Most comfortable estate

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Original Poster

1,329 posts

141 months

Tuesday 18th March

After much thought we have decided that the next family carriage will be an estate, so the search now begins. Here are the priorities:

- Large size
- Plush, luxurious ride (former Citroen hydropneumatic owner)
- More than 4 cylinders, a large diesel would be ideal but will not say no to a good petrol unit.
- Good sound system, pano roof, great seats
- Reliable

I appreciate refined ride and powertrains over "sportiness". The budget can go up to 40k.

The G11 BMW would be the obvious choice but I find them to be cramped inside. The engines and transmissions are great from what I read.

The E-Klasse has proper size, equipped with air ride should be comfortable enough, Not sure if the Allterrain version would be even softer and am just worried that the quality seems to have gone down lately.

Audi A6 Allroad, sinply because of the air suspension and the fact that it seems to get a lot of praise for the great ride; I dislike the buttonless interior.

Volvo V90, looks great and is large, bzt the fact that it only offers 4 pot engines is a turnoff. I can be swayed if they have power and are smooth.

Skoda Superb, great size, just want something more special.

Older gen (212) E-Klass, massive size, good build quality.
CLS Shooting Break, love the loks, seem to be well built but the boot may be a bit cramped.

These 2 last ones would probably be cheaper leaving money for fuel in case it ends up being a V8 (or AMG).

Am i missing anything? Should I also consider SUV's?

Thanks to all in advance

ZX10R NIN

28,861 posts

137 months

Tuesday 18th March

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Tuesday 18th March 19:34

toon10

6,649 posts

169 months

Tuesday 18th March

I'm a huge BMW fan and I've had a few over the years including a 540i which was lovely but in all honesty, the most comfortable car I've experienced was an E class. If you prioritise comfort over dynamics, that's where my money would go.

WhiskyDisco

981 posts

86 months

Tuesday 18th March

ZX10R NIN said:

Love the pics on this ad https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403278...

Original Poster

1,329 posts

141 months

Tuesday 18th March

Thanks ZX; would you say that the AllTerrain is softer/plusher then the regular E?

The A6 Allroad seems to get rave reviews for its suspension comfort, how would it compare to the S6?

I love the BMW drivetrains, absolute benchmark stuff, they are just a bit cramped.

The Panamera Estate boot is a joke, the hatch may actually be better. Will look into it.

Billy_Whizzzz

2,261 posts

155 months

Tuesday 18th March

I went G31 530d x drive with adaptive suspension but then binned the 20” run flats and went 18 inch non run flat all seasons. It is brilliant ride wise.

Matt_T

736 posts

86 months

Tuesday 18th March

How about a Subaru Outback? They have a smooth ride but you may find them underpowered?
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/17592447

Original Poster

1,329 posts

141 months

Tuesday 18th March

I live in Switzerland and my wife drives a newer Corolla with a CVT. Great little car for the daily duties, but any longer incline results in a very annoying whine. There is no way I am buying the main family ride with a 4 cylinder CVT, especially a Subaru CVT.
I am intrigued by the Allroad/Allterrain style of estates.
Will try to test a 530/540 d

ZX10R NIN

28,861 posts

137 months

Tuesday 18th March

flatso said:

I've only ever driven 3/4 all terrains & I can't say I noticed the difference, the A6 All road (to me) feels a little too soft for me the S6 would get the nod but when you're down to a top 3 only test drives will really differentiate which car suits you best.

braddo

11,719 posts

200 months

Wednesday 19th March

There are a few simple ingredients to a comfortable ride - smaller wheels, non-sport spec suspension, a long wheelbase and not being a SUV.

A basic E200 E-class estate on the smallest wheels will almost certainly have the nicest ride, either the W212 or the current model. The lowest weight model, the least sprung mass, no sporting pretensions. Tyre pressures can be lower too (contrast to a big SUV where tyre pressures can be 45-50psi)

There is no way a S6 will be as comfortable and I suspect that the All-terrain and Allroad variants won't ride as nicely as they have huge (heavy) wheels.

Leithen

12,635 posts

279 months

Wednesday 19th March

Similar requirements, faced with a number of years going up and down the top part of the M6 and beyond, I'm looking at silly lease deals and the VW ID.7.

Apologies if that offends anyone....

getmecoat

braddo

11,719 posts

200 months

Wednesday 19th March

This one will be too old but as an example... Big engine, soft suspension, pano roof

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id...

Panamax

5,623 posts

46 months

Wednesday 19th March

braddo said:

This one will be too old but as an example... Big engine, soft suspension, pano roof

ALERT! Watch out if you're thinking about a pano roof. Look at the pic and you'll see there's a roof panel between the top of the windscreen and the front of the pano roof - that panel will almost always fail in the way shown,

https://www.reddit.com/r/mercedes_benz/comments/11...

Original Poster

1,329 posts

141 months

Thursday 20th March

braddo said:

As a former Cirtoen HP owner I understand the basics of a comfortable ride, I really miss the supreme comfort of my old Xantia. I wonder if an airsprung model would not improve on an allready comfortable setup.
Are there any SUV's that can do the comfort task as well as a top estate?

Robertb

2,437 posts

250 months

Thursday 20th March

I have a CLS 350 Shooting brake with airmatic. The ride is not super-smooth on roads, to be honest, the big ol' wheels do feel road imperfections, but on motorways its very serene. I suspect a sensibly specced E350 estate would ride much better on smaller wheels with more aspect ratio but would not be as interesting or fun to drive.

The standard interior is very tough, build quality and materials are great.

You'll need a Premium Plus pack car to get the glass roof, which will also come with HK stereo and keyless entry/go.

The boot is absolutely massive. Can get more in it rear seats up than our Discovery Sport.

Its been a superb workhorse for three years, it followed a 250 Shooting Brake and I can't imagine what I'll replace it with so I've decided to refurb a few cosmetic bits and keep it for the foreseeable.

Highly recommended, though I have had a couple of random people try to get into it when I've been picking family up from the station!

lornemalvo

2,793 posts

80 months

Friday 21st March

It's not easy, cars are simply not built for comfort any more. Watch any 60s or 70s TV programme, such as inspector Morse and you can see, as the Jaguars/Rovers etc pull up, how they gently undulate to a halt. My first two cars were a Rover 2000 and a Mk 2 jag. Now, it seems no matter how much you spend, you do not get that level of comfort. I'm considering an old XJ to replace my Q5 (which is not bad, to be fair, with 55 aspect tyres)

braddo

11,719 posts

200 months

Friday 21st March

flatso said:

...
Are there any SUV's that can do the comfort task as well as a top estate?

In short, no. Like for like, the SUV will always have bigger heavier wheels, higher tyre pressures, more weight and a higher centre of gravity. So whatever can be done to a SUV to make it ride nicely, doing the same to an estate car will give an even better result.

Original Poster

1,329 posts

141 months

Thursday

Billy_Whizzzz said:

I went G31 530d x drive with adaptive suspension but then binned the 20” run flats and went 18 inch non run flat all seasons. It is brilliant ride wise.

The G31's pre facelift seem to be tremendous value, build quality seems ok as well.
Any must have/ avoid options I should look out for?

Alpina seem to do a special "comfort + " mode on thier B5, wondering if this is just a software tune and if it there are comfort tuning options out there.

nobrakes

3,510 posts

210 months

Thursday

Allterrains have slightly larger profile tyres than a standard E to gain an additional half inch ground clearance.

Even ‘basic’ new cars come with many mod cons.

Long wheel base will help with comfort, too.

Bog spec E class with the smallest dia wheels would work.

Pickle_Rick

444 posts

72 months

Thursday

If its comfort, then you want lexus. They dont make estates anymore, but if you can live with an SUV you won't find comfier car than an RX in takumi spec. Granted they aren't the prettiest car

Only a rolls will beat lexus in wafting and insulation from the outside world.

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