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Dimensons & Outlines
Engine
4.0 TFSI BiTurbo
Performance (manual gearbox)
Performance (automatic gearbox)
Expenses
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 executive car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. Both the engines are Volkswagen-engineered . The first one has a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 280hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 420hp one.
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. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the executive car segment, which is generally a fortune safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Phaeton offers a considerable difference of 10% more metal.
ReliabilityI don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as Audi, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Phaeton as average reliability-wise, and A8 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Phaeton rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyAudi is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Audi A8, averaging around 9.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 22% difference compared to Phaeton!
Verdict
Volkswagen 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, Phaeton offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Audi outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Audi. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.