Remembering Brock
From the March 1996 issue of Car and Driver.A station wagon, you say? Isn't that the old Ford Country Squire your weird Uncle Dudley—the one who sleeps in his Top-Siders—uses to tailgate-picnic at the Yale Bowl? Or is it the clapped-out Subaru wobbling along in the slow lane of the interstate with the 'Save the Whales' sticker on the back window? Either way, these things called station wagons are supposed to be as square as their roof racks, now that we have all but abandoned them for minivans and the chi-chi off-roaders that make every trip to the podiatrist seem like a Himalayan climb to Kathmandu.
The trio tested here, however, cannot be considered part of the mainstream wagon market that generated 419,000 sales in 1994, but not much car lust. Their $40,000-ballpark prices and mildly snooty European pedigrees separate them from the ruck. They are proper automobiles, so balanced and responsive that only the most discerning of experts can distinguish them from their sister sedans without a peek rearward. The manufacturers of these three wagons took radically different paths to reach much the same destination. In this stew of design philosophies, we find the front-drive, turbocharged in-line five-cylinder Volvo 850 Turbo wagon; the rear-drive, in-line six-cylinder BMW 525i Touring; and the four-wheel-drive, V-6 Audi A6 wagon. The selection process for this test was tricky. We passed over the Mercedes-Benz E320 wagon, which is a lame duck during model changeover. BMW's 215-hp 530i tops the $50-grand mark, making it more than $11,000 pricier than the Volvo. In terms of raw performance, the obvious leader in this class is Volvo's limited-production 850 T-SR, with its tweaked 240-hp five-cylinder and 17-inch wheels. But its tamer 850 Turbo counterpart matched up in terms of price and performance to the Audi A6 and the BMW 525i Touring. Rather, it matched up before the BMW arrived with a $4000 package and other options that boosted its sticker to $46,201, a whopping $6778 beyond the $39,423 Volvo.Despite significant price differences, the voting of our three flinty-eyed staffers was close—and by no means diluted the reality that these are three fine hauling machines. Now the envelope, please...3rd Place: BMW 525i TouringHow this solid machine from Munich finished third in a three-car race demands an explanation. After all, the 525i's 189-hp, DOHC, 24-valve six is one of the smoothest, most responsive medium-displacement in-line engines in existence. Hooked up with BMW's four-speed automatic, it makes for a commendable drivetrain. The 525i Touring rides on a stiffish coil-sprung independent suspension , offering dry-weather handling that belies the extra bulk of the rear cabin. Figuring in the neatly proportioned styling and the clean Germanic Lines, wonder mounts as to why this vehicle finished last. The BMW did so mainly due to its lofty sticker of $46,201, its lack of usable space, and a nagging wind noise that intruded from the rear quarter of the cabin. Part of the racket could be attributed to the complex and somewhat overwrought double sliding sunroof that consumed most of the headliner. Also, remember that this test was conducted during winter in Michigan. Even with its traction-control system activated, the rear-drive BMW had trouble keeping pace with the four-wheel-drive Audi A6 and the front-drive, traction-controlled Volvo. Because such wagons are commonly employed for weekend sojourns into snowy mountain areas for skiing and other wintery pursuits, this lack of an all-skate hookup exposed a significant shortcoming. Dry-track performance was middling: slower than the Volvo by 1.6 seconds to 60, but 1.3 seconds quicker than the Audi. The rear seat is far and away the smallest of the group, forcing the passenger in the center to rest their feet on the front-seat console. The driver's seat, while comfortable, wobbled on its mountings. Worse yet, the Touring's rear cargo area is considerably less capacious than either the Volvo's or the Audi's, limited in part by the intrusion of the rear-suspension strut mounting in the corners of the luggage area.HIGHS: Wonderful drivetrain and handling, mucho BMW Mystique.LOWS: Unseemly wind noise, limited cargo space, hefty price.VERDICT: Okay for Bimmer loyalists, but what price glory?Add to that the lack of a tilt steering wheel , no memory or heated seats, and the absence of a useful cupholder, and the BMW suffers a considerable handicap in the convenience department—especially considering its high price. These shortcomings notwithstanding, the BMW is a smooth, accomplished hauler. Its allure pales only when its price and limited interior amenities are considered. 2nd Place: Audi A6 Wagon Audi is rolling again. Last year, sales surged by some 35 percent, thanks in large part to lean new value pricing. Check out this A6 wagon: four-wheel drive, seating for seven, and a rich wood-lined interior can be had for $36,228. By all rational measurements, this is a splendid machine, totally deserving of its second-place finish. Thanks to its anvil-like structure, its independent suspension , and its American-made, Torsen-based, full-time four-wheel drive, the A6 behaved impeccably in all situations, ranging from icy back-road switchbacks to silky, silent 100-mph freeway runs.We love the finely wrought interior with its lush leather seats and crystal-clear analog instrumentation. The well-thought out rear compartment, with an aft-facing third seat and special storage sock for skis, scored well with the test crew. While it lacks a built-in child's seat and is not as capacious as the Volvo, the Audi's general layout, with world-class detailing , coupled with its high-speed cruisability had us drooling over the thought of loading up for a weekender at Aspen or Sugarbush—and the snowier the better. Noted one tester: 'Leave the all-wheel drive just as it is; it may be the best all-around answer to the traction-control question.'The single drawback to the A6 was articulated in the logbook with this comment: 'Another 50 horsepower would not be too much to ask.' This lament was borne out in the numbers. The Audi made a leisurely trip to 60 mph in 10.1 seconds and meandered through the quarter-mile in 17.5 seconds at 80 mph. Compared with the Volvo, such performance is positively feeble. It is traceable to a modest engine output of 172 horsepower and a curb weight of 3814 pounds .HIGHS: Jeweler's detailing, superb road manners in all conditions.LOWS: Nothing another 50 horsepower wouldn't cure.VERDICT: Audi is back, and you better believe it.When tabulating the scores, it became apparent that the testers discounted the lack of outright performance in favor of the A6's excellent balance, superb fit and finish, and masterfully executed interior. Audi is back with a vengeance, as proved first by the excellent 10Best A4 sedan and now with its bigger brother in wagon form. 1st Place: Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon As it entered this three-car fray, the Volvo 850 appeared a bit overmatched. It was $6778 cheaper than the BMW Touring and considerably less sophisticated than the glittering four-wheel-drive Audi A6. It also lacks the vault-like rigidity of its German competitors. But it packs the most power , the longest list of features and amenities, and the biggest box for carrying stuff. Would that be enough to drive the boxy Swede past its imperious rivals? In a word, yes. The more we lashed across Michigan's wintery highways, the more we began to reexamine our original prejudices. We shucked the imagery of all Volvo 850s being driven by Joan Claybrook clones and began reconsidering them as perhaps the sneakiest sports wagons of all. For openers, this is one quick automobile. Sixty mph arrived in 7.2 seconds, and the quarter-mile unrolled in 15.5 seconds at 90 mph. The 850 Turbo's 144-mph top speed was limited only by aerodynamic drag. A punch of the throttle is like a swig of aquavit in a Swedish snowbank. 'Some real legs on this puppy,' scrawled John Phillips in the logbook following a rousing blast through the countryside. Thanks to traction control and a front-drive layout, the 850 towed us through the tight stuff with minimal fuss and showed only modest torque steer. The steering is light and precise, and Volvo's four-speed automatic is quick-willed on downshifts and as smooth as Swedish silk.The Volvo also scored high points aft of the firewall. Its rear seat is the roomiest and most comfortable of the group, and the cubist cargo hold easily swallows the most stuff and provides a handy net to restrain unruly pets and packages. One mystery: Why the lack of a retractable cargo cover for the rear compartment? Volvo's win was not unanimous. One tester ranked it last , grumping about the Volvo's steering-wheel shake, its too-busy instrument panel, and its square styling with elephant-ear taillight seemingly inspired by GM's odd APV minivans. But others prevailed, naming the 850 the victor—albeit by one tiny point. HIGHS: Whoopee-cushion performance, capacious and functional interior.LOWS: Body shake, dated instrument panel, FedEx package styling.ARCHIVE: A high-powered sports wagon cocked and loaded for action.Uncle Dudley won't lose his reputation for eccentricity if he changes over to tailgate-picnicking in this winning wagon, but he's sure to get to every game on time.
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