Official: Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break Concept

All these images are available in hi res at insideline.com

Could a mod please change the tite from Shooting Brake to Shooting BREAK

Well, there's the CLS concept we've been waiting for...and more importantly, look like MB has plans to produce a CLS wagon/shooting brake down the track.

This is the new CLS, pretty much. Everything looks almost production ready. Huck got the front 99% right.
I think it looks incredible, and the interior is a very pleasant surprise. The rear is also amazing.

Yep, take away the hatch and this is the next CLS.

It has those lines, but they don't look too bad. Time to digest it please......


M

Oh and just for reference...

Seems to me that new CLS will suffer of ugly, stupid looking shutline like 90% BMWs... Not good.

Without that thing front would look very good, but like this and from the side, the front is not good, imo. Rear looks good, especially in this pic:

What is it?

Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break Concept

What's special about it?

The Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break Concept will be revealed at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show on Thursday. It points the way to the new look of the second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS that will appear in September at the Paris auto show. It also indicates that a wagon model will join the CLS lineup.

The Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Break Concept charts a new direction for the CLS model line by reviving the shooting brake, the traditional English utility vehicle created from a luxury car, although this concept has a four-door body instead of the two-door layout of traditional shooting brakes. The German automaker explained why it's called "Shooting Break" and not "Shooting Brake," obviously anticipating questions. "Break, or the homonym Brake, was the name once given to carriages used to 'break' wild horses, so any vehicle that was used when going out shooting was called a Shooting Brake or Shooting Break". Gorden Wagener, the young director of design at Mercedes-Benz, says his group wants to prove that elegance, muscle and practicality can go together.

The Shooting Break Concept also anticipates the design template for the forthcoming second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLS, which will appear in the U.S. early in 2011 with the choice of two new turbocharged gasoline engines.

The Shooting Break is the first public look at the 3.5-liter V6 turbo, which makes 306 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque (14 hp and 4 lb-ft of torque more than the current CLS's V8). For the new CLS, the naturally aspirated 5.5-liter V8 will be downsized to 4.6 liters and turbocharged. Although official figures are yet to be revealed, we understand this engine will pack as much as 435 hp and 406 lb-ft of torque (47 hp and 15 lb-ft of torque more than the current V8).

Despite the increase in output, the new forced-induction engines are claimed to boast vastly improved fuel economy along with a corresponding reduction in tailpipe emissions. They will be mated to a reworked version of Mercedes-Benz's 7G-Tronic seven-speed automatic transmission featuring a new torque converter that's claimed to provide faster and more efficient operation. Other developments for the European market include a new automatic start/stop system and brake energy recuperation for added efficiency.

Crowning the new CLS lineup will be a successor to the CLS63 AMG. It eschews the naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 of today's model for a new, turbocharged direct-injection 5.5-liter V8 (an engine previewed at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show). In standard form it kicks out 544 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque, while an optional performance package will increase output to 563 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque.

Sporting a broad, single-slat grille, angular headlamps, a long hood and a rounded coupe-style greenhouse with frameless side windows, the new CLS will follow through with the design direction set by the current CLS, which went on sale in North America in 2005. The look has been updated with tauter surfacing and added creases in the sheet metal, giving it a more athletic stance that emphasizes its rear-wheel-drive configuration. It also shares visual similarities to the more formal E-Class. Both the CLS and the E-Class will be produced at the Mercedes-Benz assembly plant in Sindelfingen, Germany.

The Shooting Break Concept also provides a look at the forthcoming 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS Wagon. This combination of a taut, executive-class look and expanded cargo capacity is meant to prove that practicality doesn't have to compromise a car's style or driving dynamics. At 195.3 inches in overall length and 56.9 inches high, the concept car is a touch longer and slightly higher than the current CLS. In keeping with current design trends, it's also considerably wider at 76.8 inches, giving the Shooting Break loads of road presence. The very same dimensions are set to define the new CLS sedan.

While the exterior exudes a kind of highly technical strength, the warm interior welcomes you with a combination of soft forms and natural materials. The Mercedes-Benz designers tell us that it's very close to the appearance of the production CLS's interior, only with a unique dashboard and trim. Large expanses of leather are splashed throughout, while the cargo space is finished in oak and aluminum.

Mercedes-Benz is being noncommittal about the production prospects of this luxuriously appointed Shooting Break, suggesting it will gauge reaction of the public and prospective buyers before making any hard decisions about whether to press on or not. It is no secret, however, that Mercedes-Benz Chairman Dieter Zetsche has long desired such a car. As the Shooting Break's designers reveal, this is not the first time they have come up with a concept for a sporting wagon based on the CLS. "We did a similar thing back in 2003," one designer told us. "It was taken to one-to-one form and was supposed to have been at the Frankfurt auto show that year. But for one reason or the other the car was never revealed to the public. Instead, they unveiled the production CLS sedan."

The concept carries the production code X218 (the CLS sedan is known internally as C218), which we believe is another indication that this car is only a short step from production. Like the CLS, the Shooting Break rides on the same platform as the new E-Class, with a wheelbase stretched by 0.7 inch over the current CLS's 113.1-inch wheelbase. Like the new E-Class, the car carries all the safety and convenience features of the luxury S-Class in a medium-size package. You'll also note that the Shooting Break has headlights made up from 71 individual LEDs, suggesting that full LED headlights are on the way for Mercedes production cars.


Mercedes-Benz Shooting Break Concept — 2010 Beijing Auto Show



The engine specs if right are still a let down for the V6. With a size of 3.5L and a blower it should put out way more hp and torque. The say its more than the CLS' current V8? Wrong. Are they thinking about the CLS500 with the old 5.0L SOHC V8 with 302hp? Those numbers can't be right for the new turbo V6!


M

I like it! I like the new design direction and how the surfaces don't look so busy.

damn that huck is good..and that is one stunning car..
Should look even better in sedan form..
cant wait..

PS
LOvE the rear..i was worried about that shape of lights..

The interior is truly amazing, a true successor to the beautiful interior of the current CLS. Was never a fan of the "Shooting Break" nomenclature, that is until now.

Those are the numbers for the current line of V6's.

In the shot stright from the rear, the car looks a bit Panamera-esque. Like most have already said, this is a full preview of the new CLS much like how the Concept Fascination depicted the E-Coupe. Much of what we see here was except, but the interior is quite a surprised and the positioning of the climate contrl dials is interesting. So our fears that the car would feature an E-Class dashboard have finally been put to rest. Kudos to Mercedes for designing such attractive tail lights. I hope the halo ring outlining the shape makes it to the production car.

What I'm not convinced about is the whole CLS Shooting Brake Concept. You'd had to be on some very judgement-clouding pills or volcanic ash to want a car that's a cross breed between a sedan, four door coupe and estate. It's an abomination, like putting a Versace dress on a rhino. I have to admit though, that the Concept Fascination is a better proposition:

Those numbers are from the current CGI 3.5L V6 sold in Europe?

M

WOW.

JUST WOW.

Merc1 said:

Those numbers are from the current CGI 3.5L V6 sold in Europe?

M

Click to expand...

No. That motor is naturally aspirated and produces 292-horsepower.

sako97 said:

The interior is truly amazing, a true successor to the beautiful interior of the current CLS. Was never a fan of the "Shooting Break" nomenclature, that is until now.

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The interior is definitely the best so far.

I thought shooting break meant two doors, no trunk, like the concept fascination. This looks more like a CLS wagon.

OMG, that car is HOT!!! I'm so excited about the CLS right now!!

Rather good exterior, not too found of the interior, overall it leaves me very cold, but i think the real car will end up much more exiting.

Merc1 said:

Those numbers are from the current CGI 3.5L V6 sold in Europe?

M

Click to expand...

The SLK350 is 306 hp 270 lbft SL350 is 315 hp 270 lbft. Having a hard time believing the numbers at the moment. And I think the CGI's make more torque but less power so who knows.