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

compare selected cars
1997. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1991. - 1998.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4030 mm
1680 mm
1353 mm
338 liters
1146 liters
60 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4020 mm
1710 mm
1405 mm
330 liters
1160 liters
55 liters
1997 Peugeot 306
1991 Volkswagen Golf

Engine

Peugeot / Citroen
1.6 TU5 JP (NFR)
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1587 cc
90 hp
135 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.6 AFT
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1595 cc
100 hp
145 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1045 kg
13.5 s
178 km/h
9.9 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
177 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1090 kg
11.2 s
188 km/h
10.5 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.5 l/100km
190 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
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

Expenses

500 EUR
Price from
450 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

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 small family car segment and utilize the same 3-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Peugeot-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 90hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 100hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

The fact that the Peugeot got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, isn't really an advantage, taken the poor 3-star rating it received. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Peugeot does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Peugeot with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Volkswagen badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank 306 as average reliability-wise, and Golf is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the French car rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 2.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 188 kilometers per hour, 10km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the French car, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to the German car.


Verdict

Peugeot 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 my opinion, everything taken into account, the French car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Volkswagen being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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 Peugeot. 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. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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