Five Things: the coolest wagons you can still buy
Monday, 10 May 2021
Estate, Avant, Touring, Wagon… whatever carmakers call them, the humble station wagon has largely fallen victim to the rise of SUVs. Which is strange, because it is common knowledge that wagons are simply far cooler than SUVs.
But while they may be on the endangered list, there are still some very cool wagons you can buy, so today we look at five of our favourites on sale in New Zealand right now. And, no, we’re not counting jacked up fake-SUV wagons either (sorry Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo. You are awesome though…), just proper old-school station wagons.
Cupra Leon Sportstourer
Yes, the Skoda Octavia RS is very cool (and a very good wagon option as well), but let’s face it – more obscure is cooler, which makes Seat’s hot wagon on the same platform extremely cool indeed.
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Not quite here yet, the Leon Sportstourer will arrive in New Zealand in VZ guise packing a 228kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo four driving all four wheels. It will scamper to the open road speed limit from a standing start in just 4.9 seconds and, well, just look at it!
The Cupra Leon Sportstourer is expected to land here in July and will cost $65,900.
Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo
Of all the various versions of Porsche’s wagon, the GTS is the perfect mid-life crisis car for the wealthy bogan. The GTS packs Porsche’s mighty 353kW/620Nm 4.0-litre turbo V8 driving all four wheels, but with a strong rear wheel bias. And it is one of the sexiest things on wheels…
The GTS will belt to 100kmh in just 3.9 seconds, rip up a winding road like supercar and also ride in superb comfort when you aren’t in the mood for thrills. But it will certainly do those thrills too.
The Sport Turismo range starts at $205,400 for the Panamera 4, topping out with the GTS at $280,600. For now.
Audi RS 4 Avant
You really can’t have a list of cool wagons and not include the RS 4, so here it is.
The RS 4 is what springs into most people’s minds when you say “fast wagon” and for good reason – it’s not just brutally fast, it is also one of the most iconic Audis of all time.
Some might hold the RS 6 in higher regard, but the bigger car has become increasingly a super-fast grand tourer recently, while the 331kW/600Nm RS4 is small enough to retain an almost sportscar like agility. It does suffer a bit from the typical Audi detachment when it comes to ultimate involvement, but for $153,500 it offers massive bang-for-your-buck appeal.
BMW M340i Touring
While BMW doesn’t yet offer a full-blown M3 alternative to the RS 4 Avant, it is definitely coming. But for now, the 285kW/500Nm M340i is a tantalisingly good hint of what is to come.
The M340i is an AWD belter that embodies everything that has always made the 3 Series “the ultimate driving machine”, with a simply superbly balanced chassis powered by a silky smooth, howling straight six.
Absolutely fantastic down a winding back road, the M340i is equally happy (and delightful) around town. And for $132,900, it is also considerably cheaper than the RS4. And than what the M3 Touring will be as well…
Volvo V60 Estate
You only have to look at the Volvo V60 to understand why it is on this list. Then you could also consider Volvo’s simply awesome wagon heritage.
Sadly, Volvo New Zealand have dropped the ultimate V60 from its line up – that would be the sublimely fast T8 R Design plug-in hybrid – but the 192kW/400Nm T5 is no slouch and still looks just as awesome.
On the road the V60 is more about comfort than ultimate handling, and it does comfort superbly well. While we would hope Volvo would still sell you a T8 if you went into a dealership and demanded it loudly enough, the T5 is still a great option, costing $79,990.