Written by Graham King Published: 9 February 2021 Updated: 25 January 2024

Overview

The Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is a sleek family car that’s not without its compromises. As with other Mercedes cars, the name spells out exactly what the CLA is. ‘CL’ means coupe, in this case a sporty four-door bodystyle. ‘A’ indicates that the car fits in at the smallest end of Mercedes’ size spectrum – indeed, the CLA shares a lot of its make-up with the A-Class hatchback and GLA SUV.

Finally, ‘Shooting Brake’ is what Mercedes calls estates based on its sporty models. And it’s the sporty part that defines this car’s existence. Certainly not its supposedly smaller size, for the CLA Shooting Brake is actually only two and a half inches shorter than the C-Class Estate.

Similar-size estates to the CLA include the Ford Focus, Peugeot 308 SW and Volkswagen Golf. You might also want to consider hatchbacks such as the Audi A3 Sportback. The Shooting Brake’s style is marked out by its frameless doors, sleek profile and fastback tailgate. Compared to the related A-Class it has a wider, lower stance and sportier suspension.

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The Kia Proceed offers a similarly stylish take on the small-ish estate, albeit for considerably less money. You might also be tempted by the BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe at the upper end of the CLA’s price range.

This second-generation CLA Shooting Brake has a smoother, more mature look than its predecessor, with a note of aggression. A mid-life refresh in 2023 brought new head and tail lights, plus reshaped front and rear bumpers. Despite being very similar in many ways, you certainly wouldn’t mistake it for the A-Class hatchback. It’s available with a choice of petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid power, or there’s the high-performance AMG models

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What’s it like inside?

Interiors are generally Mercedes’ greatest showcase. The CLA Shooting Brake’s interior certainly looks impressive with its bank of screens, stylish circular air vents and row of cool rocker switches for the climate controls. But there are issues.

The dual widescreen displays are split between the driver and Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment system. Both have pin-sharp, high-res graphics and there’s a lot of information and features to be found. Much of it can be called up and controlled using intuitive ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice commands. That helps avoid dealing with the not-entirely-logical menu navigation, particularly for the driver’s display.

Speaking of which, there are several stylistic themes you can select, and you can customise the information that’s shown. The full-screen satnav maps are particularly good.

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Highlights among the standard features available include augmented reality satnav on the centre screen that lays direction indicators over a live image of the road ahead. There’s also a traffic light camera. Again, it shows a live view ahead of the car that provides a wider angle than you might have from the driver’s seat, allowing you to see awkwardly positioned signals. The stereo sounds great, too.

Some models have a selection of 64 ambient nighttime lighting colours. Great fun can be had finding your favourite but be aware that the brighter ones create vivid reflections in the windows.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity is included on all models; some have an effective wireless charging pad.

The steering wheel features a ‘five-spoke’ design with many, many touch-sensitive controls for navigating around the display menus, controlling the volume and operating the cruise control, among other things. Some require a light press, some a delicate swipe, and it’s easy to catch the wrong one. They require a lot of familiarisation to become intuitive.

Some build quality issues seem to have been addressed in the 2023 update. The CLA Shooting Brake’s interior generally feels very solid and most of the surfaces and buttons you see and touch frequently feel nicely tactile. Below elbow level, though, there are large swathes of cheap, hard plastic that feel – and sound – hollow. We also noticed the odd buzz and clank, and items in the cupholders and door bins can rattle.

There’s generous space in the front of the CLA Shooting Brake and plenty for a couple of kids in the back. The swooping roofline means adults have to watch their head getting into the back – likewise for leaning in to assist children – but a six-foot adult fits reasonably comfortably behind someone of similar height. It’s rather dark back there without the optional sunroof.

On the practicality front, the Shooting Brake’s 485-litre boot capacity (445 litres in the PHEV) is small for an estate this size, though better than hatchback rivals. The back seats fold in a 40:20:40 split to create 1,350 litres. It should cover most families’ day-to-day needs, though the boot’s usefulness is severely limited by the opening, which curves in at the bottom. That makes it virtually impossible to load in large, square items.

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What’s it like to drive?

The CLA Shooting Brake, like its saloon sibling is available with a choice of petrol, diesel or plug-in hybrid power. There’s the CLA 180, CLA 200, CLA 220d and CLA 250e.

The petrol models and the PHEV use the same 1.3-litre turbocharged engine, albeit in different states of tune. The CLA 180 has 136hp, the CLA 200 has 163hp, as does the CLA 250e’s engine.

The 250e adds an electric motor that serves up 109hp by itself; engine and motor combined produce 218hp. The CLA 220d, meanwhile, has a 2.0-litre diesel with 190hp. The 180 and 200 have a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, the 250e and 220d have eight-speed ‘boxes.

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Performance is perfectly adequate from all the engines – the diesel is quickest, taking 7.4 seconds to get from 0-62mph. It has muscular torque for overtaking, as well. None of the engines are as smooth and refined as you might hope for this type of car. The petrol engine is particularly uncouth if you floor the throttle; it could be more responsive as well, especially when you lift off the throttle. The loud, rattly diesel is borderline unpleasant.

The 250e’s plug-in hybrid system works pretty well. It can run as an electric car at speeds up to 87mph and you don’t notice the transition between electric and petrol power. Mercedes claims a range of 46 miles – we got 26 miles from a full battery at motorway speeds. The regenerative braking is very effective, both for slowing the car and putting charge back into the battery. But it can struggle to work out want to do when coasting downhill.

Sophisticated multi-link rear suspension gives the CLA Shooting Brake a planted feel in corners. Combine that with little bodyroll and you can confidently swing it into turns pretty much as fast as you want. But it’s not an especially engaging, interactive experience.

Driven at more sensible speeds, the Shooting Brake feels resolutely secure and stable. Body control is excellent and the ride is generally very smooth. But, on a very rough road, you can feel the suspension working very hard underneath the car. The front bumper is prone to catching on severe speed bumps, too. The seats are firm but generally pretty comfy.

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What models and trims are available?

The base-model CLA Shooting Brake currently available in the UK is the Sport Executive. Every other trim level is a variation on the sporty-looking AMG Line to which is added the Executive, Premium or Premium Plus package.

None of the trim levels are exactly spartan. The Executive package comes with the MBUX infotainment system, twin 10.25-inch display screens, satnav, heated seats and climate control. AMG Line Premium adds extra niceties like the augmented reality satnav, upgraded stereo and wireless charging pad. Premium Plus comes with a panoramic roof and black styling details.

There’s a limited range of interior and exterior colours available – the blues and red are most eye-catching. The high-performance AMG models are available in a more extrovert palette.

What else should I know?

According to the WLTP figures, the CLA 180 Shooting Brake can achieve average fuel economy of 54.3mpg, the CLA 200 manages 45.6mpg and the CLA 220d returns 54.3mpg.

As much as 313.9mpg is claimed for the plug-in hybrid CLA 250e, if you maximise running on EV power by recharging the battery as often as possible. You’re highly unlikely to get near that, but our experience suggests well over 60mpg is achievable. A full recharge using a domestic 7.4kW wallbox takes around four hours.

Continue reading to find out how we rate this stylish five-door and if we’d take one over more conventional rivals.