Why are car guys obsessed with fast wagons?1

[nepats81]

With the announcement of the M3 Touring , it made me think...why do so many car guys love fast wagons so much?

Is it just because you can't get them here in the US and a case of people wanting what they cannot have?

Or do you guys have that much stuff to haul?

More options the better I guess.

[LOW4LYF]

Originally Posted by nepats81

With the announcement of the M3 Touring , it made me think...why do so many car guys love fast wagons so much?

Is it just because you can't get them here in the US and a case of people wanting what they cannot have?

Or do you guys have that much stuff to haul?

More options the better I guess.

Lifestyle?

I keep an E46 Touring just for my dog tho...

Wagon all day long over SUV for me.

[Ejones4541]

I have no clue...maybe it's to impress the other Dads in the pickup lane outside of the daycare.

[MisterF80M3]

With compact SUV being faster than ever (x3m, Model Y, Macan Turbo, Audi SQ5), makes no sense to get a wagon, IMO.

[swagon]

With an M3 Touring, you get the practicality of a regular 3 Series Touring combined with the performance of an M3 without sacrificing either of those aspects. There is no need to buy an SUV.

Fast German wagons are very rare on the US market, they are perceived as an enthusiast's choice so it is obvious why people are excited.

[swagon]

Originally Posted by MisterF80M3

With compact SUV being faster than ever (x3m, Model Y, Macan Turbo, Audi SQ5), makes no sense to get a wagon, IMO.

This mindset exactly is the reason why America is likely not getting the M3 Touring and normal cars, i.e. sedans, wagons and hatchbacks are dying as everything must be a pretend SUV... because reasons, you know.

Originally Posted by nepats81

Or do you guys have that much stuff to haul?

Why don't you ask this question on the F-150 forums

[AlterZgo]

Most people here who say they like wagons only think they do. Or, if they like them, they don't like them enough to buy them over sedans or coupes. At leasts that's what the sales numbers say. In America, station wagons still have the same stigma as a minivan. People wouldn't be caught dead in a minivan, but they don't mind driving an SUV... as if a Toyota Highlander is some sporty 4Runner or Land Cruiser alternative when the reality is, it's just a crappy people hauler SUV for people who should've just bought a minivan.

Personally, I like wagons only when they look good. For example, the RS6 avant and RS4 look great and I wouldn't mind either of those, though the RS6 is way too expensive for me and Audi hasn't bothered to bring over the RS4 wagon for a long time. The old E60 5 series wagon looked really good too, but I don't think this latest M3 touring looks all that great.

Ultimately, if I had a choice, I like hatchbacks the best. They drive and feel like sedans, but I can easily throw my bikes in the rear hatch w/ seats down and they are much more useful than sedans. I can also run a subwoofer in the trunk of a hatch and have it sound nice and lound in the car vs. in my M3, I have to leave my rear seats folded down if I want to pound my subwoofers. If BMW made an M4 grancoupe, that's the car that would make me trade in my M3.

Now if I had to choose btw an M3 touring vs. an X3M, it would be M3 touring all day as, in my eyes, an SUV M car is kinda pointless. The M3 touring would give me the same practicality of the X3M, but still drive very much like an M3 sedan.

[dezzracer]

Because they are cool. A better question is why are car guys obsessed with watches.

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

I'd get a wagon, but they always send the wrong specs over here or charge an insane amount (RS6 Avant). Wagons make sense in Europe where size matters for roads, parking, etc. Here they can just sell performance SUV platform and know it'd sell more units than a wagon. Handling gains would be negligible- F80 is .99g and X3MC is .96g so figure the touring with an extended roof line would be somewhere in the middle.

As much as people may say they'll buy performance wagons, it seems like there's an AMG E63 wagon on BAT every week.

[Blackhawk878]

I prefer wagons over an SUV/SAV, less of a brick going down the road. The options available have dwindled thanks to the Lampoon's movies (kidding). Mostly due to emissions standards it is easier for manufacturers in the US to throw in another SUV that requires less efficiency than another car (wagon) and I think their marketing pushed the American public that way. Benjamins baby!

I was an owner of a CTS-V wagon a few years ago, however the fit and finish of that thing was horrible. Enough to make me get rid of it and remember it through the glamour shots post paint correction. I feel that since the German makers still provide wagons to the ROW routinely, they know how to make them better vs a company like GM or Ferd trying to dig up their roots and building something they haven't successfully done in decades, if ever. So maybe it also depends on who builds the wagon vs just being a wagon.

[spuntyb]

Originally Posted by nepats81

With the announcement of the M3 Touring , it made me think...why do so many car guys love fast wagons so much?

Is it just because you can't get them here in the US and a case of people wanting what they cannot have?

Or do you guys have that much stuff to haul?

More options the better I guess.

Increased utility, rarity, and looks. You either love the wagon look or you hate it, but when you love it, you really love it.

Plus, BMW makes better looking wagons than they do sedans, there I said it.

[BigHunk]

Human psychology, people want what they can't get.

[Nativetexan]

I would buy a really fast wagon in a heartbeat but none are offered.

I've owned an Outback, which I came to really enjoy and also a BMW 3 wagon as well.

No one buys wagons here b/c the ones offered suck.

[Nativetexan]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

I'd get a wagon, but they always send the wrong specs over here or charge an insane amount (RS6 Avant). Wagons make sense in Europe where size matters for roads, parking, etc. Here they can just sell performance SUV platform and know it'd sell more units than a wagon. Handling gains would be negligible- F80 is .99g and X3MC is .96g so figure the touring with an extended roof line would be somewhere in the middle.

As much as people may say they'll buy performance wagons, it seems like there's an AMG E63 wagon on BAT every week.

That wagon is out of reach for most people's budgets....

Offer an M340i type wagon for mid $60's and it'll sell.

[RoundelM3]

Has nothing to do with "wanting what you can't get" - has everything to do with a vehicle that is far more attractive than a jacked-up boxmobile with no style and all the aerodynamics of a brick. Wagons come in very handy for a variety of things, particularly if you're a homeowner. I'd own an M3 wagon in a heartbeat if they only sold them here. But the American marketing jocks have continued to convince the average Joe that he NEEDS an "SUV", and of course there's the "everyone else is driving a transporation appliance" syndrome too.

[LOW4LYF]

Agree....

I had an E91 and now an E46 Wagon.

I have my Wagon for the dog and our road trips, a G81 would be just perfect! The trunk on the X3M is just to high for our needs.

[Jockey]

Because I could go from two vehicles down to one. At the moment, need the bigger interior space my Jeep offers to carry stuff around.

A wagon takes care of that. Add in xDrive, oof. It would be perfect.

There's a reason I'm strongly looking at an RS6 wagon if they weren't so damn expensive.

[W///]

Originally Posted by RoundelM3

Has nothing to do with "wanting what you can't get" - has everything to do with a vehicle that is far more attractive than a jacked-up boxmobile with no style and all the aerodynamics of a brick. Wagons come in very handy for a variety of things, particularly if you're a homeowner. I'd own an M3 wagon in a heartbeat if they only sold them here. But the American marketing jocks have continued to convince the average Joe that he NEEDS an "SUV", and of course there's the "everyone else is driving a transporation appliance" syndrome too.

Same here, although I'd still want to keep my truck.

One thing no one mentioned is that if they would have offered an M3 wagon in the E46 and E91 generation, they would have been RWD and offered with 6MT. What fast SUV has that?

[knightarmor]

Practicality for my wife and I. We don't want a big SUV that has poor turn radius and difficult to park in these new style compact size parking spots. Not to mention crappy fuel economy (not that that is a deal breaker buts it's nice to have if youre going on long trips).

[Slowphiveo]

No interest in wagons or fast SUVs at all. Its like hotrodding a schoolbus.

[THEROK]

You're painting with a pretty broad brush.

I am an auto enthusiast. I couldn't care less about wagons. I'm even a bit semi-satisfied owning a vehicle that's a tarted up version of a massively produced commuter car (if only the F82 weren't so incredibly good looking).

If not a sports car or fast car with sporting intentions (all Ms save for maybe the M1), I'm all about trucks. Trucks as in solid front and rear axles. Trucks as in rolling on nothing short of 35s and all-terrain tires.

Hot or cold, not lukewarm practicality be d----d.

[Ejones4541]

If there was a market for a high performance station wagon in the States, Subaru would've built one. Lord knows they're enough Outbacks on the road as it is.