It's Official, Lifted Wagons Are Their Own Segment

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
09/20/2016 at 18:29 • Filed to: Bodystyles

Wagons have been saved! Now all of you CUV apologists that say, “Well their basically lifted wagons,” are completely wrong so go sit on a duck! The Outback, Golf Alltrak, Audi Allroad, V90 & V60 Cross Country, and now the E-Class All Terrain make this as legitimate as 4-Door Coupes and Liftback SUVs. You what all these bodystyles really prove? People don’t want trunks, they want liftgates. If you find a new car with a trunk, kiss it and tell it you’ll never let it go because they aren’t long for this world...

DISCUSSION (52)

Honeybunchesofgoats > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:32

I don’t get wagon people. Without a trunk, where do they put their children and pets?

Wobbles the Mind > Honeybunchesofgoats
09/20/2016 at 18:35

That’s what the roof rails are for since people won’t let you leave your kids and animals INSIDE the car anymore. Pssh!!

PS9 > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:36

Nah. Lifted or not, they still don’t sell. The few that are still here only continue because the industry and the tiny island of enthusiasts who like them want them more than the general population of car buyers ever will.

Wagons will never completely die. But no amount of lift will allow a wagon to bring in the numbers that a potato-blob-profile crossover will

InFierority Complex > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:36

their they’re. Witch makes your argument invalid weather you like it or not.

HammerheadFistpunch > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:36

Golf alltrack - wagon

Audi Allroad - Wagon

V90/V60 Cross country - Wagon

E-Class All terrain - Wagon

Outback - The unholy offspring of a wagon and a Tribeca.

CB > Honeybunchesofgoats
09/20/2016 at 18:36

On the roof. What do you think the racks are for?

Garrett Davis > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:36

“If find a new car with a trunk, kiss it and tell it you’ll never let it go because they aren’t long for this world...”

Kinja'd!!!

In my opinion, a hatchback or wagon in the same or similar footprint of a sedan is just the better alternative in just about every measurable aspect, as well as my own personal tastes.

A sedan is a compromise, and in my opinion, is not a worthwhile one.

Signed,

A fool who just bought two European wagons over the past weekend.

Autofixation > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 18:39

I’m a Subaru fanboy, but I totally agree, the Outback is a bastard with no segment. I wish they would get back to more sensible wagons and bring over the Levorg.

Kanaric > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:40

The funniest one is a GLA45, like a hatchback lifted into a CUV? The AMG version is stuff as fuck despite being lifted. It’s a bizarre car to drive.

HammerheadFistpunch > Autofixation
09/20/2016 at 18:40

My wife and I checked out the new outbacks as possible replacements for her sportwagen and we were pretty turned off by them. Yes, they are nice inside but that are enormous, ugly and...if we’re honest...not really wagons at all anymore. They used to be, but they really aren’t anymore.

OPPOsaurus WRX > PS9
09/20/2016 at 18:41

Blah blah blah

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Honeybunchesofgoats
09/20/2016 at 18:41

and the dead hookers!

Honeybunchesofgoats > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:42

While I accept that this is a passable workaround, that's only an issue for wagons where people can see into the back.

OPPOsaurus WRX > InFierority Complex
09/20/2016 at 18:42

I’ll whether this one out

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
09/20/2016 at 18:42

Hell yea brotha

HammerheadFistpunch > PS9
09/20/2016 at 18:44

you say that, as crossovers get lower and more street oriented everyday. I mean the Macan...thats just a Golf R alltrack on steroids.

HammerheadFistpunch > Garrett Davis
09/20/2016 at 18:45

I’vecometothe same conclusion, and so has my wife. Honestly...whats the appeal of a trunk? What are you carrying in your trunk that’s so loud or smelly that it doesn’t go in a wagon just fine...and if it is one of those thing, why are you even putting it IN anything?

PS9 > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 18:46

Kinja'd!!!

Man, even a Porsche badge can’t make that giant potato blob profile look sporty and fun. It may very well be those things, but you wouldn’t know by looking at it.

HammerheadFistpunch > PS9
09/20/2016 at 18:47

When you see it in person, its very low...as it its really just a tall 5 door golf...in which case the proportions kinda work for it.

PS9 > OPPOsaurus WRX
09/20/2016 at 18:49

I don’t like it anymore than you do.

Textured Soy Protein > PS9
09/20/2016 at 18:49

Subaru sells plenty of Outbacks.

I just hate that all the European companies think they can only sell wagons in the US if they’re the Outbacktified versions. Give us the regular ones!

Honeybunchesofgoats > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
09/20/2016 at 18:53

Word. Try putting those on a roof rack.

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 18:58

But strapping them to the roof severely impacts your Cd causing increased fuel economy. Stuffing them in the truck allows me to partition them off in a different part of the car without impacting fuel economy.

PS9 > Textured Soy Protein
09/20/2016 at 19:04

Kinja'd!!!

The outback’s success is hardly surprising. Have you seen the newest ones lately? It’s all but abandoned it’s roots of being a car with more utility. Now, it’s basically a slightly smaller Tahoe. A wagon it ain’t no more. Comparing generations, it’s easy to see where it broke away from just being a longer car along it’s transition to current SUVhood.

They don’t just ‘think’ wagons sell poorly here. Years and years of poor sales from the wagons have confirmed that reality for them. Wagons were already out of favor back when large SUVs and 1.50/gal gas was all the rage, and the crossovers didn’t help at all. When they showed up, the wagons were the first to die, and the sedans might be next.

Tekamul > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 19:10

“If you find a new car with a trunk, kiss it and tell it you’ll never let it go because they aren’t long for this world”

So, like, the Mustang, Camaro, Challenger, FR-S/BRZ, Miata, GT-R, 4 series, A5/S5, Any convertible, etc

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 19:12

The Outback is still just a lifted legacy wagon. The issue is that the legacy has tripled in size.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
09/20/2016 at 19:14

No, the trouble is that there is no legacy wagon

Wobbles the Mind > Tekamul
09/20/2016 at 19:18

Gone, they’ll be shooting brakes and convertible tops will be pulled off by drones controlled by Onstar/Bluelink/etc.

Wobbles the Mind > InFierority Complex
09/20/2016 at 19:20

*you’re

You’ll have to explain that one to me, I’m not understanding.

Tekamul > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 19:22

Seems reasonable.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 19:22

Are we getting it here? Because I want one even if it can go on most terrains.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 19:24

Not in the US, but outside the US there is.

Kinja'd!!!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > PS9
09/20/2016 at 19:32

its comically small like the size of a crosstrek

DynamicWeight > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 19:37

I haven’t had a trunk in years. I went from hatch to hatch and now have a truck with a shell. You know what finally clicked now that I have a truck with a shell that can swallow huge amounts of large items?

I HAVE NO SPACE FOR SMALL ITEMS

...except the back seat, which I don’t want to get dirty. I am mentally designing a box which I will build and put in the bed so that I can put smaller things in it without them flying all over the place.

chaozbandit > InFierority Complex
09/20/2016 at 19:38

knot*

HammerheadFistpunch > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
09/20/2016 at 19:50

See, that’s the problem. I would consider that

Wobbles the Mind > sm70- why not Duesenberg?
09/20/2016 at 19:52

I’m assuming no unless Mercedes is the #1 selling luxury brand in the US and sedan sales continue to decline, then I’ll guess yes just because they’ll load us up with every bodystyle they can find in order to keep the title.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 19:52

Tangentially related, I just saw a brand new blue C180d manual wagon in Amaterdam and it was a thing of complete beauty.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 19:54

I guess I’ll just have to stick with the XC70/allroad

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 20:20

I would too if they weren’t boats. My mom has a 2010 Legacy 3.6r and the thing is massive.

DaftRyosuke - So Long and Thanks for All the Fish! > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 20:21

Not a fan of the new E-Class, so I’d probably take even an Outback Limited over this, but hey, glad to see them on the rise.

Textured Soy Protein > PS9
09/20/2016 at 20:38

Underneath the cladding and raised suspension, the Outback is still very much a Legacy wagon, which is still sold outside the US. It’s just the Legacy has gotten bigger so when it’s butched up into an Outback, it looks closer to an SUV. Oh, and it gets a frankly ridiculous roof rack to add to the impression.

PS9 > Textured Soy Protein
09/20/2016 at 20:57

It more than just ‘looks closer’. It looks like an SUV because it shares the interior and exterior dimensions of other SUVs on the market. It’s not merely ‘adjacent’ to that; it is that. It might have started it’s life in development as a car, and it may even have car-segment parts in it, but the end result is still an SUV, not a wagon.

Autofixation > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 21:13

My favorite cars now have their own segment!

404 - User No Longer Available > Wobbles the Mind
09/20/2016 at 21:14

I wanted a liftgate too. Just that BMW won’t give me one I want. If they didn’t discontinue the damn manual I would be leasing a 4-series Gran Coupe, not buying a used 3-series.

Kinja'd!!!

Now, the Escala is my last hope. Listen, Cadillac, scale the Escala down to the ATS size and put a manual transmission, I’ll trade my 3-series in for it.

Kinja'd!!!

Autofixation > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 21:15

I actually went and test drove and checked out a 2011 Outback for my dad’s friend. He ended up buying it, and my aunt has a 2015 outback. There is a market for them. But really Subaru, you can’t offer an actual sensible wagon? Create another model!

I plan on having a 2008 or 2009 Outback as my next vehicle. Back when Subaru made beautiful, practical cars, not mutated AWD Toyota knockoffs.

Autofixation > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 21:26

Nissan Pathfinder...

Autofixation > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 21:29

My girlfriend and I have the same philosophy, trunks are a waste of space. We will both drive hatches/wagons for the rest of our lives.

functionoverfashion > HammerheadFistpunch
09/20/2016 at 21:36

I was in my wife’s X3 the other day, and an Outback pulled in next to us in the parking lot. I swear the door/window line was higher, as was the roof line. And it’s longer. But from far away it looks like a... wagon? I guess? WTF.

Textured Soy Protein > PS9
09/20/2016 at 23:21

It’s not that it has car parts, it’s that it quite literally is a Legacy wagon, down to the body shell, with added body cladding and ride height.

Take an Outback and Murano. They’re both about 66 inches tall. The Murano gets there with no real roof rack, and 6.9 inches of ground clearance.

Kinja'd!!!

Whereas the Outback has a bigass roof rack and 8.7 inches of ground clearance.

Kinja'd!!!

Between the couple extra inches of ground clearance and the good 3 inches or so of roof rack, that’s like 5 inches less height of the body shell itself. Many crossovers have less ground clearance than the Outback, but really what makes them crossovers instead of jacked up wagons, is a tall body shell.

The Outback is still a Legacy on stilts.

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > Wobbles the Mind
09/21/2016 at 08:13

“lifted”

Looks the same ride height to me, just added some black plastic over the wheels.

Wobbles the Mind > StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
09/21/2016 at 09:11

Standard air-suspension, so I guess “lift-able” would be more accurate.