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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Citroen being a city car and the Ford representing micro car vehicle class. The first one has a Peugeot-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 156hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 69hp engine designed by FIAT.
SafetyBoth vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Citroen being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. The first vehicle is a city car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the micro car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the French car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 36% more metal.
ReliabilityI don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Ford does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Citroen with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Ford badge with 4.4 out of 5. The same official information place DS3 as average reliability-wise, and Ka is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the French car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyCitroen is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 5.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 214 kilometers per hour, 55km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the American car, averaging around 4.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (58 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 22% difference compared to the French car.
Verdict
Citroen 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, the French car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Citroen 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... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Citroen. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.