Elite Traveler Summer 2020

Audi 2021 RS6 Avant As the tide of unending crossovers and SUVs continues to rise, Audi opted to make an altogether different kind of splash. Crossing the Atlantic for the first time in its quarter-century history, the RS6 Avant is a supercar cloaked in the body of a station wagon. Shared with both Porsche and Lamborghini, its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine produces 591 hp, which helps it complete the 0-60 mph sprint in an impressive 3.5 seconds. More akin to full-size, realized Hot Wheels — complete with Valcona leather — than Clark Griswold’s Country Squire, the RS6 Avant is all angular lines. From its honeycomb-style ‘squircular’ (when a square meets a circle) grille, over its bulging fenders that house purposefully enlarged wheelhouses, and around to its duo of egg-shaped exhaust pipes, Audi forwent subtlety for statement-making.

Embracing its Bavarian roots, the RS6 Avant features all-wheel drive and an eight-speed automatic transmission. Wheel-selective torque control grants drivers the ability to direct nearly all the 590 lb-ft of torque to one wheel, providing greater maneuverability at low speeds and engaged stability at higher ones. It’s traditionally a sports car flex, now achievable in a hatchback. Driver- focused technologies range from Dynamic Ride Control (an elective sport suspension) to progressive steering. Three-dimensional city maps proffer practicality while interior displays track tire pressure and g-forces, demonstrating how a vehicle typically dismissed because of its styling unites everyday functionality and performance. From $109,000, audi.com

Customer demand from a global fan base prompted Audi to homologate the high-performance wagon for America

Mercedes-Benz 2021 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 At no point were the words “that’s enough” (or likely " das ist genug" ) uttered in the presence of the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63. Surprising, one might say, considering the significant restraint typically found in German engineering. Instead, Mercedes-Benz bucked the steady rise of luxury crossovers that have signaled the demise of the grander, weightier, haul-it-all sport utility vehicles. The Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 makes a compelling argument with this magnificent 603 hp, third-row, seven-passenger SUV with 80 cu ft of storage space and a seemingly never-ending list of options. The more is more ethos means that not only does the vehicle boast nine USB ports, two heated and cooled front cupholders, 64 color interior ambient lighting options, pneumatic self-leveling (a constant vehicle level despite load weight), six drive programs and, of course, all-wheel drive, but it also introduces a battery-powered EQ boost atop its 4.0-liter V8 biturbo hand-assembled engine. In layman’s terms, that’s additional horsepower and lb-ft torque under hybrid power and everything, options-wise, but the kitchen sink. While it could easily fall victim to its own weight, the Mercedes- AMG GLS 63 handles with unexpected ease. Like a pair of freshly ironed trousers, heavily contoured powerdomes pleat the hood and elongate the roofline. Long, low bumpers complete with air inlets and a statement-making quad of exhaust pipes accentuate its width. Inside, the raw amount of uninterrupted space, underscored by the panoramic sunroof, alludes to a mobile greenhouse. Being a passenger might be as lovely as actually driving. From $132,000, mbusa.com

A series of preprogrammed, 10-minute sequences offer drivers a massage program complete with fragrance control, music options and light settings to “enhance health and wellness” and “reduce sleepiness and stress”

Photos AUDI AG, Daimler