ACTION STATIONS
Forget SUVS, writes Jon Wall. If you want a car that doesn’t drive like a truck yet will carry everything you need while also travelling very fast indeed, look no further than these three epic wagons.
Hybridisation generally conjures up warm and fuzzy notions of eco-friendliness; rarely does it mean oodles of power for its own sake. But in Porsche’s answer to the Audi RS6 Avant and Mercedes-amg E 63 S 4Matic+ Estate, which goes under the name of (deep breath) Panamera Turbo S E-hybrid Sport Turismo, electric assistance is all about oomph – and ridiculous amounts of oomph at that. Porsche starts with 542bhp, 4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine and then adds an electric motor good for 134bhp. This boosts total output to a monstrous 676 horses, not to forget 880Nm of torque. So even though this unusually corpulent Porsche weighs around 2.3 tonnes before you load anything into it, that still means 0 to 100km/h acceleration in 3.4 seconds and a maximum that’s knocking at the door of 310. As the Sport Turismo is less a station wagon than a shooting brake, total load space is restricted to 1,400 litres; nor does the weight of the electric motor and batteries translate into an especially nimble chassis either. But ride comfort on air suspension is superb and as Porsche’s take on sporting luxury makes for an especially agreeable cabin, this is an extraordinarily pleasant car to spend time in. Moreover, compared with the regular car’s 911-inspired fastback, the Sport Turismo’s elegantly elongated roofline and rear – plus an added degree of usability – make it the default Panamera in our eyes, as well as a thoroughly desirable and lunatically fast automobile.
Audi’s flirtation with insanely fast station wagons dates back almost 30 years, so the Ingolstadt company has had plenty of time to get the concept right. With the latest RS6 Avant it’s honed the recipe almost to perfection: a 4-litre, twinturbo V8 producing 592bhp and 800Nm; permanent allwheel drive; adaptive air suspension; a luxurious yet sportsoriented cabin that’s spacious enough for five people, or up to l,680 litres of load space with the rear seats folded; and heart-in-mouth, supercar-shaming performance. Indeed, this Avant can accomplish the 0 to 100km/h run in 3.6 seconds, it has a governed maximum of 250 and by ticking the Dynamic package on the options list there’s also the possibility of seeing considerably more than 300 on the clock. Audi may have festooned the RS6 with all manner of badass clues to its incredible potency, from gaping intakes and blistered wheel arches to side skirts and a pair of fat oval tailpipes, but there’s nothing in the least hooligan-like about the way it goes about its business. Yes, it can race away from the traffic lights like a bat out of hell or devour small countries between breakfast and lunch, but that monstrous speed is reined in for everyday usability by a battery of intelligent safety systems and a supremely capable chassis that combines phenomenal grip with the nimbleness of fourwheel steering. Rapid, practical, handsome and easy to live with – what’s not to like about the RS6?