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

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2012. - 2015.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2011. - 2015.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4624 mm
1811 mm
1429 mm
480 liters
480 liters
57 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4716 mm
1826 mm
1406 mm
480 liters
962 liters
61 liters
2012 BMW 3 Series
2011 Audi A4 S4

Engine

Petrol
6 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Bi-Turbo
2979 cc
306 hp
400 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
1485 kg
5.5 s
250 km/h
11.1 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
186 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 8 gears
1495 kg
5.5 s
250 km/h
10.2 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
169 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1680 kg
5.0 s
250 km/h
10.7 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
190 g/km

Expenses

7000 EUR
Price from
8300 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

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 4-door sedan body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the BMW and 4 x 4 in the case of the Audi). The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 306hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 333hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

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. 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, 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, Audi A4 offers a considerable difference of 13% 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, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, 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.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain 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 a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (35 mpg), in combined cycle.


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 significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Audi offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 Audi. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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