Which Estate car - 400bhp+ with a twist

[Mezger]

I live overseas, visit every year for approx 4 weeks and spend 1.5-2k plus on car hire each time.

My Brother who lives in London is looking for an Estate Car - we are toying with the idea of combining forces, basically I'm happy to pay up to 75% of the budget for the car, as long as I can use it for the month in the summer when I'm back, wife and kids usually stay longer. So he would have it 90% of the time, then when we are back we'd just hire a cheap hatchback for him - he lives in Central London so only drives for leisure.
We are thinking this way he gets to drive something a bit more interesting and I get something a little better than the average hire car each year.

Budget 25k max
400BHP+ preferred
Estate Car (needs to fit his bike and my 2 kids under 4 - not simultaneously)

Cars we are looking at; RS4, C63 - seems these are within budget.

Cars we have discounted; E63 epic engine, RS6 (love them) but they are both too large (will sit at his place in London (off-street parking).
Golf R estate - not that exciting to look at (he would buy a Golf R anyway if it's just him, whole point is combining to get something interesting).

Any wisdom from the PH masses, or left-field suggestions we haven't thought of?

[Belle427]

Hard to see past an RS4 to be honest but these are interesting cars.
Just under your 400bhp requirement though.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2016-Volvo-V60-3-0-T6-P...

[rooflesstyrant]

Must it be an estate? A bike will fit in to a saloon car with folding seats. Obviously it would fit in a hatchback too.

[DoubleD]

rooflesstyrant said:

Must it be an estate? A bike will fit in to a saloon car with folding seats. Obviously it would fit in a hatchback too.

It will be far easier to get a bike in an estate

[Lazydriver23]

If you can find a low mileage well looked after example, one of these could be an option as you will struggle to see another one on the roads

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Deerfoot]

I’d be looking at a 340i Touring, slightly down on your 400+bhp requirement but your budget will get you a nice example.

[exelero]

CLA 45 estate ?

[DoubleD]

Deerfoot said:

I’d be looking at a 340i Touring, slightly down on your 400+bhp requirement but your budget will get you a nice example.

And a remap

[Pvapour]

XFR or XFS estate?

The latter (diesel) is circa 320hp chipped

The advantage over any of the others is an interior you won’t loose the will to live in

Balance between ride comfort and handling is far better than any of the German rivals, even on 19s (personally don’t like post 2016)

[Mezger]

DoubleD said:

rooflesstyrant said:

Must it be an estate? A bike will fit in to a saloon car with folding seats. Obviously it would fit in a hatchback too.

It will be far easier to get a bike in an estate

This.
Estate preferred, I have 2 small kids and all that entails when we come back so an estate is much easier.

[Welshbeef]

I’ve the S205 C63 quoted 477bhp but actually pushing out far far far more. So many Dynos are showing that the Quoted power is actually the wheel power meaning these are 530bhp ish at the crank.

They did the same with the E55 K to prevent it overshadowing the SL55K. But this time it’s to not overshadow the E63.

[Mezger]

Welshbeef said:

I’ve the S205 C63 quoted 477bhp but actually pushing out far far far more. So many Dynos are showing that the Quoted power is actually the wheel power meaning these are 530bhp ish at the crank.

They did the same with the E55 K to prevent it overshadowing the SL55K. But this time it’s to not overshadow the E63.

How do you like it?

For us it seems to be coming down to either a C63 4.0, C63 6.2 or a 2014/15 RS4... In my head based purely on reading reviews etc, I have a perception the C63 is the more "fun" drivers car.

[Kawasicki]

This may appear to be an odd question, but I’ll ask it anyway!

When the rear axle of your car loses grip, do you think;

A) yay!
B) ohhh...

If you answered A get something RWD, if B then buy an AWD estate.

[Mezger]

Kawasicki said:

This may appear to be an odd question, but I’ll ask it anyway!

When the rear axle of your car loses grip, do you think;

A) yay!
B) ohhh...

If you answered A get something RWD, if B then buy an AWD estate.

Great question, A. every time for me. My brother is probably more of a B.

[ZX10R NIN]

Then tell your brother to leave the traction on & he'll be fine with the 63, with your budget you won't get a BiTurbo also for me although it's the better overall car it's not the better 63.

The N/A is better at feeling like more of an event at low speed, also the throttle response is better the BiTurbo has a searing top end, also remember the 6.2 in the C63 was strangled by the mapping so it didn't have the same output as the E63, so a map along with an X pipe will see 510-520bhp at the crank.

A diff really makes a difference to how these drive so look to add one after you've found a nice one.

C63

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Mezger]

ZX10R NIN said:

Then tell your brother to leave the traction on & he'll be fine with the 63, with your budget you won't get a BiTurbo also for me although it's the better overall car it's not the better 63.

The N/A is better at feeling like more of an event at low speed, also the throttle response is better the BiTurbo has a searing top end, also remember the 6.2 in the C63 was strangled by the mapping so it didn't have the same output as the E63, so a map along with an X pipe will see 510-520bhp at the crank.

A diff really makes a difference to how these drive so look to add one after you've found a nice one.

C63

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thank you, some great tips, really keen on the C63, now to enjoy the hunt for a decent example.