CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake, First 500 miles Report
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CLS 63AMG Shooting Brake
CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake, First 500 miles Report
Hi All
Picked up my CLS 63 Shooting Brake yesterday and have just completed a 500 mile round trip. I will give you some initial thoughths good and bad. I've recently had RS4, XFR and C63, so my comparisons will be against these three, although not strictly direct competitors. Please bear with me, where I make some comments they maybe wrong, and please correct me, as I am still learning about the car.
Car comes equipped with 557 HP as standard on the Shooting Brake, options were Adaptive/Massage seats, reverse camera, sun roof, Harman Karden, Keyless Go. Shod with the standard 19" wheels/tyres. Initial impression sitting in the car, it is very similar layout to the C63 (2011) but gives a more lush feeling, seats are superbly comfortable, both heated and ventilated. Setup of Iphone 5 was easy, contacts, hands free and SMS all working over bluetooth, but using the USB connection for charging. IPOD aux connection was connected to my Ipod Classsic for all my songs, and this all worked fine. Keyless go working OK for opening the car and starting, as you can leave the key in your pocket, but I've not managed to lock the car without resorting to the key. Will need to read the manual to see if this is possible, otherwise it seems a bit pointless. Sound system great when good stregth signals are available, but I did find the DAB radio reception a little poor, not a patch on the XFR, but overall the Harman Karden gives a great sound.
Starting !!, Oh the neighbours are not going to be happy. My next door neighbour was so happy to see the C63 being picked up, but I didn't have the heart to tell him what was replacing it. The first 15-20 seconds of startup are probably louder and deeper throated than the C63 monster, although it does quieten alot quicker. Reversing camera, I would say is a must on this vehicle, there is a limited visibility from the rear view mirror and side mirrors, leaving large blind spots.
Now for the first drive, mainly low speed motorway and A roads, and the car was left in Comfort mode for the first 250 miles, steady cruising, and returned 24.2 mpg (UK mpg). Pulling away, is such a lovely sound, deep and burbling, it turns heads at every junction. ECO stop start, seems a bit odd getting used to, but did work very well, time will tell whether this get turned off every time I get in the car. The car drives and feels luxurius, which eats the miles with such ease, that to be honest you need to keep yourself awake when doing motorway cruising. It does remind me of the Jag XFR which was also such an accomplished cruiser in comfort setting, and overall I would say the Jag was a little quieter on motorways, as you have more of the engine/exhaust note from the CLS, which is probably made slightly worse due to the larger open space with the Shooting Brake. Massage seats were something I wouldn't normally consider, but as it came with the car (ex showroom car) I was pleasantly surprised, every 1 hr quick button press for a back massage, it comes with 2 settings, and i would say for most people setting 1 is sufficient, but setting 2 you can certaintly feel. Harder cornering, and the side bolsters pump up to keep you firmly in your seat, takes a bit of getting used to, as you turn a corner and get thumped in the side. I think these will need a bit more time to get the settings right. Climate control is excellent on this car, such an improvement over the C63, which I was forever adjusting the temperature, this was set on 22 and was never touched, cabin remained spot on for all driving. As I'm a short ****, my seat back sits around the door pillar area, but I do find the side mirrors are positioned a little too far back, that you have to turn your head too much, where as C63 was spot on. Again being a short legged man, it also means my arms are too short to reach the indiactor stalk without lifing my elbow off the centre arm rest, this would have been OK in the C63, but in the CLS, they have swapped the positions over of the cruise stalk and indicator stalk. Whilst we're on the negatives, the coffee cup holder "Designer" need sacking, apart from being pushed right to the front of the centre console, so you need to go fishing, looking for it, they will just about hold a coffee cup when driving in a straight line, whatever you do, don't try and turn a corner at more than 30 mph, as it will be in the footwell.
Return journey, a little play with AMG settings, and as expected this is a Jekyl and Hyde monster, apart from an ever short delay with the throttle reponse, when this does take off, it recovers that delay immensely quick, overally feeling more repsonsive and stiffer. I like the one touch AMG button, for putting settings in Sport +, Dampers, ESP, etc, so you can drive round everywhere in Comfort, then 1 button press when you need to obliterate something is a great touch, although going back to comfort, i have found you need to turn it all off independently. You know you are driving a heavy lump of a car, but nevertheless, this thing corners incredible well. Its not as agile as the RS4 or C63, but definelty on par with the XFR. The RS4 and C63 both feel like go-karts after driving the CLS, but it sticks to the tarmac and gives good positve feedback, that you still want to push and feel the limit without feeling it is asking too much of the driver. High speed motorway cruising, this thing was just built for, it is probably one of the smoothest and stable cars I've even driven. Return journey was a little more athletic, but still returned 19.2 mpg. It was good to have a larger fuel tank, CLS 80 litres (RS4, C63, XFR all around 60 litres) although after 30 miles of being on reserve, I still only managed to get 73 litres in. Why do Mercedes AMG, not show how many miles left, when it goes onto Reserve tank, this seems the ideal time to show you?? Well, all I can say is what a pleasure to drive, and if your looking for a larger estate car than the RS4 or C63 then give this a try. I can't wait to get some more time exploring its potential. At the moment, I don't think there is any competitor to this car, only the forthcoming RS6 in July. I'll update with photos and a 2000 mile report soon
Picked up my CLS 63 Shooting Brake yesterday and have just completed a 500 mile round trip. I will give you some initial thoughths good and bad. I've recently had RS4, XFR and C63, so my comparisons will be against these three, although not strictly direct competitors. Please bear with me, where I make some comments they maybe wrong, and please correct me, as I am still learning about the car.
Car comes equipped with 557 HP as standard on the Shooting Brake, options were Adaptive/Massage seats, reverse camera, sun roof, Harman Karden, Keyless Go. Shod with the standard 19" wheels/tyres. Initial impression sitting in the car, it is very similar layout to the C63 (2011) but gives a more lush feeling, seats are superbly comfortable, both heated and ventilated. Setup of Iphone 5 was easy, contacts, hands free and SMS all working over bluetooth, but using the USB connection for charging. IPOD aux connection was connected to my Ipod Classsic for all my songs, and this all worked fine. Keyless go working OK for opening the car and starting, as you can leave the key in your pocket, but I've not managed to lock the car without resorting to the key. Will need to read the manual to see if this is possible, otherwise it seems a bit pointless. Sound system great when good stregth signals are available, but I did find the DAB radio reception a little poor, not a patch on the XFR, but overall the Harman Karden gives a great sound.
Starting !!, Oh the neighbours are not going to be happy. My next door neighbour was so happy to see the C63 being picked up, but I didn't have the heart to tell him what was replacing it. The first 15-20 seconds of startup are probably louder and deeper throated than the C63 monster, although it does quieten alot quicker. Reversing camera, I would say is a must on this vehicle, there is a limited visibility from the rear view mirror and side mirrors, leaving large blind spots.
Now for the first drive, mainly low speed motorway and A roads, and the car was left in Comfort mode for the first 250 miles, steady cruising, and returned 24.2 mpg (UK mpg). Pulling away, is such a lovely sound, deep and burbling, it turns heads at every junction. ECO stop start, seems a bit odd getting used to, but did work very well, time will tell whether this get turned off every time I get in the car. The car drives and feels luxurius, which eats the miles with such ease, that to be honest you need to keep yourself awake when doing motorway cruising. It does remind me of the Jag XFR which was also such an accomplished cruiser in comfort setting, and overall I would say the Jag was a little quieter on motorways, as you have more of the engine/exhaust note from the CLS, which is probably made slightly worse due to the larger open space with the Shooting Brake. Massage seats were something I wouldn't normally consider, but as it came with the car (ex showroom car) I was pleasantly surprised, every 1 hr quick button press for a back massage, it comes with 2 settings, and i would say for most people setting 1 is sufficient, but setting 2 you can certaintly feel. Harder cornering, and the side bolsters pump up to keep you firmly in your seat, takes a bit of getting used to, as you turn a corner and get thumped in the side. I think these will need a bit more time to get the settings right. Climate control is excellent on this car, such an improvement over the C63, which I was forever adjusting the temperature, this was set on 22 and was never touched, cabin remained spot on for all driving. As I'm a short ****, my seat back sits around the door pillar area, but I do find the side mirrors are positioned a little too far back, that you have to turn your head too much, where as C63 was spot on. Again being a short legged man, it also means my arms are too short to reach the indiactor stalk without lifing my elbow off the centre arm rest, this would have been OK in the C63, but in the CLS, they have swapped the positions over of the cruise stalk and indicator stalk. Whilst we're on the negatives, the coffee cup holder "Designer" need sacking, apart from being pushed right to the front of the centre console, so you need to go fishing, looking for it, they will just about hold a coffee cup when driving in a straight line, whatever you do, don't try and turn a corner at more than 30 mph, as it will be in the footwell.
Return journey, a little play with AMG settings, and as expected this is a Jekyl and Hyde monster, apart from an ever short delay with the throttle reponse, when this does take off, it recovers that delay immensely quick, overally feeling more repsonsive and stiffer. I like the one touch AMG button, for putting settings in Sport +, Dampers, ESP, etc, so you can drive round everywhere in Comfort, then 1 button press when you need to obliterate something is a great touch, although going back to comfort, i have found you need to turn it all off independently. You know you are driving a heavy lump of a car, but nevertheless, this thing corners incredible well. Its not as agile as the RS4 or C63, but definelty on par with the XFR. The RS4 and C63 both feel like go-karts after driving the CLS, but it sticks to the tarmac and gives good positve feedback, that you still want to push and feel the limit without feeling it is asking too much of the driver. High speed motorway cruising, this thing was just built for, it is probably one of the smoothest and stable cars I've even driven. Return journey was a little more athletic, but still returned 19.2 mpg. It was good to have a larger fuel tank, CLS 80 litres (RS4, C63, XFR all around 60 litres) although after 30 miles of being on reserve, I still only managed to get 73 litres in. Why do Mercedes AMG, not show how many miles left, when it goes onto Reserve tank, this seems the ideal time to show you?? Well, all I can say is what a pleasure to drive, and if your looking for a larger estate car than the RS4 or C63 then give this a try. I can't wait to get some more time exploring its potential. At the moment, I don't think there is any competitor to this car, only the forthcoming RS6 in July. I'll update with photos and a 2000 mile report soon
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 520
Likes: 2
From: Toronto
2014 Lotus Evora S
Congrats! You might be the first owner of a shooting brake on this forum so yes, we need pics! I understand that you are in the UK...I'm not sure if this model is available in North America yet.
As you are in the discovery phase of the features of your new toy, you may want to have a look at this thread. Have fun.
https://mbworld.org/forums/cls55-amg...e-gadgets.html
As you are in the discovery phase of the features of your new toy, you may want to have a look at this thread. Have fun.
https://mbworld.org/forums/cls55-amg...e-gadgets.html
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 568
Likes: 0
E55
Have you ever driven a Porsche Panamera? Would like to know comparisonwise, am starting to like the shooting brake now that it is available in awd.
Is there turbo/gearbox lag with kickdown?
