Mercedes-AMG E63 Estate vs. Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo Turbo: Beautiful Race

The current RS6 will be retired soon, as the all-new A6 Avant generation makes it obsolete. The Mercedes CLS 63 AMG has also been discontinued. So that just means the E63 and Panamera Turbo are the only contenders in this segment.

Thus settling which is fastest with a drag race leaves us with a result that will probably be uncontested for one or two years. Sure, there's going to be a Turbo S from Porsche, but the "regular" one is already about 30% more expensive than its Affalterbach rival.

Not only is the E63 S Estate cheaper than the Panamera model, but it's also a lot more powerful. Both use twin-turbo 4-liter V8s, but the one that's been tuned by AMG delivers about a Dacia Sandero's worth of extra power.

Which is the fastest? Well, everybody knows Porsche horsepower is somehow more valuable than everybody else's. However, that E63 S Estate is built for speed. It quickly builds a lead to 60 mph, which it maintains all along the track.

By the end of the quarter-mile, the Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo is half a second behind and going seven mph slower. Interestingly, the AMG's lead is diminished by the time they've covered half a mile. Who said supercars can't be family-friendly?

Since we're not going to see these two together again for quite some time, we want to talk about styling. The Mercedes is more aggressive, but also more wagon-like. The Panamera Sport Turismo is doing its own thing, mixing in a lot more luxury. But we'd buy the faster car and also save money in the process.