Recently, we talked about how and why wagons are not that popular in America, representing just a couple of percentage points of the car market. But some of the coolest European imports are or will be among those few survivors.
Mainly, it's the E63 wagon that's doing all the work, but we wouldn't be surprised if the shockingly beautiful and presumably very fast 2020 Audi RS6 Avant gets in on the action. That's the car we wanted to see in the drag race, but Audi hasn't really started production yet.
That's not to say we're disappointed with the two heavyweight boxers right here. The E63 S wagon is an old favorite of hours taking down its rivals since early 2018. The Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid isn't really new either, but this Sport Turismo body makes it feel more exotic.
Even though these aren't fresh engines, we'll still run you through the numbers a bit. European specs read as follows: 680 horsepower for the Turbo S, thanks to a 550 hp 4-liter V8 and an electric motor with torque sitting at 850 Nm. The E63 is good for 612 hp and the same amount of torque without any turbo stuff. American readings are at 671 ponies and 627 lb-ft of torque or 604 hp for the E63.
For the record, the RS6 is down on power compared to both, so we don't think it would have won. Likewise, we believed the Panamera might dominate this race, and we were wrong. You see, the flagship Porsche model is stuffed with batteries, which aren't fully compensated for by the electric performance.
The Turbo S E-Hybrid is good at launching off the line in the drag race, but only manages to stay ahead of the E63 by a car's length. In two ensuing rolling races, the simpler setup of the AMG seems superior. And as for the brake test, we all know how big of a role weight can play.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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