RE: Mercedes CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake: Driven

RE: Mercedes CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake: Driven

Wednesday 11th March 2015

Mercedes CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake: Driven

AMG's '45' family gains yet another member - is it possibly the best yet?



Even when every automotive niche seemed filled the new CLA45 AMG Shooting Brake stands apart from the crowd. The nearest potential rival in the form of the Golf R Estate will be significantly cheaper so as a small, expensive and properly fast estate car, only the less practical Audi S3 Sportback can come close. The baby 'Brake gets off to a great start too, managing to just about carry off the junior CLS63 vibe successfully.

A technologically exciting 360hp motor, squeezed into a small, discreet and elegant estate car with all-wheel drive and the aerodynamics of a cruise missile. You have to agree, it's an appealing package.

Plain A, GLA, CLA and now this - choice is yours!
Plain A, GLA, CLA and now this - choice is yours!
Completing the set
The M133 AMG four-pot remains unchanged, having been used in three other Mercedes-Benz compacts already. Now the Affalterbach team has completed the A-Class AMG set, with 360hp and 332lb ft taking on an extra 30kg in the Shooting Brake compared to the CLA saloon. The spec sheet will tell you that this is a whole tenth slower than its four-door cousin but sub-five to 62mph feels rapid enough.

Every satisfying click of the machined aluminium shift paddles will bring you closer to this car's true character: a demolisher of back roads and roundabout sprints. With the three-mode drive button cycled through Comfort to either Sport or Manual, the shifts change from slightly lethargic to just quick enough.

Damning the manual shifts in the seven-speed DCT with faint praise might feel a little unfair, but if you leave it in Sport/auto things do get worse. Despite the reserves of torque available, the 'box does insist on spending valuable overtaking time dropping an extra cog or two when you least expect it. A gentle squeeze of the pedal, intended to release some of that lovely turbo mid-range, can often result in a momentary lag in proceedings. Just as you wonder what's wrong, the Shooting Brake erupts forward in a cacophony of noise and acceleration two gears lower than you needed. But even these little episodes of unintentional acceleration do little to remove the grin from your face.

Nothing has changed under here - good!
Nothing has changed under here - good!
Point to pointless
Blessed with the opportunity to blast up to the top of the Feldberg (a small, snow-covered German mountain), the AMG really impresses. Through hairpin bends, it's really alive and feelsome.

While the cars are fitted with Dunlop Sport Winter tyres, the amount of grip available is still quite remarkable. Compared with the regular non-AMG CLAs, this version doesn't just benefit from different spring rates and dampers. The wishbones, pick-up points and even steering linkages all get fiddled with, as well as the rear subframe bushes and various other bearings. This AMG CLA is tuned to be a little softer than the hatch, though still stiffer than the GLA45.

The net result is that where the standard CLA Shooting Brakes gently change from soft and luxurious to flustered and rolling, the AMG version swaps from taut and comfortable to exciting and fun.

Uphill hairpins seem to be the strong point of the 'Brake, as the on-paper front-driven bias is never really felt. In Sport mode, the transition from front-wheel drive to a perfect 50:50 split is almost impossible to perceive. Only the results are obvious, as the AMG steers out of the corner under full acceleration with nary a wobble from the wheel.

'Brake gains 30kg over saloon
'Brake gains 30kg over saloon
There's little chance of the rear breaking loose (more's the pity) but unlike older Haldex offerings, it never feels like an overpowered FWD car either.

Put the engine, the satisfying shifts, the precise steering plus the amazing grip together and you have a recipe for turning around and driving it all again. Which we do. Several times. Point to point soon becomes point to pointless as the AMG roams a seemingly random pattern through the hills, just for the sheer hell of it.

Damaging the dream
There are some issues encroaching on the dream though. The downhill sections reveal a rapidly softening brake pedal, maybe not wholly unexpected considering the demands, but still disappointing. We drove two cars on the launch, one already inflicted with a soft pedal by a previous leadfoot, and one that started well but ended badly.

Numbers are good, reality a little different
Numbers are good, reality a little different
On paper those huge AMG four-pot calipers are gripping some fairly meaty 350mm and 335mm discs. Enthusiastically pedalled or not you'd expect them to cope and AMGs aren't usually wanting here but maybe uprated fluid and pads would fix it for the hoons.

Less easily remedied is a frustrating mix of high-end Affalterbach luxury, sprinkled with cheap pieces of natty black trim and nasty feeling air vents. And because the car is incredibly aerodynamic - just 0.26cd - the wind noise at autobahn speeds is so negligible that you can hear a couple of different resonances and vibrations emanating from the dash under load. Not especially Mercedes, it has to be said.

Reference also the steering wheel. Its width and the synthetic suede at nine and three is actually perfect, but the shiny leather above and below whispers and rustles at every passing touch like it's made of polished greaseproof paper. In contrast to the soft Alcantara-like pieces it's as if a £25K base model is trying to burst out from inside the AMG.

Some comment about the tablet screen
Some comment about the tablet screen
...and it's not so cheap.
At £43,120 before options, it's hard to ignore the price of the Shooting Brake. Add some of the tastier ticks (exterior carbon fibre £2,550, AMG exhaust £460, steering wheel £570, suspension £765, COMAND entertainment £1,870 and surround sound at £680 just for a start) and that figure begins to explode exponentially skyward. Rather concerning when you remember that a five-door M135i starts at more than £10,000 less. That could leave you with a lot of headroom on the options sheet for the BMW.

And let's not forget that while the 'Brake is quite practical, it's still not a 'real' estate car. With a hatch that's overly narrow and a little high, you won't be throwing much bigger than a medium sized dog or a very small bicycle in there, despite the figures suggesting otherwise. Seating adults in the rear is easy enough. Though truth be told, the net gains over a CLA saloon are a mere 20mm of headroom for the passengers. The boot is obviously more impressive, up 154 litres to 495 litres with the seats up and nearly 1,500 litres seats down.

Not perfect but remains very likeable
Not perfect but remains very likeable
Off the back of all that, it would be easy to take this as a lukewarm response to the Shooting Brake. Far from it! Fans of small, silly and very exciting estate cars (first-gen Subaru WRX estate, for example...) will no doubt forgive the little AMG its faults and flaws, finding it perfect for purpose and worth paying a premium for.

But it's such a specialised thing that its rivals can't be restricted to similar cars - they could be anything from the aforementioned S3 or 135i to a Leon ST Cupra, a Volvo V60 Polestar or an Octavia vRS 230. Meaning from an apparent niche of just one the Shooting Brake actually faces a bigger and more diverse field of rivals than you might imagine. Never mind within the '45 family itself. Choice is a good thing though and the 'baby' AMG range is suddenly looking a lot more grown-up.


MERCEDES-BENZ CLA45 AMG SHOOTING BRAKE
Engine:
1,991cc 4-cyl turbo
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 360@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 332@2,250-5,000rpm
0-62mph: 4.8 seconds
Top speed: 155mph (limited)
MPG: 39.8 (NEDC combined)
CO2: 161g/km
Price: £43,120







[Sources: Mercedes-AMG]

 

 

Author
Discussion

Dion20vt

Original Poster:

252 posts

161 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
For the same money I'd rather have the exclusivity of the V60 Polestar.

philmots

4,630 posts

259 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
If I had to have an A45 it would be that one...

Just not sure can get my head around a 40k+ 4 cylinder.

ocrx8

867 posts

195 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Easily the nicest looking of the 45 family so far (not particularly hard, I'll admit).

SPD14

400 posts

155 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Looks much better than the initial pics a few weeks ago. Looks much more complete as a design.

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
The back end of that car is horrendous. What an overhang. It looks like a dog squatting for a st.

Claudia Skies

1,098 posts

115 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Given a new C-class estate can be bought for £27,000 I think you'd have to be daft to pay £43,000 for one of those.

astirling

419 posts

171 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Claudia Skies said:
Given a new C-class estate can be bought for £27,000 I think you'd have to be daft to pay £43,000 for one of those.
Maybe I'm daft then. Have a loan of the saloon this weekend with a view to ordering one of these in the new couple of weeks.

em177

3,127 posts

163 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Claudia Skies said:
Given a new C-class estate can be bought for £27,000 I think you'd have to be daft to pay £43,000 for one of those.
Yes but what do you get for your £27k?...

M@1975

591 posts

226 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
£43k for soemthing of the same size and practicality as the forthcoming Focus RS. OK so the RS will have the blue oval and not be aimed at the same market but from a driving perspective I'd bet its better and its clearly better looking.

astirling

419 posts

171 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
I can see this thread is going to descend into the PH standard - "it costs too much".

Edited by astirling on Wednesday 11th March 12:32

dukeboy749r

2,539 posts

209 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
For any vehicle to do 0-60 in less than five seconds, really is amazing, but to simply state that because it is 1/10th second slower than other variants, but still feels rapid - no st Sherlock.

C'mon - of course it does! For years and years a sub five second time would have been the preserve of very few cars, not no end seem to manage it and journalists write 'it feels rapid enough'

Good grief

Claudia Skies

1,098 posts

115 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
astirling said:
I can see this thread is going to descend into the PH standard - "it costs too much".
Let's start somewhere else then. A Ford Focus competitor which costs more than a Porsche Cayman.

HotJambalaya

2,023 posts

179 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
astirling said:
I can see this thread is going to descend into the PH standard - "it costs too much".

Edited by astirling on Wednesday 11th March 12:32
Quite possibly. But coming from a C63 owner, this CLA45 costs too damn much.

Itsallicanafford

2,759 posts

158 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
I was minding my own business at a roundabout in the E24 when an A45 blasted pass me on the inside, all pops and whooshes...I nearly crapped myself.

moffat

1,020 posts

224 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Mmmmm I wonder... a CLA45 AMG with some kit in it £54k or a C63 AMG Estate with no extras needed for £59k.

Totally overpriced.

A no brainer.


Europa1

10,923 posts

187 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Why is it a "shooting brake" as opposed to an "estate car"?

cheekyron

54 posts

204 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Europa1 said:
Why is it a "shooting brake" as opposed to an "estate car"?
Isn't a shooting brake just another way of saying it's less practical than a proper estate..?

Visually, I like it but I think I'd prefer the bigger more expensive C63.

Cost wise, folk are quite happy to pay a premium over a focus.

StescoG66

2,108 posts

142 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
astirling said:
Maybe I'm daft then. Have a loan of the saloon this weekend with a view to ordering one of these in the new couple of weeks.
No offence. Its ste. Try something better........ Focus ST will feel much better. My mrs had the saloon on a weekend trial it was utterly dire. She was heartbroken as she really wanted it but just couldn't live with its extended list of shortcomings.
My own opinion is that if it had any other badge on it folks would piss themselves laughing.....

Edited by StescoG66 on Wednesday 11th March 13:22

NXXN

111 posts

125 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all

astirling

419 posts

171 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
StescoG66 said:
astirling said:
Maybe I'm daft then. Have a loan of the saloon this weekend with a view to ordering one of these in the new couple of weeks.
No offence. Its ste. Try something better........ Focus ST will feel much better. My mrs had the saloon on a weekend trial it was utterly dire. She was heartbroken as she really wanted it but just couldn't live with its extended list of shortcomings.
My own opinion is that if it had any other badge on it folks would piss themselves laughing.....

Edited by StescoG66 on Wednesday 11th March 13:22
Interested to hear what the shortcomings were. I agree some of the trim is a bit low-rent in places, but I had a 90 minute test drive last summer and was quite impressed. Steering was nicer than an M135i, and the power and traction were addictive. Pleased to hear that the estate has been softened up a little though.