_64_thb.jpg "Best Road Trip Cars - Convertible")
Best Road Trip Cars - Station Wagon
Station wagons are probably the quintessential road trip cars, but these passenger- and cargo-friendly vehicles have come a long way in terms of luxury and comfort since their popularity peaked back in the 1970s. Out of all the station wagons currently available, the all-new 2013 Audi allroad quattro is our pick for the best road trip car of 2012 thanks to its big interior, crossover-like stance and its standard all-wheel drive. Starting at $39,600, the 2013 Audi allroad is essentially the station wagon version of the Audi A6, and it is a good road trip car due to its spacious five-passenger seating and a generous rear cargo capacity of 27.6 cubic feet with the rear seats in place. Powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four producing 211 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, the Audi allroad gets a respectable 27 mpg on the highway. Combined with its 16.9-gallon gas tank, the Audi allroad quattro has an expected driving range of 456 miles on a single tank, and running on premium gasoline, this all-wheel drive station wagon would cost about $66.67 on a 500-mile trip. While the station wagon market has declined over the last two decades, there has been a resurgence of new wagons to hit the market like the Acura TSX Sport Wagon or the BMW 3 Series Sports Wagon, but there are even a handful of high-performance station wagons on the market like the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon and the Mercedes-Benz E563 AMG Wagon.