First Drive: Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

The Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake is now available to order, with prices starting from €70,590

Mercedes-Benz officially introduced three new cars to the Irish market today – the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Hybrid.

ATL got a sneak peek at the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class last month and today we got to take both the CLS estate and the diesel hybrid for a quick spin around Co Wicklow.

Although the original shooting brake vehicle was devised to transport huntsmen and their dogs, we’re not sure you’ll want to carry Fido in this beautiful estate.

The Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake is based on the CLS Coupe and adds a certain sportiness to an already sleek and refined-looking car.

A five-door, four-plus-one five-seater, the CLS Shooting Brake is slightly longer than the coupe model, but its width and height are the same.

As you’d expect from an estate, it has a massive boot, with the 590-litre cargo space extending to 1,500-litres when the rear seats are lowered.

For an added sense of luxury, the boot is carpet-lined, but a cherry tree wood floor is available as an option for an even more luxurious finish.

I was driving the 204bhp CLS 250 CDI model, which is expected to be the big seller in Ireland. The test car had an automatic transmission.

The driver-focused cabin is beautifully designed, with a beige leather interior and beautiful glossy wood panelling. I really liked the analogue clock and the pop-up divider design in the centre armrest.

While the leather interior and electric heated front seats were options on the test car, standard spec in the Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake includes active parking assist; attention assist – the coffee cup warning that tells you to take a break if your driving becomes erratic; air conditioning; audio streaming/Bluetooth, and neck pro crash responsive head restraints.

The CLS Shooting Brake was a real head turner around Enniskerry. It’s a nice car to drive and I found it handled the narrow, winding back roads well. As ever, I’m looking forward to putting it through its paces for a full review.

Four engine options are available, two petrol and two diesel, with the CLS 250 diesel model I was driving expected to be the most popular here. Prices for that start from €70,590.

Visit the Mercedes-Benz Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.