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Went test driving cars yesterday for fun with my wife and son, wasn't going to move a child seat so my daughter stayed home with grandma: MINI Clubman S, BMW 135 and an Audi A5; liked all of them actually but for different reasons of course.

First up was the Clubman S; they only had one as a demo, sold out otherwise. Surprisingly I think it has as much rear seat room as the RX8 if not more. You do need to flip the passenger seat forward to comfortably get in. The rear door is very small and of course only on the passenger side.

We had some time to go over the car while waiting for a salesperson; favorite of my wife and son by far. It was fairly well appointed although the center stack isn't designed all that well but not hard to figure out. The sales woman went with us and was very nice, best dealership experience of the day. Seems like they enjoy what they do there, of course it’s probably because they sell very well, especially now.

The two main things that surprised me on the test drive were the rough ride (not a sport suspension either!) and power. We hit some back roads with broken pavement and it did feel choppy and a bit skittish (due in part to the short wheelbase I'm sure). While I know it's not faster than the 8 it almost felt that way due to the torque. I did get some torque steer but it was minimal. All in all a very nice little car; in one word Fun. Only problem is to get power near the 8 you'd need the JCW version and optioned up how I'd want it would be almost $36k. Ouch. Only consolation is the great MPG.

Next up was the 135, nice car, not pretty like the 8 but not bad and as you can imagine a fantastic engine. The 6' tall salesman was in the back, luckily for him my wife is short, he did have room though. Of course we had to wait a good ten minutes just to see a salesman. And while not rude or anything they were not especially nice either.

The only 135's they had for test drives were convertibles but at least it had the manual and the sport package. Very thick wheel, almost too thick for me, nice interior but nothing amazing at least it wasn’t black. Seems like all they had were white, black, silver and gray with most having a black interior, how boring. The steering felt overly heavy, especially at parking lot speeds. Not as much when actually underway but seems like more than was necessary, like the weighting in the 8 better. Overall driving seemed very balanced and much more compliant than the mini even though it had the sport suspension. Rides softer than the 8 which of course isn't especially harsh. The main thing is the power, I couldn't even get all the way into it and just a huge seamless rush of power. Very nice exhaust note too. More than enough for me actually. Definitely a contender as my next car.

Last up was the A5; they only had one which was the manager's demo. We had to wait a good 15 minutes because someone else had it out already. While we waited I tried to see if my son's booster would fit in a TT, not a chance unless he had no legs. Sales person was friendly and not the least bit snobbish and let us go out on our own. This dealership owns a few other brands and we have bought from them before and they let us go out a few times before with no salesperson so it may just be their policy.

A lot of people say Audi makes the best interiors and I’d have to agree. Very well designed, high quality switchgear and very easy to find things. The HVAC controls were not especially intuitive but it probably only takes a few minutes to figure them out. The MMI system seems to work well, much easier than the idrive system I’ve played with. This one was loaded with Nav and the technology package. Had a nice rear view camera with the backup assist that was fun to try.

It is a very pretty car and fairly good sized too, my son had plenty of room in back. It was a tiptronic with shift-paddles and it seemed to shift very fast for not being a dual-clutch unit. Mush faster than most tiptronics or the Lexus IS350 I’ve driven. It supposed to be about as fast or maybe a tad faster than the 8 but it sure felt a hell of a lot faster. Nothing like the 135 but a pretty good shove. The steering was much much lighter than the 135 but felt precise and it had a good exhaust note to it. Overall it was my favorite of the day, damn expensive though something like 48k but then it was loaded. Can only imagine how nice the S5 must be.

All in all a fun day. I’ll have to see if there is something else I want to try in a few months, maybe once the Challenger R/T’s are out. Topped off the evening with a delicious rack of ribs too, yum.

CarAndDriver

The Clubman hints at brand extension starting to go awry. It would be better if it had a swing up hatch and less ugly plasticky rear end. It isn't for the drag strip racer, definitely more of a handling car. Similar to the 8 in that way.

I like both the 135i and A5. The A5 is more of a 3 Series coupe competitor though since it starts higher. The A5 for looks the 135i for thrust and handling.

Sounds like a fun day. I doubt you should expect anything more than BMW and Audi dealers, I'm sure they don't need to kiss **** to sell, esp. BMW.

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

Good write up, out of the three i would have to take the 135i.