Not your grandmother’s wagon. The 2019 Mercedes AMG C43 Wagon is the sports car for the modern family.

If you haven’t noticed, wagons are in again. And the Mercedes C43 is exactly the kind of wagon we always dreamed of: quick and fun to drive but not too big or too expensive. We loaded it up with a kid and dog in the back, outdoor gear in the trunk, and set off on a camping adventure in Beautiful BC. What we found was a  C-class that is light on its feet and super sleek on the eyes.

The Ride
Featuring an AMG twin-turbo 3.0-liter V6 under the hood, the C43 4Matic wagon is nearly identical to the refreshed C43 sedan and weighs 276 pounds less than its SUV sister, which means it gets to 60 mph with less effort. Indeed, a pair of turbochargers helps the engine produce 23 more horsepower than the 2018 model. The result? A total of 385 horses along with 384 lb-ft of torque.

AMG Ride Control sport suspension, 18-inch alloy wheels with 225/45 tires in the front and 245/40 in the rear are standard. Sleek and low slung, quick and comfortable, the C43 is a fun drive, particularly as you ride the twin-turbo V6’s fat torque curve.

In the back, the wagon offers 16.2 cubic feet with the seats up or 52.2 with the seats down. That means it’ll take you not just on awesome camping and other outdoor adventures but on plenty of around-town trips to. We took full advantage and made a little trip to Ikea in Richmond to pick up some much-needed furniture for the kids’ rooms.

Need for Speed
Mercedes reports that the C43 is only three tenths of a second slower to highway speed (62 mph or 100 km/h) compared to a 429-hp E53 Wagon. How does it stack up against the C43 sedan? An irrelevant one tenth of a second slower.

Cons
Nitpicks like us found the transmission a little clunky in low-speed while driving around town. However, we did enjoy cruising down the highway on Sport+ mode.