Overview

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 2-door coupe body style within the same 'Sports car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Audi and rear in the case of the Porsche). 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 6-cylinder, 24-valves 320hp engine designed by Porsche.

Safety

The fact that the Audi got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the sports car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 911 offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Audi does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Porsche badge with 4.0 out of 5. Independent research findings rank TT 28% above average, and 911 78% below the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Audi TT rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Porsche is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 285 kilometers per hour, 65km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Audi TT, averaging around 8.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (35 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 36% difference compared to 911!

Verdict

Audi 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, Audi TT offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with Porsche outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Audi. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. 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.