Monday, October 8, 2012

Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Shooting Brake

2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Shooting Brake

What this is, isn't somewhat a warm welcome because for the car that brought you the term "4-door coupe" now brought you their first ever "shooting brake" from Mercedes Benz. Yes, this is the all new Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Shooting Brake, and you may think that this is just a 5-door estate version of the CLS-Class but oh no. There's more to this. This is somewhat a Mercedes CLS that have been taking lots and lots of Viagra and look at this, how much male enhancements does it take for a 4-door coupe to grow itself into a shooting brake?

You can expect the same choices of engines from the standard model ranging from the CLS 350 BlueEFFICIENCY, CLS 500 (4MATIC) BlueEFFICIENCY, CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, and CLS 350 CDI (4MATIC) BlueEFFICIENCY, the same 7G-Tronic Plus, the same design DNA of other Mercedes-Benz models, the same governed 250 km/h top speed on some models, and the same technology offered on other Mercedes-Benz models.

2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class Shooting Brake interior

The interior though, looks similar to the normal CLS until you check at the back of it. Yes, there's a wooden luggage compartment floor developed exclusively on the Shooting Brake and when you look at it, you'll know that this wooden luggage compartment is as lovely as a...yacht. It looks nice though and that's a good point for Mercedes-Benz there.

2013 Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake

The CLS 63 AMG also gets a shooting brake variant and yes, you can still expect the same M157 5.5L V8 BiTurbo engine that no other racing game had featured one of these as of now. There's one good explanation why there's no single racing game featured a Mercedes-AMG model with the M157 engine. Is that because they're to scarred to listen to the sounds of the M157 engine? Or is it their technicians can't sustain the noise of hte M157 engine? I'm not an expert though but hey, the CLS 63 Shooting Brake still comes with the AMG Speedshift MCT 7-speed gearbox and then, this can do 0-100kph in 4.4 seconds. Top speed is limtied to 250kph but there's an option that can enhance the limiter up to 300kph. Sounds juicy though but is it worth it?

Price? Well, for the entry level CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY, this costs about 61,761 Euros while the top of the line CLS 500 costs you 82,229 Euros. The CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake though, that costs you 117,513 Euros. Aside from the list price, you'll spend some more for the optional extras plus delivery charges.

Although it's not priced to be a family wagon, this was priced to be a first-class cruiser for those who want to go for some "high roller" lifestyle at the south of France. If you drive one of these and parked at your community college, your classmates think that you have a very expensive station wagon and this goes for a blow-out at your nearby pub or restaurant. As a first class cruiser, it looks perfect but for everyday uses such as going to the groceries or shopping, this changes everything. Remember the Mercedes-Benz slogan; Das Beste oder nichts.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz

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