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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
2012. - 2016.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2011. - 2015.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4369 mm
1802 mm
1435 mm
335 liters
1032 liters
52 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4324 mm
1765 mm
1421 mm
360 liters
1200 liters
52 liters
2012 Volvo V40
2011 BMW 1 Series

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1597 cc
150 hp
240 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Peugeot / BMW
1.6 Prince N13B16
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1598 cc
136 hp
220 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1331 kg
8.3 s
210 km/h
7.3 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
127 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1265 kg
8.5 s
210 km/h
7.0 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.4 l/100km
125 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1335 kg
8.3 s
210 km/h
7.3 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
129 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 8 gears
1285 kg
8.7 s
210 km/h
7.2 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
129 g/km

Expenses

8000 EUR
Price from
7000 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 petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Volvo and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Ford-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 136hp engine designed by Peugeot.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, 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, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Swedish car offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Volvo 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 Volvo with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the BMW badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place V40 as average reliability-wise, and 1 Series is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Swedish car rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 210 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (52 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Volvo 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 slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Volvo offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Volvo. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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