I LIKE BIG BOOTS AND I CANNOT LIE

Super-estates were once all the rage and are now under threat. Are we missing out? Octane takes six of the best to the Peak District to find out

- John-Joe Vollans

Whoever decided that drivers should have either practicality or performance clearly lacked vision.

For much of its existence the estate car or stationwagon was just a practical workhorse. Aside from odd occasions when coachbuilding concerns would craft a tiny run of exotic long-roofs, the estate – at least in Europe – was almost never seen as exciting. A reputation it might not have shaken, were it not for the Germans...

Audi's reputation for fast estates is well-earned. Just as stablemate Volkswagen wrote the hot hatch blueprint with its original GTI, Audi took a parallel path with the RS2 Avant. It might not have been the first 'fast estate', as such – it wasn't even the first to emerge from Ingolstadt – but it was one of the first truly desirable ultrahigh-performance four-door wagons, aimed squarely at press-on motorists. Thanks to some Porsche magic in the mix, and the inherent allure of Audi's image, the RS2 turbocharged – quite literally – the performance estate niche proper from 1994. Soon no maker's range would be complete without an eye-wateringly rapid estate and the RS2 set in motion a genre that would reach its high-water mark post-millennium – just before the trend for massive engines and guilt-free performance headed for its last gasp.

Of course, the RS2 couldn't have had better ingredients. Audi had made an enviable name for itself off the back of its 1980s World Rally Champion image and in the turbocharged 200 quattro Avant we saw the creation of a related fast estate, even if it was more exec express than flame-spitting gravel monster. Realising it had missed a trick and hoping to create something better able to compete with BMW's M3, Audi went down the road to Porsche. Its timing couldn't have been better, with Porsche's order books far from full during the early-1990s recession.