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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Alfa Romeo-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 190hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 155hp engine designed by FIAT.
SafetyUnfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, 156 offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.
ReliabilityManufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that FIAT is significantly less fault-prone, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Alfa Romeo with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the FIAT badge with 4.3 out of 5. The same official information place 156 as average reliability-wise, and Marea is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 156 rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyAlfa Romeo is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 230 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Marea, averaging around 9.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to 156.
Verdict
FIAT is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, 156 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Alfa Romeo being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the FIAT. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.