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2017 Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake Facelift Laps the Nurburgring

Yeah, it seems like yesterday was one of those days when Mercedes-Benz took all of its camouflage-wearing models out on a field day. After the SLC roadster, it’s the CLA Shooting Brake’s turn to parade its facelifted forms in front of our spy photographers lurking on the ‘Ring.
2017 Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake facelift 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
The CLA Shooting Brake is looking as crisp as ever, with its few strips of camouflage taking nothing away from the beautiful design, and the medium-toned gray paint complimenting its lines perfectly.

Even if you would never buy a car like the CLA Shooting Brake, that shouldn’t stop anybody from admiring its forms and congratulating anyone who decides to spend their cash on a Shooting Brake instead of the sedan version. It’s one of the few situations when the more practical vehicle is (arguably, of course) also the better looking of the two.

The facelift isn’t expected to bring a lot of new things, especially since the CLA Shooting Brake already received most of the technological upgrades the A-Class got with this year’s facelift. As for the visual part, the front end will get a slightly modified bumper and new headlight graphics, with the taillights enjoying the same discreet treatment.

There is slightly more activity on the inside where the CLA Shooting Brake should benefit from a slight increase in size for its central display that will now measure eight inches in diameter, while a new instrument cluster is also expected to debut on the facelifted version.

Watching this clip right after the one featuring the SLC, you can clearly see why one is labeled as a “family vehicle” (even though that’s a bit stretched, to be completely honest) and the other is regarded as a “fun car” that should only be considered as a second or even third vehicle in the household. The CLA Shooting Brake, for all its aerodynamic looks, is struggling considerably more to cope with the extra weight, bouncing off the uneven surface of the track and screeching its tires as if intent on wiping clear the paint off Nürburgring’s track.

Even so, we still love it for what it is: the only car of its kind, set to become even lonelier after the current CLS Shooting Brake is discontinued.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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