Chris Harris Finds The BMW M3 Touring Way Better Than The Audi RS4

It is no secret that Chris Harris loves high-performance estates so when he was recently handed the keys to an M3 Touring he was giddy to drive a car that he was hoping would be built for the past 25 years.

Many car enthusiasts like Harris had always wished that BMW would produce an estate version of the M3 so when it decided to go ahead of make such a car a reality, the German car manufacturer had some very high expectations to live up to. The car seems to be just as good as we had all hoped.

Much like the sedan, the M3 Touring is powered by the brand’s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged straight-six, configured in Competition guise to pump out 503 hp. Harris says that it feels as though the car has more grunt than that, noting that it accelerates rapidly and that the torque in higher gears is especially impressive.

Watch: Is The BMW M3 Touring A Better Performance Wagon Than The Alpina B3 Touring?

Making the powertrain all the more impressive is the fact that the M3 Touring can be driven in rear- and all-wheel drive configurations. Harris spends most of his time on the track with the car in rear-wheel drive mode, allowing him to perform some sublime drifts. The eight-speed automatic transmission is also good, although the veteran reviewer notes that it can be a little hesitant to downshift.

Harris suggests that the most impressive part of the M3 Touring is the chassis. He says it represents a huge improvement over the F80-generation model and is significantly more comfortable on the road. It is so good to drive, in fact, that he says it is a long way beyond the current-generation Audi RS4 Avant.