> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.blankidentity.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Fast Station Wagons: Our Ten Favourite Performance Wagons - URL: https://www.blankidentity.com.au/best-fast-station-wagons-performance-wagons-australia/ - Published: 2026-11-02T04:49:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-02T04:48:59.000Z - Description: Ten wagons that look like school-run transport and drive like sports cars, from a nineties Volvo cult hero to a V12 Ferrari. - Author: Callum L - Tags: Cars The best fast station wagons all play the same trick. They roll up to the school gate looking like they carry hockey sticks and wet dogs, and then they leave a proper sports car wondering what just happened, and I love them for it. Here is how it usually goes. Before kids, you can own a properly focused performance car. There is a seat for the occasional partner, and a back seat so uncomfortable that your mates only climb in if they really have to go somewhere. Then the kids start to arrive, and you notice the classifieds follow the same path: you need something more sensible, something that carries the kids and everything else as the family grows. The fast wagon does it all, and it does not make you give up the fun. This is my pick of performance wagons, and I'd take any in a heartbeat if my bank balance would allow. Some are brand new, some are sadly long gone, and one is a very controversial Ferrari. All of them are the sort of sleeper you can live with: quick when you ask, calm when you do not, and with a boot big enough for the weekly shop and a surfboard. ## Audi RS 6 Avant ![Audi RS 6 Avant performance wagon in Mythos Black metallic](https://uploads.audi.com/system/production/media/117741/images/e37de10bfe0e186c92fd987a85b569d81cb7c2dc/A232999_web_2880.jpg) Audi RS 6 Avant performance. Image: Audi Every list like this starts with the [Audi RS 6 Avant](https://www.audi.com.au/en/models/a6/rs-6-avant-performance/?ref=blankidentity.com.au), because every other wagon gets measured against it. It is the one that made the genre cool: wide hips, a twin-turbo V8 and enough room in the back for a small removalist job. The latest performance version is the quickest RS 6 Audi has ever made, and it still manages to look like a smart, grown-up estate. That is the whole charm. ## Audi RS 5 Avant ![Audi RS 5 Avant in Progressiv red metallic](https://uploads.audi.com/system/production/media/129439/images/224225d821f135c3b12065f7bc8acbeaebce3b2d/A260196_web_2880.jpg) Audi RS 5 Avant. Image: Audi If the RS 6 is the loud one in the family, the [Audi RS 5 Avant](https://www.audi.com.au/en/models/a5/rs-5-avant/?ref=blankidentity.com.au) is the sharp one. It carries on the RS 4 Avant's job under a new badge: the smaller, easier-to-park wagon that is just as happy to be daft when you ask it to. This time there is a plug-in hybrid twist, a twin-turbo V6 backed by an electric motor, so it can potter along quietly when it wants to. The RS5 a bit cheeky, fully practical, and impossible to ignore. ## BMW M3 Touring ![BMW M3 CS Touring performance wagon](https://bmw.scene7.com/is/image/BMW/g81_cs_intro:16to7?wid=1920) BMW M3 CS Touring. Image: BMW For decades BMW fans begged for an M3 with a proper boot, and for decades they got politely ignored. Then the [BMW M3 Touring](https://www.bmw.com.au/en/models/m-series/bmw-3-series-m-models/bmw-m3-touring.html?ref=blankidentity.com.au) finally turned up. It has the straight-six snarl, the all-wheel drive and a rear hatch that swallows prams. The even sharper CS version is the one that makes enthusiasts go quiet for a moment, then start planning a loan. ## Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Estate This is the last of the big-hearted ones. The S205 C 63 S Estate has a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, and it is the final V8 C 63 before AMG switched to a four-cylinder hybrid. Mercedes no longer sells it new, so the fun now is tracking down a good used one. The V8 soundtrack is a big part of why people still rave about it, and it is the classic sleeper: a tidy family estate on the outside, a proper AMG bruiser underneath. It will happily do the school run, and it will make everyone else on the school run a bit nervous. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/c4/1ec40a4f-84a0-482b-aa02-e946534e85fe/content/images/2026/11/image.png) Mercedes c63s 2021\. Image: Drive.com.au ## Volvo 850 R ![Volvo 850 T5 R from the front and side](https://media-downloads.volvocars.com/7eb40f31-1722-4bb2-abaa-b33e004d5d73/6419_1_5.jpg) Volvo 850 T-5R. Image: Volvo Cars Here is the underdog, and our sentimental favourite. In the nineties Volvo took the squarest, most sensible estate it made, asked Porsche to help with the engine, and sold it in cream yellow. The 850 R estate is a cult hero for good reason: it is the original sleeper, a boxy family car with a five-cylinder turbo that surprises people to this day. It is long out of production, which makes finding a good one half the fun. ## HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer ![HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer V8 wagon](https://utilities.walkinshawgroup.com/images/cars/GEN-F/ClubSportR8Tourer.jpg) HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer. Image: HSV This one is pure Aussie. Take a Commodore Sportwagon, drop in a big V8 and let Holden Special Vehicles loose on the details. The Clubsport R8 Tourer is the kind of car that makes a family trip to Bunnings feel like an event. The local V8 era has ended now, so this is a proper piece of history, built right here. ## Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake ![Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake supercharged wagon](https://media.production.jlrms.com/alf/images/2019-06/fa0b308a-f841-4ef9-be6c-7b09a4794176/Jag15MYXFRSSportbrakeImage25021402.jpg) Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake. Image: Jaguar Our list calls this one the XF Sportbrake, and the fast version is the XFR-S. It is easily the best-dressed wagon here: long, low and elegant, with a supercharged V8 hiding under the bonnet like a secret. It is a gentleman in a tailored suit who can also, quite suddenly, run a marathon. ## Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo ![Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo electric wagon](https://newsroom.porsche.com/.imaging/mte/porsche-templating-theme/teaser_720x406x2/dam/pnr/2024/Products/The-new-Taycan/Galerie-2/07_Taycan_Turbo_Cross_Turismo_Driving_3.jpg/jcr:content/07_Taycan_Turbo_Cross_Turismo_Driving_3.jpg) Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo. Image: Porsche Welcome to the electric age of the performance wagon. The Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo is silent, ridiculously quick and slightly raised for the odd gravel road. There is no engine noise to announce it, which makes it the ultimate sleeper: you simply glide away while everyone wonders where the car went. It is a very modern take on an old idea. ## Ferrari FF ![Ferrari FF four-seat shooting brake](https://cdn.ferrari.com/cms/network/media/img/resize/5da48dd398c1120a59fdf3a6-ferrari-ff_intro(desktop)_1920x1600) Ferrari FF. Image: Ferrari Yes, it counts. Ferrari called it the FF, gave it a V12, all-wheel drive and a hatchback body with room for four people and their luggage, and then watched purists spill their coffee. It is not a traditional wagon, more a shooting brake in a very good suit, but it carries the same spirit. It is the one we would pick if someone handed us a lottery win and a long road trip. ## Subaru Legacy GT wagon A quick note on the name. The B4 badge belonged to the sedan, so we have gone with the Legacy GT wagon, which Australians knew as the Liberty GT. It is the budget hero of the group: a turbocharged boxer engine, all-wheel drive and a plain, friendly body that never gave the game away. Plenty of enthusiasts started their love of fast wagons right here. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/c4/1ec40a4f-84a0-482b-aa02-e946534e85fe/content/images/2026/11/image-2.png) Subaru Legacy (Liberty) 2.5GT. Image: Drive.com.au ## The fine print on the fun Most of these cars could humble a sports car away from the lights, and that is a fun fact rather than a suggestion. We do not encourage dangerous driving, so keep the quick stuff for a track day and enjoy the rest of the time on the open road at a sensible pace. A great performance wagon is just as good at being relaxed as at being rapid. **At a glance** - Audi RS 6 Avant performance: from 2023, 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 463 kW, 0 to 100 km/h in 3.4 seconds - Audi RS 5 Avant: from 2026, twin-turbo V6 plug-in hybrid, 470 kW combined, 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds - BMW M3 Touring: from 2023, 3.0-litre twin-turbo straight-six, Competition 390 kW and CS 405 kW, 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 and 3.5 seconds - Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Estate (S205): 2015 to 2021, no longer sold new, 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, 375 kW and 700 Nm, 0 to 100 km/h in about 4.1 seconds - Volvo 850 R (T-5R): 1994 to 1996, no longer sold new, 2.3-litre turbo five-cylinder, 240 hp - HSV Clubsport R8 Tourer: Gen-F era, no longer sold new, 6.2-litre V8, 325 kW (340 kW optional) - Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake: 2014 to 2015, no longer sold new, 5.0-litre supercharged V8, 405 kW, 0 to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds - Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo: dual-motor electric, 570 kW (up to 700 kW with launch control), 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds - Ferrari FF: 2011 to 2016, no longer sold new, 6.3-litre V12, 485 kW (660 PS), 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds - Subaru Legacy GT wagon (Liberty GT in Australia): 2003 to 2012, no longer sold new, 2.0-litre turbo boxer, about 190 kW, 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds **Verdict:** The Audi RS 6 is the benchmark, the Ferrari FF is the dream and the Volvo 850 R is the underdog we love most. Together they prove that the best fast station wagons are the ones that never need to show off, and that swapping the two-seater for a family car does not have to mean waving goodbye to the grin.