Best fast estate cars 2025 – performance cars with space and pace
For do-it-all transport, nothing nails the brief like a fast estate. These are the very best, from familiar names to hardcore specials
The appeal of a fast estate doesn’t need a great deal of explanation. In the same way a hot hatchback is fairly easy to understand, the high-performance wagon combines speed and fun with practicality, often to an even greater degree. Add to this a certain level of discretion depending on the model, and often crushing all-weather capability, and they’re pretty much the ultimate do-all performance car solution.
The popularity of performance crossovers and SUVs is undeniable, but for the discerning buyer they can’t compare to a fast estate. An estate’s lower centre of gravity benefits handling (and often ride quality, given taller vehicles often use firmer set-ups to maintain their dynamics), while the lower profile, smaller frontal area and lower weight benefit both performance and efficiency.
Read on to find out which fast estates are the best of the current crop.
Best estate cars 2025
- BMW M3 Competition Touring xDrive
- Alpina B3 Touring
- Audi RS6 GT
- Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S Shooting Brake
- Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo
- BMW M5 Touring
- Skoda Octavia VRS estate
- Audi RS4 Edition 25 years
- BMW M340i xDrive Touring
BMW M3 Touring
There’s no point beating around the bush, BMW has totally nailed the new M3 Touring. Only available in Competition form with xDrive, the new M3 Touring drives with all the engagement and capability of the saloon on which it’s based, which is no small feat. The team at BMW M specifically developed new stiffening structures based on those found on the M4 Cabriolet to compensate for the lack of the coupe and saloon’s rear bulkhead.
There is a negligible rise in weight, and so incredibly competent is the M3’s inherent chassis and powertrain you really don’t notice the extra mass. It drives with all the enthusiasm and alacrity of the already brilliant saloon, motivated by BMW’s S58 turbocharged engine that feels punchier than its 503bhp figure suggests.
The Touring’s xDrive system is also another defining factor, as few all-wheel-drive systems are more deftly calibrated. The M3 seems to magic traction from nowhere without compromising its balance, and the various stages of its engagement from 4WD, 4WD Sport and 2WD make it possible to set it up exactly how you want it. In truth, the only downside to the M3 Touring is that it’s not a cheap car, starting at just under £88,000. Have some fun with the options list and that can rapidly enter six figure territory.
Alpina B3 Touring
BMW’s M3 Touring may have stolen the show as of late, but Alpina has had the fast BMW estate thing down for years, and it’s never been better than the latest B3. Unlike many of its predecessors, the B3 Touring features a full-M engine, borrowing its S58 unit from the M3, albeit re-engineered to suit its slightly different demeanour.
So what we’re left with is a 3-series with some serious pace and capability, but also the trademark Alpina suppleness and daily usability that make the new B3 just about the ultimate daily driver.
Unfortunately, as time has passed by, so has Alpina’s subtlety, meaning this latest B3 has picked up the more aggressive body styling of BMW’s M Sport models to facilitate the extra cooling required to keep its engine cool. So while it will still be more understated than the M3 Touring, this B3 is still far from subtle.
Audi RS6 GT
Think of a fast estate and the first to come to mind will likely be some form of RS Audi, in all likelihood the RS6. So what happens when you take the quintessential fast estate and dial in more focus, more aggression and cover it in an IMSA-inspired livery? You get the RS6 GT.
Costing £177,115, you couldn’t rationalise the GT as a sensible family runaround, but you can make a case for it as one of the most endearing Audi RS products yet produced. Upgrades over the RS6 Performance include a retuned rear diff, passive coilover suspension, three-way adjustable dampers and stiffer anti-roll bars.
These combine to give the GT a fantastic level of agility and newfound precision. The way it controls its mass and dives into, through and out of corners at immense speed is simply staggering. And between the corners the 621bhp twin-turbo V8 is mighty, with a heavy slug of boost that builds to a keen top end. The GT is quite simply the best RS6 yet, and by default, one of the most desirable hot estates on sale. With only 60 destined for the UK you’re unlikely to get your hands on one, but the £117,420 RS6 Performance is still an excellent machine even if it lacks the ultimate exuberance of the GT.
Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S Shooting Brake
The Mercedes-AMG CLA45 S was immediately impressive when it arrived alongside the A45 S hatchback back in 2019, so how good would a sleek shooting brake version really be? The answer is very, as the small all-wheel-drive estate punches above its weight just as convincingly as its two siblings.
While we know its 415bhp turbocharged four-cylinder is as rabid and aggressive as four-pot engines get, the CLA’s real surprise is the chassis, which is actually superbly judged for the road – supple and forgiving on broken UK roads without giving anything away in composure.
What’s more, its longer body also accentuates the torque vectoring rear differential, making it even more tail happy in drift mode than its siblings. While it still might feel a tad synthetic compared to the thrills usually experienced in a rear-drive AMG estate, if there was a modern-day Lancer Evolution wagon it’d probably feel something like this to drive, and that’s quite the commendation.
> Mercedes CLA45 S Shooting Brake review
Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo
An all-electric estate on this list? Surely not. But the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo really is an automotive Frankenstein of the best possible type. Sharing its J1 platform with the Taycan saloon and Audi e-tron GT, the Sport Turismo provides a distinctly Porsche feel in a versatile, zero-emissions package.
Following a comprehensive 2024 update, the Taycan can now go further and even faster than before, with added composure and comfort courtesy of Porsche’s clever Active Ride suspension tech. As of now, the 537bhp 4S feels like the sweet spot in the range, offering a sledgehammer hit of acceleration but remaining manageable and exploitable on the road.
With a kerb weight well beyond two tons the Taycan doesn't quite move like a traditional sports car, but its precision and poise are almost unmatched in the EV space. The interior is quite cramped despite the generous exterior dimensions, but that aside, the Sport Turismo is one of the most broadly talented estates on sale – electric or otherwise.
BMW M5 Touring
With the latest-generation M5, BMW has given us the first M5 Touring since the E61, but also a very different interpretation of its flagship fast four door. A twin-turbo V8 remains at its heart, but it's mated with a plug-in hybrid system for the first time, the combined effect of which is a thumping 717bhp. And an even more colossal 2.5-ton kerb weight…yikes.
Yet somehow, despite the complexity and the enormous mass contained within the G99 M5 Touring’s swollen wide-track bodywork, BMW M has managed to make it go, stop and steer like an M car. The precision and agility is impressive for a car of this size, and there's monumental shove from the electrified V8 when you ask for it. You can also drive up to 41 miles on silent electric power, making the G99 one of the most versatile M5’s yet.
The flip side is that the M5 seems to have lost some of the endearing qualities that mark out the very best of the breed, such as the outgoing M5 CS. It has a very wide footprint on the road and feels more clean cut, less instantly lovable than its predecessors. Having said that, we can think of few better cars to live with on a daily basis, good for tip runs on some days and hassling 911s on others.
Skoda Octavia vRS
Since the latest generation launched in 2020, the Octavia vRS has offered an unbeatable blend of space, performance and quality in its price bracket. A 2024 facelift has made it even better, with more power (261bhp), revised tech and sharp-suited but subtle styling.
Inside, Skoda's sensible side shines through with a brilliantly designed dash that is both clean and elegant (so much so as to have put a few VW boss's noses out of joint). The new model gets an upgraded 13-inch infotainment screen, along with a perforated leather steering wheel and sports seats to separate it from ordinary Octavias.
We’ve run several Octavia vRSs on our long-term Fast Fleet and they’re fantastic all-rounders. Unique suspension tuning and hot hatch levels of acceleration make them punch much harder than the sedate looks would have you believe, and there’s always a slight pang of disappointment when it’s time to hand the keys back. And at a smidgen over £40,000 the vRS estate looks like good value for money, too.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 years
The RS4 might lack some of the theatre of its direct rivals, but there’s still a lot to like about the current model – particularly in run-out Edition 25 years guise. Performance for one – 0-62mph in 3.7sec and 186mph is as quick as you’re likely to need to transport labradors, wardrobes or other estate car luggage clichés.
The RS4 also has a pleasing duality to its personality that allows it to serve both as an estate and as a performance car. It’s beautifully built and the engine smooth and quiet, making long-distance touring easy. And when ramped up to Dynamic mode it’s fast and exciting, but thanks to all-wheel drive, remains secure.
The Edition 25 takes things to a new level dynamically, with ultra-focused adjustable coilovers providing meaningful extra bite and poise. We just wish the engine had the aural drama to back this up and make the RS4 that bit more memorable – as of now, the M3 Touring still takes the cake.
> Audi RS4 Edition 25 years review
BMW M340i xDrive Touring
The M3 Touring is the benchmark fast estate and Alpina’s B3 Touring has already proved a compelling alternative, so where does BMW’s own M340i Touring sit? Somewhere beneath these two admittedly, but that’s no bad thing, and neither is the £25k saving that comes with the M-lite machine. Like many of the estates on this list, the M340i is one of the most capable and multi-talented cars on sale right now.
It’s fast, superbly built, well equipped, big enough for the family clobber, but without the egregious dimensions that larger executive estates have now established as the norm. The all-wheel-drive system also makes it weatherproof like few fast BMWs have ever been, yet not to the detriment of adjustability – it will still wag its tail if you try hard enough.
To top it off, BMW has also figured out how to make a petrol straight-six engine capable of sending a 1.8-ton estate to 62mph in under five seconds also return nearly 40mpg in normal driving. What’s not to like?
> BMW M340i xDrive Touring review
