Small upgrades and more power for Mini’s five-door estate. By Martyn Collins

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SECTOR Lower Medium   PRICE £21,200-£34,250   FUEL 38-42.7mpg   CO2 127-169g/km

Mini’s quirky and fleet friendly Clubman estate turns four this year, and to bring it in-line with the already facelifted three- and five-door range, it has received a similar facelift.

You’ll spot a facelifted Clubman at the front, by the new LED front headlights. These have the clever Matrix function for the high beam and like the hatch before it, have the distinctive, circular halo driving lights. There’s also a bigger, chunkier front grille.

Elsewhere, there are new alloy wheel designs, a Piano Black exterior pack to kill the exterior chrome, curvier wing mirrors, new colours, and Union flag LED rear lights.

Inside, navigation and infotainment options are simplified, all models get a 6.5-inch screen and navigation. A Navigation Plus pack adds a bigger 8.8-inch touchscreen, wireless charging, Mini Connected Services and Real Time Traffic Information. There are also more choices of leather trim and Mini Yours personalisation options.

Not just about interior and exterior changes, the Clubman gets a new distinctly unfleety range-topper in the form of the 305hp, 2.0-litre TwinPower, John Cooper Works All4 – a 30% power jump over the outgoing car.

I say unfleety, but if you’re a user-chooser, looking for an alternative to the all too popular Mercedes A35 AMG, or the Volkswagen Golf R, we’d say this is worth a look.

Highlights apart from the performance, is how easy the highest performance Mini estate is to drive, the precise steering, involved handling and the grip available from the All4 four-wheel drive system.

At £34,250, the John Cooper Works is not a cheap option, although despite the performance, a combined WLTP figure of 38mpg and CO2 emissions of 169g/km is surprisingly affordable. Although, we believe fleets will be interested in the more relevant £21,200 Cooper and £23,500 Cooper D diesel, both of which we will drive over the coming months.

Star Rating
4/5