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 luxury car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon 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 Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 600hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 612hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

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 luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Audi A6 offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank A6 as average reliability-wise, and E is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Audi A6 rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Both of the cars accelerate exactly the same, so we couldn't put one above the other. Car No. 1 reaches top speed of 250 kilometers per hour, 56km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Mercedes Benz E, averaging around 9.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 22% difference compared to Audi A6!

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 A6 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. When it comes to performance, both vehicles provide similar experience, so I wouldn't point any of them out. Mercedes Benz E is in a different dimension economy-wise, and many people will find that crucial. All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Mercedes Benz. 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. 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.