Mercedes-AMG E63 S Estate 4Matic+ 2017 review

With the rear seats folded flat, the E63 S Estate presents a ballroom-like 1820 litres of storage space, but it doesn't come for free; all of that extra metal and glass add more than 100kg to the kerb weight. You have to punt the car especially hard down a narrow, winding road to identify the extra flab, but in the way the Estate takes a split second longer to haul itself from full roll in one direction to full roll the other, you can sense a degree of laziness that you don’t get in the Saloon.

But even so, high-performance estates haven't ever been as agile or as downright fast along a twisting road as this before. There’s enough sheer grip, body control, steering precision and traction that you really can cover ground at sports car baiting speeds in the E63 S Estate, but crucially it also has a level of poise and even adjustability that the RS6 doesn’t offer.

Despite its standard-fit air suspension, the AMG never rides calmly or fluidly, though. There’s a constant secondary jiggle, a busy patter than never settles. Perhaps that’s just the inevitable trade-off on a car that weighs more than two tonnes and handles as capably as this one does. It isn’t the fidgety ride that raises doubts over the Mercedes’ long-distance comfort, however, but the unyielding seats. Winged and bolstered, they look as though they’ve been lifted directly out of the GT. They’re very supportive, but they’re also very firm and, after a couple of hours, your back will almost certainly start to complain.

Those are just about the only criticisms you can level at the E63 S Estate, though. At very high speeds on a sodden German autobahn, it was indomitable and utterly sure-footed, which makes its poise and agility on a back road all the more impressive. The engine, too, is responsive, enormously powerful and eager to rev out, while the £1000 sports exhaust teases some welcome character out of the V8. 

With the £2595 premium package - which includes keyless-go, a glass roof, uprated stereo and ‘intelligent’ LED lights - and a handful of other goodies, our test car came in at a little under £100,000. Which, regardless of the performance and handling ability the car has, is a staggering sum of money.