Best fast estate

Author
Discussion

Chris5150

Original Poster:

8 posts

20 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
quotequote all
Folks,

The time has come to finally change to a larger car. I really don't like the idea of an SUV and have always wanted a fairly rapid estate.

Would you like to post which is your favourite please- I've already looked at the C63, M340i & d and the Audi RS4 & S4.

Anything else worth a look that I've missed?

Dohnut

582 posts

53 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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C7 RS6 springs to mind.

TheOctaneAddict

871 posts

54 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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E63S
Panemera Sport Turismo
M3 Touring

My current favourite 3.

Wills2

24,345 posts

182 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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I think a fast estate suits AWD adds to the practical nature of the car, but I couldn't choose the Audi they're too isolated and numb beyond the 0-60 times and have that awful top hinged accelerator pedal that has no business being in a decent car, so I think the M340 touring or C43 4matic are the best bets.

I'm in a fast SUV at the moment and I keep thinking whilst it's great it would be way better if it was lower to the ground so I'm with the OP.


LooneyTunes

7,559 posts

165 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
quotequote all
Is there an M5 Touring these days?

That or the Panamera would be my choice if I didn’t need an SUV. The Mercedes or Audi options are a bit more (too) shouty.

Mr E

22,122 posts

266 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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How big do you need the car to be?

vaud

52,339 posts

162 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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A6 avant biturbo diesel is fairly rapid if you want a balance of economy and performance.

Teddy Lop

8,301 posts

74 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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I dunno about best (although I'd rather one of some of chintzy Merc offerings) but is there still a rapid Passat? Maybe a bit more "q" for the family motor..

mikecassie

622 posts

166 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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The BMW 340i (not the D version) gets very good reports by Andrew Frankel, he's a proper motoring journalist, so I trust his reviews. Sometimes less is more, and the 340 could well be better than an M3 estate.

magpie215

4,589 posts

196 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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If you want a rapid estate I'd be looking at some of the Japanese importers offerings.

https://www.torque-gt.co.uk/blog/post/top-5-jdm-es...

E63eeeeee...

4,543 posts

56 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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Generally, in terms of both value and nailing the estate brief, it's hard to see past whichever E63 is in budget. But then I might be biased.


Glenn63

3,099 posts

91 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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Alpina B3

PistonBust

91 posts

125 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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Wills2 said:
I think a fast estate suits AWD adds to the practical nature of the car, but I couldn't choose the Audi they're too isolated and numb beyond the 0-60 times and have that awful top hinged accelerator pedal that has no business being in a decent car, so I think the M340 touring or C43 4matic are the best bets.

I'm in a fast SUV at the moment and I keep thinking whilst it's great it would be way better if it was lower to the ground so I'm with the OP.

I swapped by old A4 Avant B6 1.9tdi which I loved for 15 years for a new S4 Avant. It so lacked any feel or feedback, I sold it after 3 months and bought a Macan S and Boxster S to replace it.

Daft running two cars so following this thread with interest.

Baldchap

8,358 posts

99 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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Alpina B5.

Absolutely wonderful ride quality, well made, literally the fastest estate on the planet, well equipped and a big boot for the dog. I can't stress enough how nice these things are for long journeys. 800Nm at low revs means effortlessly fast and the ride is so good you wouldn't believe it was based on anything built by BMW.

Worth noting the AMG and RS estates are not comfortable for passengers on long journeys because the ride quality is so harsh. My Mrs did nothing but hate my RS4 for this reason. If you test drive, get them on some broken tarmac for a few minutes.

Benbay001

5,812 posts

164 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
quotequote all
I recently put a deposit on a Volvo v60 Polestar Engineered.
They aren’t sold new in the uk any more, but you may find a used one

ClaphamGT3

11,527 posts

250 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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Our E63AMG has been an awesome piece of kit - a family wagon in the morning, a respectable car for meeting clients at lunchtime, a tip run car in the afternoon, a sports car at tea time and a luxury chauffeur-driven car to take your wife out to dinner in the evening, using the back seats

Based on my experience if the Audi RS6 Avant, I'd avoid - it did none of the above as well as the AMG, was hideously unreliable and everyone assumes that you are a training shoe wearing, max-power snogging chav.

CG2020UK

2,013 posts

47 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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M3 touring is my pick of the bunch it’s incredible (I’ve only driven saloon) and a decent size.

RS6 is brilliant but has a real issue with being stolen unfortunately.

Mercedes AMG estates are great. The C63s and E63s are rocket ships! Nice cabin design and look great.

The S4 is a brilliant do it all car if you do the miles for diesel.

I’d recommend a test drive in the M340i I don’t get the hype at all! It weighs as much as a 330e (which gets criticised for its weight affecting handling) and rides on the same suspension and brakes as the lowest M-sport BMW. Not a drivers car in the slightest very much a quick blunt instrument.

Not an estate and I know not what you fancy but an X3M or Stelvio QF is worth a nosey and test drive for this sort of market.

legless

1,796 posts

147 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
quotequote all
Chris5150 said:
Folks,

The time has come to finally change to a larger car. I really don't like the idea of an SUV and have always wanted a fairly rapid estate.

Would you like to post which is your favourite please- I've already looked at the C63, M340i & d and the Audi RS4 & S4.

Anything else worth a look that I've missed?
A lot depends how much larger you need it to be. The A4/C-class/3-series are not very large cars at all, at least from a cabin interior and load area perspective.

As a point of comparison, the B9 RS4 Avant I had was smaller than my Golf R estate (the Golf's boot was comparable to the A6 Avant).

My favourite from the ones I've had was probably my A6 Allroad BiTDI. Great blend of performance, practicality and comfort, and anonymous enough that it never attracted any negative attention.

ZX10R NIN

28,367 posts

132 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
quotequote all
Chris5150 said:
Folks,

The time has come to finally change to a larger car. I really don't like the idea of an SUV and have always wanted a fairly rapid estate.

Would you like to post which is your favourite please- I've already looked at the C63, M340i & d and the Audi RS4 & S4.

Anything else worth a look that I've missed?
It depends on what you want to spend & how fast estate an estate you want?

Browter

109 posts

23 months

Sunday 31st December 2023
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CG2020UK said:
I’d recommend a test drive in the M340i I don’t get the hype at all! It weighs as much as a 330e (which gets criticised for its weight affecting handling) and rides on the same suspension and brakes as the lowest M-sport BMW. Not a drivers car in the slightest very much a quick blunt instrument.

Doesn't the M340i have the M-Adaptive suspension as standard which is a different setup to any other 'normal' BMW, including other BMW adaptive suspensions?

The problem I had with the M340i from my test drive is the regenerative braking in the hybrid version which felt very inconsistent.