R36 Wagon Alternatives?

[jamesatfish]

Went and looked at the C63 yesterday - the dealership didn't have a C63 Estate but they had a sedan and a C200 Estate so managed to check out both the estate size and the C63 appointments.

Very nice vehicle - the engine note is great (and with adjustable exhaust baffles for quiet running when the situation calls for calmer driving), the interior very well appointed, plenty of standard equipment (keyless entry being the only real omission, and that's an option anyway) and very comfortable both front and back. Looks like we might have a winner.

That said, I'm still waiting to see the HSV / Calais wagon facelift when cars start arriving at dealerships, or perhaps at the motorshow in Sydney in a few weeks time, but it'll have to be a very good car to win my vote from the C63 even in consideration of the price difference.

[tryingavw]

sounds like you're set on the v8?

i have to say the performance of our c220cdi wagon is really quite good. probably a little quicker than the passat tdi. the motor is an updated 2.15 twin turbo. obviously not a v8 but lots of fun & torq 400nm anyway and great economy. also it is tenorite grey which i think is a good colour. light grey interior with dark flooring- very practical. see pics in passat is gone.

[jamesatfish]

sounds like you're set on the v8?

i have to say the performance of our c220cdi wagon is really quite good. probably a little quicker than the passat tdi. the motor is an updated 2.15 twin turbo. obviously not a v8 but lots of fun & torq 400nm anyway and great economy. also it is tenorite grey which i think is a good colour. light grey interior with dark flooring- very practical. see pics in passat is gone.

Yes, we're set on the V8. We're a performance car family - my wife currently drives a twin turbo V8 - so the AMG is the model to go for.

Looked at the pics of your new MB - very nice and I think that's the same colour as the car I looked at on the weekend, but with a darker interior. Seems from your experience that the C Class Estate is the closest match to the Passat on the market at the moment, which is exactly what we've found when looking also.

[tryingavw]

the colour is called tenorite gey ( my favourite in their range but she would have loved a deep metallic red)
the interior of the wagon is light grey- sensational and has a much better ambience than my all black interior which is good but a little boring.

also what they have done is make all the surfaces likely to get dirty: floor, lower door sills, boot area in dark so it should hold up really well to punishment. I'll post a pick of the boot area.

also does the amg have motorized tailgate? its heavy to open so would have got that if possible.

[jamesatfish]

the colour is called tenorite gey ( my favourite in their range but she would have loved a deep metallic red)
the interior of the wagon is light grey- sensational and has a much better ambience than my all black interior which is good but a little boring.

also what they have done is make all the surfaces likely to get dirty: floor, lower door sills, boot area in dark so it should hold up really well to punishment. I'll post a pick of the boot area.

also does the amg have motorized tailgate? its heavy to open so would have got that if possible.

Thanks for those details - would be interested to see those pics if you get a chance.

The AMG does have the motorised tailgate- we didn't get that on our current 4WD but drove an Infinity GX35 a couple of times in the US recently which has that feature, and found it really useful. The fact that the Passat R36 had that option was one of the big bonuses for that car.

[tryingavw]

heres the boot areas, same colour as a black leather interior wagon.

a feature i have not seen before is the crossbar stays attached to the seat when you fold them down. ( with passat it stays in position but can be diconnected and connect to the folded down seats.

[ron]

Yes, we're set on the V8. We're a performance car family - my wife currently drives a twin turbo V8 - so the AMG is the model to go for.

Looked at the pics of your new MB - very nice and I think that's the same colour as the car I looked at on the weekend, but with a darker interior. Seems from your experience that the C Class Estate is the closest match to the Passat on the market at the moment, which is exactly what we've found when looking also.

hi james, i went through this road before. we also have great taste in cars, hence my wifes' r36 : ) . now, in our household we always have a 3 car structure. wifes family car, my tradies van, and my sports car. but in the last couple of years the sports car has dissapeared, 2 kids, dont have time, too busy, blah blah. So we focus on the family car instead. hence the R36. at the moment is the best overall wagon around. the only other wagon i would buy is the RS6 (a bit pricey, now only in 2nd hand anyway), the C63 however, i would only buy in sedan as wagon is quite ugly at the back. and infact i was going to order matt one in sedan 3mths ago but put that on hold as we still need to kart a big pram along, so the R36 may hang around for another 6mths or so. but once the pram goes, we will move back to sports sedan and go from there. So as for me there is no other wagon i would look at, period. And dont waste your money on that HSV please.

[ron]

oh sorry, does your wife drive a cayenne turbo atm?

[jamesatfish]

oh sorry, does your wife drive a cayenne turbo atm?

Yes, she currently drives a Cayenne Turbo.

We're only in the early stages of pram carrying (9 month old) so a wagon is on the cards for at least the next few years. As for aesthetics - I don't mind the C63 Estate myself but then again we bought a Cayenne and plenty of people think they've been hit with the ugly stick too so perhaps my tastes are a bit unusual.

We looked at the RS6 a while ago (when you could still buy a new one) - very nice car but after looking at the R36 I couldn't see the value in the extra $200K you'd need for the Audi over the VW. Sure it was a better car but in no way was it better by that much cash.

I spoke with the Audi dealer at the German Auto Fest over the weekend as he was showing us through the R8 V10 - rumour has it that there will be an RS4 in the near future that's only available as an Avant, as Audi will be pushing sedan buyers to the RS5 Sportback instead. Bad news is that we could be looking at late 2011 which is too long to wait.

The MB dealer I've been talking to has a C63 Estate coming in around the time of the Sydney motorshow, so we'll come up and take that for a drive at the same time as checking out anything else at the motorshow that we might have overlooked.

[tryingavw]

y) C63 however, i would only buy in sedan as wagon is quite ugly at the back. .

i actually prefer the c63 wagon look over the sedan. but then again i prefer the wagon passat over the sedan, the A4 avant etc etc, the bmw3 wagon, even the comode sportwagon.

So i guess i just prefer wagons. they are also more exclusive in a way