My wife bought a Clubman S after 20 years of driving Mercedes. After six months she couldn't take it any more and traded it in on an E-class.

The Mini is a slick little car and a lot of fun to drive. We had both the turbo motor and 6-speed standard trans. However, the S rides exceptionally hard. In addition to a very stiff suspension, it also uses run-flat tires. Run flats ride like they filled with cement and are priced like they are made from unobtanium.

The other challenge was noise. We had the giant sunroof, which is very neat. But with there is a lot of wind noise at highway speeds, or even on surface streets on windy days. For example, you couldn't take a phone call above 50MPH, otherwise the other party couldn't hear you.

If you think you want a Clubman, I suggest sticking to the base model with the base tires (regular tires with a spare!) and avoiding the sunroof. It's the easiest version to live with.