Mercedes introduced the all-new A45 hatch and CLA a few days ago, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. You can read about that car in our earlier story by clicking here. Mercedes-AMG has now added the CLA45 Shooting Brake to its line-up.

View a bespoke gallery of Goodwood Festival of Speed images at this link.

Space…

The most obvious difference between the CLA45 Shooting Brake and its brethren is its shape. An elongated roofline gives an estate car-like appearance. A wide boot opening, at 871 mm, adds a level of practicality that the hatch and CLA sedan cannot match. Mercedes claims the Shooting Brake version offers 505 litres of boot space. In addition, the tailgate can also be opened contactlessly with hands-free access.

… and pace

Under the bonnet lies the same turbocharged 2,0-litre engine as its siblings. This engine is offered in two states of tune for the Shooting Brake as well. The regular model offers 285 kW/480 N.m of torque, and the more potent S derivative dishes up a tasty 310 kW/500 N.m. Power is transferred to all four wheels through a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.

The all-wheel-drive system is fully variable and can shift power front to rear for maximum traction. Thanks to this traction and the launch control program of the transmission both variants can sprint to 100 km/h from standstill around the 4-second mark. Top speed of the base model is limited to 250 km/h while the S derivative adds 20 km/h to that figure. Oh, and the CLA45 S Shooting Brake also has a drift mode that allows for tail-out antics.

Bespoke looks

The AMG CLA45 Shooting brake has a number of visual changes to differentiate it as the range-topper. There are a model-specific front grille, larger alloys, widened front wheelarches, a lowered ride height, and discreet AMG badges to set it apart. Look inside those alloys and you will see a high-performance braking system. On the base model, the 4-piston front calipers act on 350 mm discs. On the S-Model 6-piston calipers clamp 360 mm discs.