Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Luxury car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Audi and 4 x 4 in the case of the Porsche). Both the engines are Volkswagen-engineered . The first one has a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 204hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 8-cylinder, 32-valves 422hp one.

Safety

The fact that the Audi got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Panamera offers a considerable difference of 21% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Audi does have a slight advantage, 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 Porsche badge with 4.0 out of 5. Unfortunatelly, I don't have enough insight that would allow me to comment in more details on the specific models level. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Audi A7 rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Porsche is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 285 kilometers per hour, 40km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Audi A7, averaging around 4.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (63 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 51% difference compared to Panamera!

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 A7 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Porsche outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Audi. 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™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.