Mercedes-Benz has recently been accused of cooking the books when it comes to rating the fuel economy of their new cars in Europe, which rarely meet real world expectations. But until regulators crack down on MPG ringers, Daimler will continue to be able to market cars like the new Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake as offering as much as 60 MPG.
The CLA Shooting Brake may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but station wagons are clearly making a comeback, and Mercedes designers have made a beauty in this case. I seriously dig this Merc, and as a child of the 80s, I’m glad to see a staple of my formative years returning to the road with such style.
That incredible fuel economy figure comes courtesy of a 2.1 liter turbodiesel making 136 horsepower and a 221 lb-ft of torque, though a more potent version will offer buyers up to 177 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque. Both engines will offer fuel consumption figures of about 4.0 liters per 100km, which works out to about 60 MPG.
Mind you, this is on the more generous (and easier to cheat) European testing standards; should this engine/car combo ever come stateside, I’d expect a rating more in the 40 MPG range. The 1.6 liter gasoline engine gets a rating of 5.5 liters per 100km, which works out to 42 MPG on the highway, and as much as 211 horsepower if speed is more your thing. All CLA models will come with the award-winning ECO start/stop system, which does help improve fuel economy somewhat.
Mercedes also claims that in its Blue EFFICIENCY form, the CLA Shooting Brake has a drag coefficient of just 0.26, making it one of the slipperiest cars on the road. The sedan version of the CLA managed to set a benchmark of just 0.22 though, so you sacrifice some aerodynamics in the name of style. Alas, we won’t be getting the CLA Shooting Brake here in America, which means adding it to our list of wish-we-had-it vehicles. All we’re getting is the B-Class Electric Drive, which isn’t half as exciting as its main rival, the BMW i3.
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