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 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Alfa Romeo and 4 x 4 in the case of the Jaguar). The first one has a Alfa Romeo-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 140hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 194hp engine designed by Jaguar.

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 Alfa Romeo being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. 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, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the British car offers a considerable difference of 14% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Jaguar does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Alfa Romeo, as well as Jaguar, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 159 50% below average, and X-Type 31% above the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Italian car rank it on average as 3.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.7 out of 5.

Jaguar is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 222 kilometers per hour, 16km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Italian car, averaging around 7.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (36 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 24% difference compared to the British car.

Jaguar is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. But one thing that actually could is the performance, with Jaguar 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... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Jaguar. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.