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

compare selected cars
2008. - 2012.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2007. - 2011.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4531 mm
1817 mm
1421 mm
460 liters
460 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4717 mm
1826 mm
1406 mm
480 liters
962 liters
65 liters
2008 BMW 3 Series
2007 Audi A4 S4

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2996 cc
218 hp
270 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
3.0 TFSI CAKA
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2995 cc
333 hp
440 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1515 kg
7.3 s
244 km/h
11.0 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
188 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1650 kg
5.1 s
250 km/h
13.7 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
9.7 l/100km
225 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1535 kg
7.7 s
242 km/h
11.1 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.2 l/100km
192 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1685 kg
5.3 s
250 km/h
13.5 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
9.4 l/100km
219 g/km

Expenses

6000 EUR
Price from
4600 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 BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 218hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 333hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. 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? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Audi A4 offers a marginal difference of 9% 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, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, 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 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and A4 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as 3 Series rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 6km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be 3 Series, averaging around 8.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (35 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 20% difference compared to Audi A4.


Verdict

Audi 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, Audi A4 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Audi being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say BMW. 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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