Mercedes CLS Estate

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Stotty

Stotty

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Seems a bit strange to build an estate version of a 4 door coupe that's already a twist on a 4 door saloon for which an estate version already exists, but I like this, a lot (hopefully NOT a sign that I've become old before my time!)...

From Autocar

Mercedes has confirmed that its CLS Shooting Brake concept is to be turned into a production model within the next two years.

The sleek estate show car was originally unveiled at the Beijing motor show earlier this year. It features a CLS-esque front end but a sloping roofline that's considerably lower than that of a traditional estate car. It's slightly longer but around 10cm lower than the E-class estate, in fact - so it's unlikely to rival that car's cavernous load bay.

Mercedes says the production version of the car will be ready to go to market by 2012. Production will be based at Sindelfingen, already the site of the C-class saloon, E-class saloon and estate, S-class, CLS and CL lines. Intriguingly, the firm appears to have changed the spelling of the car's name from 'Break', as shown in Beijing, to 'Brake'.

Expect the CLS Shooting Brake to adopt many of the same engines as the recently unveiled second-generation CLS, with 3.5-litre V6 and turbocharged 4.6-litre V8 petrols, and a 3.0-litre V6 common-rail diesel. That policy is likely to extend to an AMG version, probably powered by the same twin-turbocharged V8 powerplant as the CL63 AMG and S63 AMG.

front-side.jpg


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Yet another pointless car from M-B. That doesn't even seem slightly more spacious or practical than the CLS sedan.. :indiff:
 
If you chopped 3 feet (1m) from the wheelbase, you'd have a typical european hatchback.
 
It just looks like they recycled the F500 concept from 2003 and stuck an R-Class rear on it.

2449702802_0968a9ae01.jpg


I do agree that the Merc range is getting slightly bloated with way too many options in each class but I do like the current 80's design language which started with the new C-Class. This looks equally decent.

Because SUV's have started to get such a stigma with the 'greens' people are switching the luxury estates to get just as much room and power without attracting the wrong kind of attention. That is why they are so popular.

Clarkson even did a segment in TG showing how eco warriors don't blink an eye at estates which actually pump out way more c02 than SUV's.

Robin.
 
CLS Estate looks okay I guess, the rear "hips" work well and make it look a bit more interesting than it would were it slab-sided. Smacks of vague pointlessness though as a practical alternative to the CLS it's sure to have a small market at least.

Robin.
Because SUV's have started to get such a stigma with the 'greens' people are switching the luxury estates to get just as much room and power without attracting the wrong kind of attention. That is why they are so popular.

Clarkson even did a segment in TG showing how eco warriors don't blink an eye at estates which actually pump out way more c02 than SUV's.
Click to expand...

Anybody with any sense whatsoever is already aware that you can buy regular cars that pollute as much as off roaders. It's just that 4x4s tend to advertise the fact a bit more obviously.

Not to mention that 4x4s are still significantly less fuel efficient than the equivalent car. No V8 Merc could exactly be described as a tree-huggers car but an AMG E-Class wagon will be more efficient than an M-Class with the same engine. Indeed, even an M-Class with a smaller engine might struggle.

Which brings on the next point which Almighty Clarkson misses, which is that you generally see far more off-roaders than you do super-estates (lets face it, in the UK at least most big estates are diesels), so the arguement is null and void.
 
Of course from a rational standpoint the arguments are different but people are irrational and target SUV's as the demons of society. They may have a point from the size of the vehicles but from an environmental standpoint sporty estates I feel are as bad if not slightly worse than SUV's (especially as they are trying to clean up their act with efficiency). The E63 weighs nearly 2 tonnes and has a 6.3 litre engine! The M63 weighs nearly the same with the same engine.

I think you only see more SUV's now because the trend in previous years has put so many on the road. Wait a couple of years and they will all be replaced with Panamera's, Rapide's and whatever else is in other companies pipelines.

Robin.
 
Robin.
Of course from a rational standpoint the arguments are different but people are irrational and target SUV's as the demons of society. They may have a point from the size of the vehicles but from an environmental standpoint sporty estates I feel are as bad if not slightly worse than SUV's (especially as they are trying to clean up their act with efficiency). The E63 weighs nearly 2 tonnes and has a 6.3 litre engine! The M63 weighs nearly the same with the same engine.
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Yes, and the SUVs weigh half a tonne to a tonne more. All cars are heavy, SUVs are very heavy.

The arguement is no different. The equivalent car will still be more efficient. It's lighter, and it's more aerodynamic. For this reason you can even get away with having a bigger engine in the car than you'd have in the SUV and it's still likely to be more efficient. See my Porsche comparison below.

I think you only see more SUV's now because the trend in previous years has put so many on the road. Wait a couple of years and they will all be replaced with Panamera's, Rapide's and whatever else is in other companies pipelines.
Click to expand...

Not quite sure why you think that.

Taking the Panamera as an example, the base model is still £20k more expensive than the base Cayenne (£60k versus £40k). They both have the same engine, and to validate my point above, combined fuel consumption is 2mpg better in the Panamera.

So as I said before: regular cars are still more efficient even in the realms of performance vehicles so still less "deserving"* of ire from green types; and with Porsche at least, you're highly unlikely to see Cayennes disappear from the road and be replaced with Panameras. Not when the SUV is a third cheaper and significantly more practical.

*I use the word deserving in inverted commas for a reason. I'd call myself a green type, but since I'm also a petrolhead I don't generally jump on the "cars are bad, mmmkay?" bandwagon. Yes, SUVs are inefficient and yes, a great many people really don't need one, but then it's not my job to tell people what they can and can't buy. I have far more issue with the way some people drive them than with the cars themselves.
 
I wish I was in a position to go into a MB dealership and argue that any pretence that it is a shooting brake is a complete joke.

Sadly they'd laugh me out the door before I even opened my mouth.
 
Well, when you already HAVE the E-class wagon...I mean, come on, either kill the E, or quit making the exact same thing in a different body.
 
I wish this was a real shooting brake instead of a 4 door. That would make the E wagon make sense. Then you could have a CLSB63 and a BlueEfficiency E Estate.
 
homeforsummer
Anybody with any sense whatsoever is already aware that you can buy regular cars that pollute as much as off roaders.
Click to expand...
I'd argue that "any sense whatsoever" isn't particularly something you should attach to the typical talking head environmentalist (or any type of talking head, for that matter). I think what Robin said holds quite a bit of truth in it.
 
:odd: Shooting Brakes are ment to be 2/3 doors are they not? This is just a cramped E-Class estate.
 
I think it looks completely awesome. I expect them to sell no more than 5.

The thing I like about it though is that they've taken room from the least used part of the car, up by the roof in the trunk. I almost never fill my GTI all the way up to the roof simply because if I do everything comes tumbling down the first time I touch my brakes. I would guess that this car still has enough room to carry about the same amount of stuff as the E-Class wagon, in almost all applications.
 
Toronado
I'd argue that "any sense whatsoever" isn't particularly something you should attach to the typical talking head environmentalist (or any type of talking head, for that matter). I think what Robin said holds quite a bit of truth in it.
Click to expand...

Well, there is that. I know a few people who'd be pretty indiscriminate and know little enough about cars that they'd automatically assume any SUV is polluting and any normal car is not as bad, but generally the types who are that riled about SUVs hate cars in the first place. I think you'd struggle to find a swampy-type who solely disliked SUVs and didn't mind normal cars.

Which then brings us back to the point that if you're talking equivalents, SUVs are more inefficient as a general rule. And since some SUVs that are particularly hated, such as the Cayenne (or the rather obvious one, any Hummer), don't make any effort to hide the fact they use massive engines, that's why they tend to become hate objects. And, there seem to be more of them about, at least in Europe. I know a great many cars out in the States roll around with massive engines but many also have small engines. SUVs and trucks only have massive engines.

Anyway, I don't want to drag this too far off topic.

Do I like the look of the CLS estate? Yes.
Would I buy one? No. If I wanted a CLS, I'd buy the "sedoupe" (hint: sedan/coupe). If I wanted an estate, I'd buy something else.
 
I never understood the name shooting brake.It just seems to be plucked from thin air as a name for 2 door estates or wagons.
 
Hmm... you guys call that an "estate" version, I've never heard that term before. I use the expression "Station Wagon" instead.

The rear is a little too big, but I like it very much anyway.

SUVs weren't popular here until Hyundai comes with all their nice-looking ones, about 6 or 7 years ago I believe. Before that, the only SUV you could see here was the Chevrolet Blazer, which was and still is used by the police by the way.

blazer-policia.jpg
 
JCE
Am I the only person who absolutely loves this? This in AMG trim = sex.
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No you are most definitely not. I looked at that and thought exactly the same. If i could afford a Merc i would definitely buy that.
 
Alex.
I never understood the name shooting brake.It just seems to be plucked from thin air as a name for 2 door estates or wagons.
Click to expand...

They were originally designed as custom one-offs for the landed gentry so they could transport their shotguns and labradors for grouse shooting trips.
 
JCE
Am I the only person who absolutely loves this?
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me!?

I'll take two. Oh, right. I'm a broke college student, about ready to graduate.. :lol:



The R class needs to die. I always hated the CLS, but this wagon redeems it in my eyes. Will it have an option for a third-row seat?
 

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