp, accelerating this model from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 10.2 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 197 km/h (122.4 mph). EU fuel consumption is 3.9 litres/100 km (7.4 mpg imp), corresponding to CO2 emissions of 103 grams per kilometre.

As an alternative to the six-speed manual transmission which is standard specification for all three models, the MINI Cooper D Clubvan can optionally be supplied with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Photos: MINI

(23.06.2012)

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