That leaves us with the first-place
Porsche. Yes, another comparison
test win for Porsche. The folks in
Zuffenhausen must be getting sick of
all the accolades. I know I am. Yes, for
the nearly $85,000 price difference
between the Turbo S wagon and the
second-place AMG, you could buy any
number of phenomenal automobiles
(might I recommend an Alfa Romeo
Giulia Quadrifoglio?) and have the
Hammer. We get that, totally.
But the fact is, we invited these three
to compete, and all three manufac-
turers knew what we were up to. This is
a clean win for the Panamera Turbo S
Sport Turismo; price notwithstanding,
the Porsche is the superior driver’s
wagon. That’s the way she goes. Q
M
any Americans still think of “mom” and
“station wagon” in the same sentence,
ignoring that the ubiquitous modern
SUV is essentially the 21st century’s Wagon
Queen Family Truckster. But in Europe, wagons
are still cool, still the preferred utility vehicle for
people with sporty lifestyles. And the faster the
wagon, the cooler it is. Which makes the 2020
Mercedes-AMG C 63 S wagon about as cool as
long-roof load luggers come.
The C 63 S is of course the E 63 S wagon’s little
brother, 11.5 inches shorter, 3.8 inches narrower,
1.3 inches lower, and rolling on a 3.9-inch-shorter
wheelbase. It’s powered by the same 503-hp,
516-lb-ft version of Daimler’s versatile 4.0-liter
twin-turbo V-8 as the AMG GLC 63 S Coupe sold
stateside, rather than the 603-hp, 627-lb-ft
engine of the E-Class version. Can’t have the
little brother upstaging things, can we?
The C 63 S wagon is lighter, partly because,
well, it’s smaller than the E 63, and also because
it doesn’t have the bigger car’s AWD system.
By Daimler’s numbers, it’s about half a second
slower to 62 mph than the E 63 S 4Matic+ wagon,
which suggests a 0–60 time of about 3.5
seconds. Given the heavier, AWD AMG GLC 63
we tested a few years back recorded a time of
3.2 seconds, that might be a touch pessimistic.
A 2018 face-lift added the AMG grille up
front, a new rear diffuser, and the option of
19-inch forged aluminum alloy wheels instead
of 18-inchers. Interior upgrades included a 12.3-
inch digital dash and 10.5-inch infotainment
screen, a flat-bottomed steering wheel withtouchpad controls on the spokes, and a rotary
mode controller.
Although the engine remained untouched,
the old seven-speed torque-converter auto was
replaced with AMG’s nine-speed wet-clutch
automatic, and it added an e-diff. AMG Traction
Control—the nine-stage system first seen on
the AMG GT R—was made standard on the S.
AMG Dynamic Select offers five predetermined
drive modes, along with an Individual mode
that allows you to choose the engine, gearbox,
steering, and exhaust settings. AMG Ride
Control manages the steel springs and adaptive
shocks, and the AMG Dynamics system lets you
manage the ESP settings and torque distribution
to the rear axle through four settings.
What’s it all add up to? A rambunctious little
thug of a wagon, that’s what. Next to the C 63 S,
the E 63 S seems calmer, more mature—if any
wagon with Saturn V thrust, a rolling thunder
soundtrack, and Drift mode can be called calm
and mature. The C 63 S feels livelier, noisier,
busier, especially at 120 mph or more on the
autobahn, where the shorter wheelbase and
different suspension settings mean high-speed
turn-in response feels more aggressive, and
there’s much more vertical motion through the
chassis. The rear-drive balance is real rather
than digitally remastered; Drift mode in this thing
simply means turning the traction control off.
It doesn’t have the brute power of the E 63
S, but Lordy it’s still fast. On a trip that saw us
dispatch the 700 miles between London and
Dresden in a single day, the C 63 S cruised easily
at 130 to 140 mph when traffic allowed, and on
one stretch we saw an indicated 156 mph.
The best thing about the C 63 S wagon? Not
just that it flies, but that it flies below the radar.
Unless you’re an enthusiast, it could be one of
tens of thousands of diesel C-Class wagons
running around Europe on fancy AMG wheels.
There’s something deeply appealing about
a supercar that to most people looks like an
ordinary grocery getter. It has utility. But it’s very,
very sporty. Angus MacKenzie2021 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S PRICE $69,250 (est) LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door wagon
ENGINE 4.0L/503-hp/516-lb-ft twin-turbo DOHC 48-valve V-8 TRANSMISSION 9-speed auto CURB WEIGHT 4,050
lb (mfr) WHEELBASE 111.8 in L x W x H 185.6 x 71.3 x 56.7 in 0-60 MPH 3.5 sec (MT est) EPA FUEL ECON Not ratedAPRIL 2021 MOTORTREND.COM 33Not your parents’ station wagons. These
three aren’t even your parents’ wildest
automotive fantasies. Yet here we are.
THESE THREE
WAGONS ARE THE
CROWN JEWELS
IN THE ACTUAL
GOLDEN AGE OF
THE AUTOMOBILE.
FORBIDDEN FRUIT: 2020 Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Wagon