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

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2007. - 2011.
C - Small family car
cabriolet, 2 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2008. - 2012.
C - Small family car
cabriolet, 2 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4360 mm
1748 mm
1411 mm
260 liters
305 liters
51 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4238 mm
1765 mm
1424 mm
260 liters
674 liters
55 liters
2007 BMW 1 Series Cabrio
2008 Audi A3 Cabriolet

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
143 hp
320 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
2.0 TDI BKD
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1968 cc
140 hp
310 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1450 kg
9.5 s
208 km/h
5.8 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
129 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1475 kg
9.6 s
208 km/h
5.7 l/100km
3.9 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
119 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1475 kg
9.6 s
208 km/h
7.3 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
152 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1495 kg
9.4 s
208 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
148 g/km

Expenses

2500 EUR
Price from
4600 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 2-door cabriolet body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the BMW and front in the case of the Audi). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 143hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 140hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

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 BMW being a slightly better choice apparently. 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 it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Audi A3 offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW, as well as Audi, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 1 Series as average reliability-wise, and A3 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 1 Series rank it on average as 4.1, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 208 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 4.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (59 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW 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, 1 Series offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with BMW offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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. 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.

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