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

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1997. - 2003.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2005.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4430 mm
1745 mm
1420 mm
360 liters
1180 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4466 mm
1743 mm
1470 mm
420 liters
1300 liters
60 liters
1997 Alfa Romeo 156 Sport Wagon
1999 Lancia Lybra SW

Engine

Alfa Romeo
1.8 Twin Spark
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1747 cc
144 hp
167 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1747 cc
130 hp
156 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1280 kg
9.6 s
210 km/h
11.7 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
199 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1315 kg
10.7 s
201 km/h
12.4 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.7 l/100km
206 g/km

Performance (automatic 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
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

600 EUR
Price from
500 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 5-door wagon body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Alfa Romeo-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 144hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 130hp engine designed by FIAT.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. 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, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Lybra offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Lancia as a brand displays somewhat better results, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Alfa Romeo with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Lancia badge with 4.1 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed 156 as average reliability-wise, and Lybra is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 156 rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Alfa Romeo is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 210 kilometers per hour, 9km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (33 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Alfa Romeo 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, Lybra offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Alfa Romeo being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Alfa Romeo. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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