Brutal Mercedes-AMG E 63 S Wagon Is a Hot Rod Hauler
With 603 horsepower, 627 lb-ft of torque and 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive, Mercedes-AMG’s dragon wagon can haul more than just groceries.
There are a lot of supercars on the market these days. If you want a swoopy coupe with enough power to make valet parkers fist-fight each other and you have deep pockets you’re willing to reach into, McLaren, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin will be happy to provide it to you. There is no shortage of super SUVs that can haul people and cargo at a rapid rate, either. A variety of companies produce shockingly athletic rigs with power once reserved for pure exotics. But there is only one super wagon. BMW doesn’t offer an estate version of the M5. Jaguar’s XF Sportbrake S tops out at 380 horsepower. And we’re still waiting on the 2021 Audi RS 6 Avant. Fortunately, Mercedes made sure to apply its high-performance AMG treatment to its E-Class longroof and created the E 63 S Wagon.
I grew up on wagons – but none of them were like this. The 1980s Toyota Cressidas that my dad seemed to collect when I was a kid were purely functional. They put the “box” in “two-box design” in the worst way and they certainly weren’t powerful enough to be at least visually exciting.
When I learned I could get the E 63 S Wagon to review for a week, I jumped at the opportunity and filmed some of the highlights for my YouTube channel, There Will Be Cars. My $140,000 test car was everything the younger me never believed a wagon could be: a harmonious union of form and function – and firepower.
The E 63 S’s basic lines are a graceful combination of curves and muscle. Mercedes-AMG dressed those up by adding an array of black and carbon fiber accents and a set of black wheels that put the finishing touches on the Storm-Trooper-who-just-won-the-lottery look.
The interior was equally attractive. Glossy carbon fiber flowed from the door panels, across the dashboard and down the center stack, which included an attractive but unfortunately placed IWC clock. The sculpted sport seats did a great job of holding me and my girlfriend in place and offered heating and cooling – an unusual luxury for such focused buckets.
The E 63 S wasn’t just a wagon in name only. I’m 5’10” and found that the back seat provided plenty of legroom for me. The cargo bay was spacious, too. If I had needed even more room for gear (or giant pizza boxes), all I would’ve had to do was pull a couple of switches to fold the back seats down.
But you can do that kind of hauling in the E 450 4MATIC Wagon, too. Mercedes-AMG made the E 63 S to carry people and things with a crazed, ferocious pull that no other wagon on the market can match. They succeeded. The twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 fires its 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque through a 9-speed automatic and 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive that can route 100 percent of the M177’s bonkers torque to the rear Michelins.
When I kept my right foot in it, the acceleration reached a certain point I can only describe as a frenzy. The AMG Speedshift MCT gearbox did its job well, although it was not as intuitive or predictive about the gear I needed in certain instances as the 8-speed unit BMW puts in the M5. It was easy to precisely direct the fury under the hood thanks to the E 63 S’s well-weighted steering. Optional (and pricey) carbon-ceramic brakes scrubbed off ticket-worthy speeds progressively and with little noise.
AMG has almost completely AMG-ed all of the models in the regular Mercedes-Benz lineup. There are some exceptions. I’m glad the E-Class is not one of them. The 2019 E 63 S Wagon is not just an aesthetically and physically stunning machine, it’s the only super wagon out there. For now.
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