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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2000. - 2002.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4149 mm
1735 mm
1439 mm
330 liters
1184 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4164 mm
1698 mm
1420 mm
348 liters
1210 liters
60 liters
1998 Volkswagen Golf
2000 Renault Megane

Engine

Volkswagen
1.9 TDI ATD
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1896 cc
100 hp
240 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Renault
1.9 F9Q1
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1870 cc
102 hp
215 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1248 kg
11.3 s
188 km/h
6.5 l/100km
4.2 l/100km
5.0 l/100km
135 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1115 kg
11.5 s
188 km/h
6.8 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
5.2 l/100km
139 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1251 kg
12.7 s
184 km/h
8.6 l/100km
5.1 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
173 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
kg
12.2 s
185 km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

800 EUR
Price from
600 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 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 100hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 102hp engine designed by Renault.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a considerable difference of 12% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Renault does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as Renault, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Golf as average reliability-wise, and Megane is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 188 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 5.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (55 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Renault 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 German car offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Volkswagen. 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.

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