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

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2014. - 2019.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2015. - 2019.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4767 mm
1832 mm
1461 mm
586 liters
1152 liters
66 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4633 mm
1811 mm
1429 mm
480 liters
480 liters
57 liters
2014 Volkswagen Passat
2015 BMW 3 Series

Engine

Volkswagen
2.0 TFSI CJXA
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1984 cc
280 hp
350 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1997 cc
184 hp
270 Nm

Performance (manual 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
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1520 kg
7.5 s
232 km/h
9.0 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
159 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

dual clutch - 6 gears
1540 kg
5.5 s
250 km/h
8.9 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
160 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 8 gears
1530 kg
7.6 s
230 km/h
8.0 l/100km
5.0 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
142 g/km

Expenses

11300 EUR
Price from
7900 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 280hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 184hp engine designed by BMW.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Passat offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Passat as average reliability-wise, and 3 Series is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Passat rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 18km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (41 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Volkswagen 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, Passat offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Volkswagen. 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. 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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