FIRST DRIVE MERCEDES-BENZ CLS 250CDI SHOOTING BRAKE:With its launch of the world's first four-door coupé estate Mercedes has shown it has the know-how to create a practical performance car, writes NEIL BRISCOE
THE CONVERSATION IN the product-planning section of Mercedes-Benz’s sprawling home complex, in Stuttgart, must have made for interesting reading, had a transcript existed.
“So we have our successful four-door E-Class saloon and estate, yes?”
“Yes.”
“And now we have made a successful four-door coupé version, the CLS, right?”
“Right.”
“And now we’re going to make an estate version of the four-door coupé version of the four-door saloon and . . . estate?”
“Umm, yup.”
While the idea may have seemed at least odd at first, Mercedes’ execution of the world’s first four-door coupé estate has been remarkably successful, even enticing.
The regular four-door CLS will be familiar to many. Mercedes once referred to the first version, from 2004, as its “Jaguar fighter” – a car of swooping proportions, elegance and agile chassis, exactly the kind of car that we had come to expect from the leaping cat but not so much from the three-pointed star.
An instant success, the second-generation CLS has kept the original’s louche styling (even improved on it, to my eyes) and brought with it a low-emission 2.1-litre diesel engine, an even more inviting cabin and a chassis of rare balance and deftness.
The funny thing is that this Shooting Brake (a name that harks back to coach-built Edwardian cars, designed to haul the spare shotguns and clothing for a day’s bird hunting on one’s family demense) doesn’t look funny.
The idea of a coupé estate may well seem oxymoronic, but the stretch in the roofline and the tailgate seems almost entirely natural, potentially even better looking than the four-door version.
Inside, the cabin is identical to that of the standard CLS, so you get a close-fitting cockpit, with low seats, a high centre console and individual rear seats. Space is not exactly at a premium – real adults can get mostly comfy in the rear, for instance – but you can certainly feel that it lacks the wide-open spaces of the mechanically identical E-Class estate.
That sense of closeness is reflected out back, where the luxuriantly upholstered boot is well and truly beaten for cubic capacity by that of the CLS’s more blousy sister car.
But, rather significantly, the sexy CLS is able to match the likes of the BMW 5 Series Touring, Audi A6 Avant and forthcoming Jaguar XF Sportbrake for space, with a seats-up load volume of 590 litres and a seats-folded space of 1,690 litres. For all its Gucci styling, there is some proper Woodie’s load space behind the standard-fit electric tailgate.
Whether or not you’d be happy loading up a CLS Shooting Brake with builders’ tools and bags of cement may depend on how you specify your personal car.
Stick with the standard carpet boot floor and you may think that any dirt and stains can be washed out.
Stump up the expected €2,000 price for the American cherrywood decking and you have a load space that’s less school-run express and more Cowes Week racing yacht. Imagine scuffing that up with a bootful of tiles and grout.
The chances of the potential CLS Shooting Brake buyer doing so are infinitesimal, surely. Indeed, it’s unlikely that many Irish buyers will be found for this car. We traditionally shun estates – sales rep’s cars seem to be the assumption – in favour of saloons, especially at the pricey German premium level, and the idea of a coupé estate must surely prove too far a stretch to most Irish buyers. Which is a shame, as this is a truly lovely car.
Even with the most basic diesel engine (200bhp, 500Nm, 139g/km of carbon dioxide) it makes a terrific driver’s car, feeling surprisingly agile and narrow-hipped, with excellent steering and only an occasionally too-firm ride quality to spoil the effect.
Trade up to the hugely expensive and profligate 525bhp V8 AMG 63 version and you have an inspired road rocket, able to transport your 590 litres of luggage at warp speed, all to the tympany of the apparent artillery barrage coming from under the bonnet.
Not especially relevant, perhaps, but proof that Mercedes and AMG still have a sure finger on the pulse of what makes a great practical performance car.
For now the CLS Shooting Brake operates in something of a vacuum. Its closest rival, the Audi A7 fastback, cannot match it for its delicate chassis reactions, and the more expensive BMW 6 Series Gran Coupé can’t compete in the practicality stakes. Is the CLS Shooting Brake an oddball? Yes, without doubt, but, thankfully, Mercedes has taken the oddness and made it uncommonly charming.
Factfile
Engine2,143cc four-cylinder turbodiesel, generating 204bhp at 3,800rpm and 500Nm of torque at 1,600rpm
Performance0-100km/h in 7.8 seconds
Economy5.3 L/100km (53.3mpg)
Emissions139g/km (€225 motor tax)
FeaturesPower tailgate, stop-start, 7G-Tronic automatic transmission, leather upholstery, Pre-Safe occupant safety system, Attention Assist, LED tail lights, paddles for gearshift, multifunction steering wheel, nine airbags.
Priceabout €70,000
RivalsAudi A7 Sportback 3.0 TDI 204bhp: €63,110 (€225 motor tax); Jaguar XF Sportbrake 2.2d: €TBA (€330 motor tax), BMW 520d Touring SE: €46,970 (motor tax €225), Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDI SE: €46,350 (motor tax €225), Mercedes-Benz E250 CDI Estate Avantgarde: €53,620 (motor tax €225)
OUR RATING: 8/10Genuinely unusual, genuinely brilliant.