2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S Wagon is 603 Horsepower of Family-Oriented Fun
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]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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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.