Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake review

Ready? It’s the estate version of the coupe-style saloon version of Mercedes-Benz’s family hatchback. Yes, the CLA Shooting Brake is really an A-Class, except more practical, but not as practical as it could be, because style. 

If you’d suggested this car to the stuffy, traditional Mercedes-Benz of say, 20 years ago, you’d have been dropkicked out of the boardroom. Now, it’s gold dust to Merc, because it’s a niche that the likes of BMW and Audi haven’t tapped into. Yet.

What’s the point of it?

Well, the original CLA was a sales phenomenon so Mercedes was always sure to bring it back, and we’ve a soft spot for its ‘Shooting Brake’ estate sister because wagons are cooler. Especially now they’re a rare-groove choice against the Attack of the Crossover Clones. Clones like the GLA. And the GLB. See what we mean?

It’s better looking than the A-Class, though it’s in danger of getting lost among the many Mercedes that are on sale these days. Could you look at this in a car park and pinpoint it in the range? Maybe we hark too nostalgically for the good old days when models were clearly defined. 

How different is it to the standard A-Class?

The engineering is all shared with the A-Class, which means mostly front-wheel drive, with the occasional option of all-wheel drive. There’s a 1.3-litre 4cyl petrol in two states of tune (134bhp and 161bhp), a versatile 2.0-litre diesel (187bhp) and a plug-in hybrid model that pairs the 1.3-litre 161bhp petrol with a 108bhp e-motor. All except those entry petrols come with an 8spd auto box, the petrols have to make do with a 7spd transmission.

There is also the AMG option, which comes with the familiar 2.0-litre petrol beast from the A-Class, offering 302bhp in CLA 35 guise and a decent 415bhp from the CLA 45. The latter gets from 0–62mph in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 168mph. 

How does it drive? 

We’ve not been behind the wheel of the AMG versions of the car, but we loved the A-Class AMG when we drove it in 2023. That’s going to offer a distinctly different driving experience to the rest of the CLA Shooting Brake range, we imagine. 

It’s an entirely respectable grand tourer, the CLA Shooting Brake – it’s smooth and relaxed on the motorway and will eat up miles nicely. Likewise it’s smooth over bumps around town, but the more you try and press it on, the less refined it feels. It’s predictably well put together, the controls are all well weighted and the car will never do anything unexpected. Drive it at a steady seven-tenths and it’s a great everyday companion.

If, tomorrow morning, the boss of Mercedes decided to stroll into work and cull half of the models the company makes, the CLA Shooting Brake would be one of the first on the block. It’s basically an estate version of the A-Class, but it’s not as practical as a C-Class estate, nor as popular as a crossover SUV like the GLA. Or GLB. So it’s a niche within a niche. It’s a true oddball, and big, traditional companies don’t tend to have much patience for such eccentricity. 

And yet, Mercedes has persevered with the CLA Shooting Brake, and it’s worked. It’s palpably better to drive than an A-Class, usefully roomy, and rather arresting to look at. It’s actually the most well rounded, versatile small Mercedes – so against the odds, it should be one that Benz keeps on the books for a while yet. Every so often, a niche hits the spot.