Mercedes-AMG E53 Estate
HELLO
£67,515 OTR/£68,200 as tested/£1,065pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Does a semi-lairy hybrid AMG wagon make sense?
DRIVERS
Jason Barlow
AFTER YEARS OF COVETING A STEALTH ESTATE Q-CAR, A CAR THAT slips under the radar like an F-117 Nighthawk, here it is. The MercedesAMG E53 is the sort of thing that always appealed to me when I was young and stupid. Now I’m, erm, older, and have acquired the teenage children, the dog and the regrets. You need an estate to put all that stuff into.
The E-Class has also changed over the years, and TG’s newly arrived E53 points the way forward for a more restrained sort of AMG. This is a mild hybrid whose 48V ‘EQ boost’ hardware is good for 21bhp, mostly used to give the 3.0-litre six-cylinder twin turbo an extra low-end kick. Recipient of a recent mid-life facelift, the E53’s petrol-electric powertrain remains as before: peak power is 429bhp with torque topping out at 384lb ft, although the hybrid drive bit can apparently add 184lb ft.
Not that it actually happens in reality. Nope, this is supposed to be a more efficient and comfortable long-distance cruiser. Early impressions are of a car whose potential remains mostly under house arrest. As with most fast cars circa 2021, the default set-up is about efficiency: 29.7mpg claimed, and 216g/ km of CO2 is impressive indeed for a car of this performance potential. The nine-speed auto box slips through its ratios with almost sheepish haste, and everything has a surprising lightness of touch for the artist formerly known as AMG. I’ll dig around for more because I know it’s there.
This rolling experimentation extends to the interior, too. The central 12.3in multimedia display can be accessed via a centre console touchpad or as a touchscreen. This might be because the touchpad is touchier than a Tory cabinet minister who’s just been caught in flagrante delicto. Indeed, this whole area is where I do feel my age: like all new Mercs, the E53 is connected up the wazoo, promises voice activation that actually works, and has a bunch of apps. I don’t know what any of them do but I intend to find out.