2013 Audi Allroad leads the wagon train: Motoramic TV

America has a fraught relationship with the station wagon. Even though millions of people drive crossovers — jacked-up wagons that blusteringly declare SUV off-road credibility — the true unabashed car-based wagon remains a curiosity. So it’s ultimately unsurprising that for 2013 Audi recast the A4 Avant wagon as the 2013 Audi Allroad, a vehicle that aims to deliver sports-sedan driving dynamics along with enough adventure-lifestyle attitude to keep the dreaded wagon stigma at bay.

I’m conflicted about the Allroad, because on one hand I see a craven manipulation of (or capitulation to) America’s insecurities—“I need my car to reflect the fact that I might, at any moment, decide to take up kayaking.” But on the other, it does look cool, doesn’t it? Fender flares and skid plates on a wagon make as much sense as strapping crampons to your Sperry Topsiders, and yet the butched-up Allroad has a presence distinct from that of the underlying A4 Avant. My car-guy intellect tells me that I should prefer the naked honesty of the old A4 Avant, but my lizard brain likes the Allroad’s fender flares and extra inch and a half of ground clearance.