REAL ESTATES

Prefer a sleek estate to a jacked-up SUV but can't stretch to an M3 Touring? We compare three options: M340i xDrive Touring, Volkswagen Arteon R and Peugeot 508 PSE SW

- JOHN BARKER

THE RISE AND RISE OF THE COMPACT SUV is baffling. Every other car seems to be one, so it's gratifying to learn that Europe is, in fact, still the biggest market for estate cars. It suggests that there are still many of us who recognise that a long, low-estate car is not only more stylish and practical but also intrinsically more dynamic than a potato on wheels; the compact SUV is essentially a jacked-up saloon higher centre of gravity and all the dynamic with a commensurately compromises that brings.

There's also something about a sporty estate that makes it cooler than the saloon it's based on, so much so that you'd be tempted to go for the five-door even if you didn't have dogs or bikes or kids' paraphernalia to haul about. We're huge fans of the current BMW M3 Competition but its desirability went through the roof when it was revealed in Touring form last summer, and it didn't disappoint when we drove it (evo 307), earning the full five stars.

The M3 Touring is arguably the ultimate sporty estate, but we can't all afford £80k or more and while most us might want 503bhp we don't need it. Question is, would the lesser M340i Touring do the job? Like the M3, it has a sonorous 3-litre, single-turbo straight-six and comes with four-wheel drive as standard, which seems sensible given that it's not short of grunt: a generous 369bhp and 369lb ft of torque. It's also more affordable too, of course, at just over of £60k before options.