Compare two cars

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. - 2004.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2001. - 2006.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

2500 mm
1515 mm
1549 mm
150 liters
479 liters
22 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
3626 mm
1688 mm
1408 mm
160 liters
670 liters
50 liters
2002 Smart City-Coupe
2001 Mini Mini

Engine

Smart / Mercedes Benz
0.7 Suprex 61
Petrol
3 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
698 cc
61 hp
95 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Tritec
1.6 T16b3
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
90 hp
140 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
720 kg
15.5 s
135 km/h
5.9 l/100km
4.0 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1015 kg
10.9 s
185 km/h
8.7 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
158 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
720 kg
15.5 s
135 km/h
6.0 l/100km
4.1 l/100km
4.8 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
cvt - gears
1040 kg
12.7 s
170 km/h
8.7 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
g/km

Expenses

1300 EUR
Price from
1700 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 3-door hatchback body style within the same 'Micro car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Smart and front in the case of the Mini). The first one has a Smart-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 6-valves 61hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 90hp engine designed by Tritec.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Mini 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 micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the British car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 41% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Smart does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Smart with an average rating of 3.9, and models under the Mini badge with 4.1 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the German car rank it on average as 4.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Mini is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 185 kilometers per hour, 50km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 4.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (60 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 38% difference compared to the British car.


Verdict

Smart 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 British car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Mini 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... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Mini. 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. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

Check a car by its VIN number

Follow us

AutoManiac Instagram

AutoManiac Facebook

AutoManiac database currently covers:

47worldwide automotive brands
1.531different vehicle models
2.233engines
13.778specific cars