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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
2016. - 2019.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2015. - 2019.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4258 mm
1790 mm
1492 mm
380 liters
1270 liters
50 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4329 mm
1765 mm
1421 mm
360 liters
1200 liters
52 liters
2016 Volkswagen Golf
2015 BMW 1 Series

Engine

Volkswagen
1.6 TDI CEKA
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1598 cc
115 hp
250 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
3 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1496 cc
116 hp
270 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1226 kg
10.2 s
198 km/h
4.6 l/100km
3.8 l/100km
4.1 l/100km
106 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1295 kg
10.3 s
200 km/h
4.3 l/100km
3.3 l/100km
3.7 l/100km
97 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

dual clutch - 7 gears
1246 kg
10.5 s
198 km/h
4.1 l/100km
3.8 l/100km
3.9 l/100km
102 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 8 gears
1325 kg
10.3 s
200 km/h
4.1 l/100km
3.4 l/100km
3.7 l/100km
96 g/km

Expenses

10900 EUR
Price from
11200 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 3-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 Volkswagen and rear in the case of the BMW). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 115hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 116hp engine designed by BMW.

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 same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. 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. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, 1 Series offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as BMW, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Golf as average reliability-wise, and 1 Series is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Golf rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen 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 198 kilometers per hour, 2km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 3.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (72 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, 1 Series offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Volkswagen offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 BMW. 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. 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.

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