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Well its just under a fortnight since I got the clubby

It is in a different league than my old R50 ONE, a lot more comfortable to drive, more toys and gadgets etc

I have noticed the handling isnt as good as the R50, a couple of times on the Irish Job I was like "ooooooh sheeeeeeet" going around corners, it didnt seem to enjoy being chucked in as much.

It was certainly a lot quicker than I first expected, over the course of the run I feel it loosened up a great deal, before the run if you were in 6th and put your foot down to go faster it would get there eventually, but now bouncing it off the redline a few times has helped that, seems a lot keener to go places

Comfort is another good thing in this car, a lot more compliant over the bumps, the R50 was a bone shaker compared to this, this soaks the bumps up nicely.

Great to hear you're enjoying the Clubbie

How fast were you going into the corners

My wife has a R50 & I think my Clubbie is much better & I feel much safer

Enjoy

I wasnt going that fast really, just keeping up with the run

I would not agree about the roadholding and handling Mark , I would have a look at tyres , I found the Clubman to be better than the R50's and R56 I had previously , certainly better in the bumpy stuff and really good in the twisties , agree about the power though and you will find there is no need to go anywhere near the redline to be quick after a while, totally different to the R50 ,
G

Agree tyre pressures are critical, when mine were only down a couple of psi the tram lining started set to the correct psi and 100% improvement

Have to say though my wifes is worse for tram lining, we both have R/F's

whats the optimal tyre pressures then folks?

Sure it was only Barry in the Dooper at the front, 4-up - how fast could it have been..... Seriously though, I was behind you for a while on the run and I was quite impressed with how well the Clubby seemed to be coping with those bumps.

When I first got the Clubman I noticed it didnt feel quite as keen to tuck in at the front compared to the hatch. A positive effect of this is the rear feels more happy to join in the fun without feeling scary like a hatch would.
I think you adapt to it as I dont feel the same sensation going in to roundabouts I did when I first got the Clubman nearly two years ago.

Tyre pressures were shockingly low

Pumped them up and oh my goodness, what a difference

All dependent on choice of tyre and its working temperature, but as a base line for the Clubbie you should find 2.4bar (36psi old school ) cold pressure front and rear about right, you should find with time and adjusting the cold tyre pressure to suit your style of driving ability, that providing you have decent tyres with good depth of tread, you should be able to turn into corners with good entry speed (60-80 mph on a track obviously ) and carry this speed all the way through with no problem.

Ok, I still love it

Tire pressures make a major difference. One thing the dealers like to do is drop the pressures down a bit for a more comfy ride, but that affects handling greatly. On most of the more "spirited" runs we go on, I'll pump a few extra pounds of air in the fronts to help keep them from pushing into the corners. Like you said, a little more pressure really wakes up a Clubman!