With Cadillac’s CTS-V Wagon dead and buried, unorthodox — yet highly practical — automotive enthusiasts have been at a severe disadvantage in North America. Europe always seems to have at least a couple overpowered “estate cars” while we’re left pretending that a compact four-door Golf R is a replacement for a tuned-up 5 Series Touring or RS6 Avant.
God bless Mercedes-Benz and AMG for understanding there are still some wealthy Americans that want to load a station wagon with a half-dozen pure bred Labradors or ten bolts of Egyptian cotton (or whatever rich people put in their cars) and drive it 180 mph down an expressway.
For that highly discerning clientele, the all-new 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S wagon will be arriving this autumn.
The wagon uses the same 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 monster found in the AMG E63 sedan. Unlike the sedan, the wagon only comes in the 603 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque S trim. With a nine-speed automatic and standard all-wheel drive, it’ll run to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds and happily blast all the way up to a 180 mph top speed. Its AWD system can be overwritten by pulling on the shift paddles simultaneously — placing the car into tire-shredding Drift Mode.
AMG’s super-estate will have everything else AMG sedans have, from selectable drive modes to upgraded suspension and brakes. For all the extra space in the rear, Mercedes only asks you to sacrifice a tenth of a second off the S Sedan’s 0-to-60 time and omit the rearward facing third-row seats normally available in the E350 4Matic wagon. However, with no small children back there, that’s an uncut 35 cubic feet of storage with the rear seats up.
Prices, like horsepower, will seem unnecessarily high to most. Mercedes-Benz lists the current AMG Wagon for $104,300 — and they typically sell for thousands more. The new one should be no different and will make its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Sales will begin in the United States by Fall 2017.
[Image: Mercedes-Benz]
THIS is a car.
Nein. Das ist eine Rakete.
I’m turning Tyrone Slothrop over here…
Another excuse for wagon-gasms. I’d rather have an E63 S sedan.
Yea, I hope Lieberman and the other journowhores enjoy their long-term bribe.
Why can I not have rear facing third row seats?
Agreed. Isn’t that part of the reason you buy one of these? To have someone sitting back there giving the Camaro driver behind you the finger?
The E400 has rear facing seats. I’d guess this has a larger gas tank or something?
IT’s the suspension
One article claimed that this car generates sufficient g on acceleration that Benz was worried about the safety of the occupants.
In AMG trim, you’d need airbags in the tailgate to keep the kids safe during acceleration :)
I hate the dashboard, I will stick with my 2010 E63 sedan.
I hate the dashboard, I will stick with my 2010 E63 sedan.
I love that this still exists, but it’s a shame they went with a less upright rear end than the W212, especially since they already have the CLS Shooting Brake, for the customers that don’t care about headroom for their impeccably bred Labradors.
I want this or an Audi S8 Wagon that does not exist.
Now THIS would be a great dog show puppy hauler! I think I could manage to squeeze my corgi and all of her “stuff” into one of these to take my daughter to the shows…not that I’ll ever be in the tax bracket that can afford one of these.
This is probably a great car but it annoys me how many loser Forever Alone types will fall all over themselves to fap to it on the internet.
The perfect car for going to the soapbox car derby
A large (midsize-ish) wagon is somewhat practical. Highly practical enthusiasts will have to wait for the AMG Metris.
I’m holding out for the the AMG Sprinter…
I just made room in my lottery fantasy garage for one of these. Take it to a track day with the kid seat still LATCHed in the back. Act smug.
A somewhat distant neighbour of ours ( one block over ) had a 2011 Vagon with a stick. She knew how to drive it, too: hard. I met them one day but didn’t bring up the car at that first meeting. By the next time we’d met they’d sold the car. I was crushed. I’d have bought it immediately. As there were no other Vagons for sale here at that time I bought my 2007 V instead. I’ll get a Vagon one day – by then the problems will have been sorted by their current owners.
“Its AWD system can be overwritten”
Or, you know, overridden.