The 2026 Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid Wagon Trades Speed for Fun

OK, but what about braking and handling?

Despite its weight, the new E 53 wagon makes considerable gains here as well. It takes just 107.4 feet to stop from 60 mph, which is about equal to the current sedan’s 107.2-foot result. That’s a significant improvement over the old sedan’s 112.3-foot stopping distance, and enough to beat the far pricier M5 Touring and RS 6 Avant, which took 111.8 feet and 111.2 feet, respectively.

That said, while the E 53 wagon excels in the braking test, the numbers only tell half the story. With each run, my foot sinks deep into the footwell as I have to apply a ton of pressure before the E 53 gives me the stopping power I’m after. On track, it’s easy to come into a bend slightly too fast because you haven’t stomped on the brakes hard enough. It’s common for supercars to have pedals that are firm with little movement, the same way that you’ll usually find a pedal with plenty of travel in a luxury car. The E 53 somehow borrows the worst of both worlds.

Out on our 200-foot skidpad, the E 53 wagon hides its extra mass well. My best run yields 0.94 g, slightly lower than the current sedan’s 0.97 g. Interestingly, the old E 53 sedan matched the new car’s 0.97 g, showing no gains or losses despite the new model’s added heft.

The biggest delta appears when you throw in the BMW M5 Touring and the Audi RS 6 Avant, which managed 0.99 g and 1.02 g, respectively. While these differences are slight, the way these cars behave at the limit of grip is not. Unlike the Audi and the BMW, the E 53 wagon tends to default to understeer where the front end loses grip, and it never seems to send enough power to its rear wheels to counter it, resulting in slight oversteer.

Of course, the E 53 isn’t a direct rival to the M5 or the RS 6, like an eventual E 63 could be. But the skidpad leaves me with the feeling that, despite its tremendous power and stopping capabilities, the E 53’s handling remains “AMG Lite.”