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Dimensons & Outlines
Engine
1.8 Z18XE
Performance (manual gearbox)
Performance (automatic gearbox)
Expenses
Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 3-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Audi and front in the case of the Opel). The first one has a Audi-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 125hp engine designed by Opel.
SafetyBoth vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle 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, Audi A3 offers a considerable difference of 13% more metal.
ReliabilityManufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Opel does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi, as well as Opel, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place A3 as average reliability-wise, and Astra is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Audi A3 rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.7 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyAudi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 215 kilometers per hour, 10km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Astra, averaging around 7.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (36 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 12% difference compared to Audi A3.
Verdict
Opel appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. 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, Audi A3 offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Audi being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.