Top 10 fast wagons: Much loved... but now endangered

Everyone loves a fast wagon. If you’re an enthusiast that has to make concessions to everyday life, it’s a chance to have your cake and eat it too.  

Whether it’s taking the kids to sport or hassling supercars at a track day, the right fast wagon can answer every motoring question along with earning plenty of cool points from fellow enthusiasts. 

While the SUV onslaught over the last couple of decades has thinned the ranks, there have still been some exceptionally desirable five-doors available and here are our top 10, presented in alphabetical order. 

To put a little twist on things, they had to be available in Australia and only one vehicle per manufacturer, otherwise you’d end up with four or five Audis. Let’s get stuck in. 

Audi RS6 Avant 

1

Speaking of Audis, you can make a strong case that no manufacturer does a fast wagon better than Audi. From the original RS2 through generations of RS4, not to mention some cracking ‘S’ cars, it’s the RS6 that arguably best embodies the ethos.  

Any and all are great, but if we have to pick just one it’s the C6. It’s possibly the plainest looking, which only makes the fact it has a 5.0-litre V10 WITH TWO TURBOS developing 426kW/750Nm all the more mad. 

BMW M3 Touring 

1

Why did it take BMW so long? It’s worth mentioning Alpina here as its B3 and B5 were great cars, but the latest G81 M3 Touring is just so right. 

The combination of (heavily) rear-biased all-wheel drive, that fabulous twin-turbo straight-six and carefully honed M Division dynamics make it a driving weapon yet it’s more than adept at handling the daily grind. Not to mention it looks the absolute business. 

Ferrari FF

1

Is this a wagon? Or a hatch? Who cares, it has a 485kW/683Nm 6.3-litre V12 and can hit 335km/h flat-out while carrying four in comfort. And the FF isn’t just a four-seater on the spec sheet, either, with genuine space for adults in the rear and a decent boot. 

Combine this with the clever all-wheel drive system and you have a Ferrari for four seasons. It was superseded by the GTC4 Lusso that lifted outputs to 507kW/697Nm and kept Ferrari free from SUVs for another five years. 

HSV Clubsport R8 LSA Tourer

1

Driving purists might point to the naturally aspirated manual versions of the HSV Clubsport Tourer produced over the years, but for sheer impact it’s hard to go past 400kW and 671Nm of supercharged 6.2-litre V8. 

Sadly, while HSV would’ve loved to have continued to offer a manual, Holden stopped building manual VF II wagons, leaving the six-speed auto as the only option for the Gen-F2 range. Regardless, it was a monster of a car with plenty of room for spare rear tyres. 

Mercedes-AMG CLS63 S Shooting Brake 

1

Wagon-loving Mercedes fans are spoiled for choice. The rarity of the W202 C43 or W211 E55 Estates, the attitude of the W204 C63, but it’s the combination of both that gives the CLS63 S Shooting Brake the nod.  

The looks might be an acquired taste, but a 430kW/800Nm 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 has universal appeal, especially when driving just the rear wheels, something only right-hand drive markets got to enjoy, left-hookers being 4MATIC. 

Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo

1

The Porsche Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo might prove the phrase false by being not only a jack of all trades but a master of them, too. Unbelievable speed – we clocked 0-100km/h in 3.36sec when we tested it – typical Porsche dynamics yet room for the kids and their cricket gear, a beautiful interior and excellent ride comfort. 

It’s a little configuration dependent, but possibly the Sport Turismo’s greatest trick is making a Panamera look good, not traditionally a strong suit of Porsche’s luxo limo. Sadly, insufficient demand led to the wagon being discontinued for the third-generation Panamera. 

Skoda Octavia RS

1

If you don’t drive a Skoda Octavia RS Estate, are you even a cyclist? Skoda’s sponsorship of professional cycling over the years has resulted in a roof-mounted carbon race bike practically being a factory option. 

It also marks the driver as quite the connoisseur, as for almost 20 years the Octavia RS has offered deceptive pace, excellent value, exceptional practicality and finely honed dynamics in a package that flies under the radar, itself a handy attribute.  

Subaru Liberty RS Turbo 

1

Before there was the WRX, there was the Liberty RS Turbo, a tough as nails – just take a look at how many have 300,000km+ – four-wheel drive flyer that established Subaru as a legitimate performance brand and laid the foundation for what would become next. 

Producing 147kW/260Nm, it could keep anything V8 in sight in a straight line and leave it for dust in the corners, especially if rain or dirt was involved. The more ‘grown-up’ Liberty also avoided the reputation – and clientele – that the later WRX would attract. 

Volkswagen Passat R36

2

Once again fast five-door Vee Dub fans have an embarrassment of riches to choose from: Arteon Shooting Brake, Passat 206TSI Wagon, Golf R Wagon, there are no bad choices here, but our selection is the Passat R36. 

From an era when the Volkswagen Group seemed determined to offer every conceivable engine configuration – this era of Passat had 13 different engine options! – it teamed a 220kW/350Nm 3.6-litre V6 with all-wheel drive, handsome styling, plenty of luxury features and one of those new-fangled double-clutch gearboxes. 

Volvo 850 T5-R 

1

Australia knew about fast Volvos. Kiwi Robbie Francevic won the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship in a 240T, but no one, in Australia or otherwise, was prepared for when Tom Walkinshaw Racing took the covers off an 850 Estate race car for the 1994 British Touring Car Championship. 

A year later Tony Scott ran one of the five-doors in the Australian Super Touring series, giving some race cred to the extremely limited – just 25 examples across sedan and wagon – 850 T5-R examples available to the public.  

In 1996 the 850 T5-R became the 850R, outputs from the turbocharged 2.3-litre five-cylinder increasing from 177kW/300Nm to 185kW/330Nm, an awful lot to put through just the front wheels. For noise and cool factor, though, it’s hard to beat.