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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
2002. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2000. - 2004.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4654 mm
1762 mm
1492 mm
419 liters
1273 liters
58 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4541 mm
1728 mm
1465 mm
liters
liters
liters
2002 SAAB 9-3 Sport Combi
2000 Mercedes Benz C Combi

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1910 cc
120 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
2.1 OM611 DE22 LA LP
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2148 cc
116 hp
250 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1495 kg
11.5 s
200 km/h
7.5 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
157 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1455 kg
12.6 s
197 km/h
8.9 l/100km
5.4 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
177 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1455 kg
12.8 s
192 km/h
9.8 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
189 g/km

Expenses

1500 EUR
Price from
1300 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the SAAB and rear in the case of the Mercedes Benz). The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 120hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 116hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the SAAB being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Swedish car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that SAAB does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of SAAB with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 9-3 as average reliability-wise, and C is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Swedish car rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

SAAB is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 200 kilometers per hour, 3km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 5.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (50 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 18% difference compared to the German car.


Verdict

SAAB 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, the Swedish car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with SAAB being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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 SAAB. 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.

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