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 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Mercedes Benz and front in the case of the Honda). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 421hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 320hp engine designed by Honda.

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. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. 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. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a considerable difference of 19% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Honda is significantly less fault-prone, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Honda badge with 4.7 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Mercedes Benz is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.9 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 250 kilometers per hour, 22km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 8% difference compared to the German car.

Honda 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 German car offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. When it comes to performance, both vehicles provide similar experience, so I wouldn't point any of them out. the Japanese car , on the other hand, consumps significantly less fuel, and that's a big plus. I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Honda. 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™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.