Wagon Roundup 2012

The TSX Sport Wagon is a recent addition to Acura's best-selling line of midsize near-luxury cars. It offers more space than its top German rivals, if not quite the zing and style. Cargo volume is a class-leading 25.8 cubic feet with the rear seats in place and 60.5 cubic feet with the seats folded down. Performance is decent, with a smooth and flexible 2.4-liter 201-horsepower 4-cylinder engine that is rated at 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway. Things would be unquestionably livelier with the stout 3.5-liter 280-horsepower V6 available in the TSX sedan, though. The Sport Wagon is well-priced and reliable, and it carries a longer powertrain warranty than its European competitors: 6 years/70,000 miles.

Watch Video:  2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon

The sleek A4 Avant gets high marks for style, with interior design and execution that are second to none. It provides a reasonable 17.3 cubic feet of cargo space with its rear seats up and 50 cubic feet when down. Power is by Audi's superb, lively, turbocharged 2.0-liter 211-horsepower inline-4 engine, which should get the Avant to 60 mph in only 6.5 seconds, and yet it returns fuel-economy ratings of 21 mpg city/29 mpg highway. The new 8-speed automatic transmission is coupled to a quattro all-wheel-drive system slightly biased toward the rear wheels for better balance on the slippery stuff. It is a wagon of choice for skiers with a hedonistic bent.

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The 3-Series is the standard by which compact luxury sport sedans are measured in terms of handling, and its Sports Wagon variant is true to this reputation. Unlike its cousins, though, the Sports Wagon is available only in 328i guise, and is powered by a 3.0-liter 230-horsepower version of BMW's remarkably flexible and smooth inline-6 engine. You do get the choice of a 6-speed automatic or a manual gearbox, coupled to rear-wheel drive or the efficient xDrive all-wheel-drive system, which delivers 18 mpg city/27 mpg highway. Cargo volume is surprisingly good for the class at 60 cubic feet, and you are most likely to get to your destination with a smile or a silly grin.

Compare: BMW 3-Series Sports Wagon vs. Audi A4 Avant vs. Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon

The CTS is an American wagon like you have never seen. Its rakish and sharply creased shape might look as if it would compromise interior room, but it gives up surprisingly little cargo space. You get 25 cubic feet with the seats in place and 53.4 cubic feet when they're folded down. The CTS Sport Wagon boasts a broad range of powerplants, with the choice of 3.0-liter 270-horsepower or 3.6-liter 318-horsepower V6 engines, available with rear- or all-wheel drive. And then there is the wild CTS-V, which is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter 556-horsepower V8, with either an automatic or a manual 6-speed gearbox, and which makes glorious noise while whisking its occupants to 60 mph in less than five seconds.

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The Elantra Touring wagon is just as discreet and unassuming as it is spacious and affordable. Built on an earlier version of the award-winning Elantra sedan's architecture, it is powered by a simple 2.0-liter 138-horsepower 4-cylinder engine and combined with 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic gearboxes that are now rather antiquated. Fuel economy is middling, at 23 mpg city/31 mpg highway. But the Elantra Touring is all about pure value and practicality, with a 24.3-cubic-foot cargo bay that swells to 65.3 cubic feet when you flip down the rear seatbacks. With a starting price of $15,995, it simply has no rival as pure wagons go. The 5-year/60,000-mile base warranty only sweetens the deal.

Bing: Hyundai Accessories

Mercedes-Benz is the sole provider of midsize luxury wagons among German automakers. And quite a duet it has. The E350 4Matic Wagon has a 3.5-liter 302-horsepower V6 engine with a 7-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive. And borderline outrageous is the new E63 AMG wagon, equipped with a twin-turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 that channels 518 horsepower to the rear wheels through a multidisc-clutch automatic transmission, also a 7-speed. While the E350 is geared for luxury, with rear air shocks to automatically keep it level, the E63 can vault from zero to 60 mph in a claimed 4.3 seconds with a fabulous V8 growl. Both share a plethora of luxury features and a maximum of 57.4 cubic feet of cargo space.

See: New Wagons With More Than 250 Horsepower

he Outback is a paragon of proficiency and versatility, but it remains a wagon at heart in spite of the current generation's bolder, bulgier looks. It rides and handles like a proper car, even though its abundant 8.7 inches of ground clearance help it traverse rough and uneven terrain with ease. The cabin is comfortable and roomy, with a cargo capacity that goes from 34.3 to 71.3 cubic feet with folded seatbacks. You can pick between the surprising 22 mpg city/29 mpg highway fuel-efficiency ratings of the 2.5-liter 170-horsepower boxer-type 4-cylinder engine twinned with the optional continuously variable transmission, or the heftier 3.6-liter 256-horsepower 6-cylinder version that 18/25 mpg. One of the very best overall buys on the market.

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Spurred on by the success of its hybrid-powered Prius, Toyota is launching variants in different sizes and guises. First out is the Prius V wagon, larger in every respect than the Prius sedan, but most notably it is 6.1 inches longer on a wheelbase stretched 3.1 inches. These gains greatly benefit cargo volume, up from 21.6 to 40.2 cubic feet with the seats up and a whopping 67.3 cubic feet when folded, up from 39.6 cubic feet. The Prius V is powered by the same gas-electric hybrid powertrain, delivering 134 horsepower from its 1.8-liter thermal engine and an electric motor that churns out 153 lb-ft of instant torque. Fuel economy is 44 mpg city/40 mpg highway, the best of any wagon. The Prius V is eminently frugal and practical. Exciting? Not so much.

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With the footprint of a compact sedan and the cargo volume of a midsize SUV — 66.9 cubic feet with the rear seats folded — the Jetta Sportwagen is already unique. Smooth body lines, straightforward controls, tight handling and prime reliability ratings make it a standout. And with the 30 mpg city/42 mpg highway ratings of the TDI trim's direct-injection turbodiesel 2.0-liter engine with 6-speed manual gearbox, it quite simply is exceptional. The sharp-shifting, optional 6-speed dual-automated-clutch gearbox is for urban dwellers and makes the TDI almost as stingy, at 29/39. The more affordable base trim's 2.5-liter 170-horsepower 5-cylinder engine is no slouch either, with ratings of 23/33 mpg when coupled to a 5-speed manual. Fun and pragmatic Euro wagons we truly dig.

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The classy XC70 might be the oldest model in Volvo's lineup, but it arguably is still the best from this Swedish master of the wagon. The XC70's shape has grown progressively smoother over the years, its cabin becoming ever more sumptuous with continuously updated ergonomics and technology. Cargo volume goes from 33.3 cubic feet to a cavernous 72.1 cubic feet with the rear seatbacks folded. Standard power is from a transverse-mounted, 3.2-liter 240-horsepower inline-6 engine, and the T6 trim increases that to 300 horsepower with a turbocharger. Both are coupled to 6-speed automatic gearboxes.

Compare: Volvo XC70 vs. Cadillac SRX vs. Infiniti EX

For more information on any vehicle in this slideshow, click the links below:

- Acura TSX Sport Wagon
- Audi A4 Avant
- BMW 328i Sports Wagon
- Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon
- Hyundai Elantra Touring
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon
- Subaru Outback
- Toyota Prius V
- Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen
- Volvo XC70

Compare: All 10 cars

A professional auto journalist for more than 25 years and the founding editor of Sympatico / MSN Autos, Marc Lachapelle is a two-time winner of the Canadian Journalist of the Year award from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada, an accomplished photographer and licensed racer.

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