10 Times Car Manufacturers Built Station Wagons That Could Keep Up With Real Sports Cars
If you’re in the market for a family car and can’t afford an SUV, a station wagon is a pretty good choice. Station wagons offer similar performance and prices to sedans but a lot more practicality due to the increased passenger and cargo space.
Station wagons are typically built for families, which is why they have a reputation for being slow and boring to drive. Not all of them, though. As is the case with all other types of vehicles, manufacturers have built performance versions of station wagons that can obliterate some of the fastest sports cars in a race. Let’s explore the superb station wagons that will shock you with their insane speed.
10 BMW M3 Touring
BMW has a long list of vehicles to be proud of, but few of them are as popular as the M3. The M3 is the performance version of the popular 3-Series, and it has gained a cult following worldwide for being one of the best driver’s cars. The M3 just got better, as BMW recently unveiled the first-ever M3 wagon - the M3 Touring.
The M3 Touring was built to celebrate the M3’s 50th anniversary and is basically a wagon version of the M3 Competition xDrive. It comes with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six belting out 503 hp, giving it incredible performance.
9 Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake
The European performance wagon market is largely dominated by German automakers like Mercedes-Benz and Audi. Tired of the Germans dominating, Jaguar rolled up its sleeves and built the fantastic XFR-S Sportbrake in 2014.
Jaguar didn’t hold back when building the XFR-S Sportbrake. To ensure it could crush the competition, Jaguar equipped the XFR-S Sportbrake with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 dishing out 542 ponies and 502 lb-ft of torque.
8 Cadillac CTS-V Wagon
The Cadillac V-Series has produced several fantastic sleepers over the last two decades. The CTS-V Wagon is our favorite. The CTS-V could chase down supercars on the freeway, largely thanks to its 556-hp supercharged V8.
It also had other cool features like a six-speed manual transmission, heavy-duty Brembo brakes, 19-inch lightweight aluminum wheels, and high-performance tires. Cadillac built less than 2,000 CTS-V Wagons, which makes it one of the best American cars to invest in right now.
7 Audi RS2 Avant
Whenever two giant German companies like Audi and Porsche join forces to create a vehicle, you know there’s a good chance it’s going to be special. That’s exactly what the Audi RS2 Avant was. The RS2 Avant debuted in the ’90s and set the automotive world on fire.
The RS2 Avant had a boring, boxy design, but a peek under the hood revealed why it was a winner. The RS2 Avant was powered by a 2.2-liter inline-five engine sending 311 hp to all wheels, allowing it to hit 60 mph in under 5 seconds.
6 Mercedes-AMG E63 S Wagon
Wagons may be considered to be ugly and boring to drive, but the Mercedes-AMG E63S Wagon doesn’t fall into that category. Thanks to the AMG badge, gearheads can immediately tell that the E63S Wagon is special the minute they see it.
The E63S Wagon has an elegant design and the power to match, thanks to a 4.0-liter twin-turbo AMG V8 dishing out 603 horses and 627 lb-ft of torque. A 0-60 of a little over 3 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph are crazy numbers.
5 Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo
The EV industry has exploded over the last decade and is growing at incredible rates. Porsche was one of the first top European automakers to realize that EVs are here to stay, which is why they built the awesome Taycan in 2019.
The Taycan was an instant hit, combining a gorgeous and futuristic design with Porsche’s engineering. Porsche builds several versions of the Taycan, including the Sport Turismo for buyers looking for a bit more practicality.
4 Dodge Magnum SRT8
In the mid-2000s, Dodge decided to revive the Magnum model name after almost two decades of hiatus. However, instead of a small two-door coupe, the new Magnum was a Chrysler-300-based station wagon.
There were several trim levels of the 2005 Magnum, with the best being the SRT8. At the heart of the SRT8 was a 6.1-liter Hemi V8 dishing out 425 ponies, making it a blast to drive.
3 VW Golf R SportWagen
Volkswagen has a long list of models to be proud of, but few of them have been as important as the Golf has, especially over the last half-century. The Golf has been incredibly successful for Volkswagen, as it is among the best-selling cars of all time.
Thanks to the Golf’s huge success, Volkswagen has produced several variants. One of the most underrated has to be the Golf R SportWagen. This awesome wagon offers a lot more space than the standard Golf R but is still powered by the same awesome engine - a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder sending 315 hp to all wheels.
2 Volvo V70R
The first thing that comes to most gearheads’ minds when ‘Volvo’ is mentioned is slow, boring cars with high safety ratings. However, sometimes Volvo likes to build ultra-fast performance versions of their regular models, which is exactly what the V70R is.
The V70R debuted in the late ’90s and left gearheads wondering what Volvo was aiming for. This large, boxy wagon was easily among the ugliest vehicles of the day, but it more than made up for it with its speed. The V70R has a 2.5-liter twin-turbo five-cylinder engine sending 300 hp to all wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.
1 Alpina B5 Biturbo
German tuner Alpina has worked on multiple BMW models over the years. The B5 Biturbo ranks high on the list of Alpina’s greatest achievements. The B5 Biturbo is a high-performance version of the BMW 5-Series Touring, which is already fast as it produces 500 hp.
However, Alpina felt that wasn’t enough, so they upgraded the engine with a larger intercooler, a new cold air intake system, higher-compression pistons, a redesigned cooling system, and two twin-scroll turbochargers. These upgrades resulted in an improved output of 600 hp, making the Alpina B5 Biturbo a blast to drive.