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

compare selected cars
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
2.5 Busso V6
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2492 cc
190 hp
222 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
5 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1998 cc
155 hp
186 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1370 kg
7.4 s
230 km/h
17.2 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
11.7 l/100km
280 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1365 kg
9.6 s
210 km/h
13.8 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
9.8 l/100km
233 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1400 kg
8.5 s
227 km/h
17.7 l/100km
8.7 l/100km
12.0 l/100km
287 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1395 kg
12.0 s
205 km/h
14.2 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
10.5 l/100km
251 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 6-cylinder, 24-valves 190hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 155hp 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 it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 156 offers a marginal difference of 1% 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, all the models observed together. That's the official data, 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. The same official information place 156 as average reliability-wise, and Lybra is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as 156 rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Alfa Romeo 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 230 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Lybra, averaging around 9.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 19% difference compared to 156.


Verdict

Lancia 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, 156 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Alfa Romeo 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 Lancia. 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. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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