The Top Gear car review:Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake

Name: Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Brake
Item: CLS Diesel Shooting Brake (2014)
Rating: 8
Author: Top Gear

£87,420

Full screen

1/3

8/10

Overall verdict

If ever there was an estate to get the masses out of their X6s, this is it.

For:

All the usual estate attributes, in a less than usual estate body

Against:

Option it right and there's precious little to count against it

Overview

What is it?

Simple really, an estate version of Merc’s genre-defining CLS four-door coupe. Except Mercedes doesn’t call it an estate. Far too commonplace. It’s Shooting Brake, and TopGear thoroughly approves of the resurrection of this name, even if the CLS doesn’t strictly conform to the traditional two-door estate body shape.

No matter, this is a car into which Mercedes has carefully packed all the clever estate car touches we’re used to from its cheaper family wagons, while letting the designers have their way with the exterior. They’ve been back to the drawing-board recently too: a mildly facelifted verison has now arrived in showrooms.

Continue: Driving