IF you’re bored, a pedant, seated in a plane or lounging on a train and have a few minutes to spare, turn to CAR Guide and count the number of station wagons. You’ll barely breach double figures. Even Volvo, the grand daddy of the estate, offers only the V60. Audi recently dropped mainstream A4 Avant models in favour of the SUV-like Allroad. BMW hasn’t a single Touring in its range. Honda sells a miserly number of Accords each month, and it’s anyone’s guess how many of those are Tourers.
Higher up the ranks? Forget it. SUVs rule the roost. Benz is the only manufacturer that sells a big station wagon, the E-Class Estate. But even that features only two engine options. The saloon has seven.
Simply put, station wagons are anti-cool. They favour capability, usability and honesty, terms the moneyed set doesn’t like. It prefers the impression of wealth, adventure, lifestyle that SUVs project. But perhaps there is a middle ground where plywood planks can be loaded into a body that exudes street-side swagger (and isn’t unnecessarily high from the tarmac). If the new CLS Shooting Brake isn’t that vehicle, these terms will forever remain incongruent.
Derived from the second-generation CLS, which followed the successful opening act with a polarising design, the CLS350 Shooting Brake is all about its bum. It’s so shapely (some would say too much so; look at the length of that overhang!), so unlike a station wagon’s. How could it possibly have enough space to match that of an anti-cool estate?
But it does. The boot extends from a voluminous 360 dm3 to 1 192 dm3. And what a boot. Optionally trimmed in a cherry-wood base that is inlayed with oak and aluminium strips – yours for a cool R35 000 – it’s more elegant than a millionaire playa’s pad.And don’t be fooled into thinking the sweeping roofline has stolen headroom. Even CAR’s Mr Beanpole kept his pate perfectly coiffed. Legroom isn’t great, but it’s sufficient for two adults. Elbowroom is generous, even for three.
Up-front, it’s business as usual in a big Benz (very few manufacturers do it better). Skip the ghastly matte poplar wood of this test vehicle – there are darker, glossier options – and you have a superbly constructed cabin that also happens to be easy to use and lovely to touch, has a Comand system that no longer poses a serious threat to your brain matter and bulges at the seams with equipment. Not mentioned in the features box on page 90 are keyless entry and drive, PDC with a camera and a park-assist system (much needed; the SB measures in at just under five metres), adaptive LED lamps front and rear and multi-contour front seats. One curious oversight is the placement of the stitching on the edges of the door tops; because this threading is so rough, it scratches your elbows. Not cool when the windows are down and you’re cruising the (wealthy) ‘burbs.
Under the bonnet beats a naturally aspirated 3,5-litre V6 with direct injection. Although it’s been round for a while, and will gradually be replaced by Benz’s new bi-turbo 3,0-litre in different states of tune across various models, it’s still a peach. The maximum torque is delivered low enough in the rev range to get the heavy 1,9-tonne body moving with gusto – evidenced by very good overtaking-acceleration figures – while 225 kW gets it to 100 km/h in a scant 7,10 seconds. It performed equally well under braking, halting the SB in an average time of 2,86 seconds and remaining impervious to the strains of repeated emergency braking. The V6 even drank fuel at an acceptable rate, using 9,60 litres/100 km on our mixed-use fuel route.
But most SUVs post similar figures. And they can tow big boats that unashamedly shout “lifestyle”. The CLS can’t rely solely on its large rump to alert buyers to its presence in the market. It needs to drive better than any SUV. Composure is the key here, whether it’s being flung into a corner, traversing rutted roads or cruising the highways at triple-digit speeds. The electro-mechanical steering is smooth, sufficiently weighted and fast enough. The air suspension does an admirable job of curbing roll while imbuing it with a comfortable ride even on the paper-thin tyres on this vehicle’s optional 19-inch wheels. And noise intrusion is minimal: the engine plays a secondary role, tyre roar is acceptable (and subjectively better than on the E-Class) and wind noise almost non-existent despite the CLS350 featuring frameless side glass.
Test Summary
Look, the CLS Shooting Brake ultimately isn’t as user-friendly as SUVs such as the Porsche Cayenne and Mercedes’s own ML-Class. But it comes close enough that it presents a viable alternative.
It’s duality of character is compelling: at once a composed, beautifully refined executive express and then a user-friendly vehicle for the family, it’s perhaps exactly what station-wagon aficionados (if such people even exist) have been waiting for. The Shooting Brake introduces a healthy dose of swag to the severely staid and short-changed station-wagon market, and as such deserves to do very, very well.