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

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1998. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2004.
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
4110 mm
1709 mm
1425 mm
370 liters
1180 liters
52 liters
1998 Volkswagen Golf
1998 Opel Astra

Engine

Volkswagen
1.9 TDI ARL
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1896 cc
150 hp
320 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Opel / General Motors
2.0 Y20DTH
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
101 hp
230 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1405 kg
8.8 s
211 km/h
8.1 l/100km
5.1 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
167 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1245 kg
12.0 s
188 km/h
7.6 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
154 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

800 EUR
Price from
500 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 diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door hatchback body style within the same 'Small family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Volkswagen and front in the case of the Opel). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 101hp engine designed by Opel.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), 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 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, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Golf 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, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen, as well as Opel, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Golf as average reliability-wise, and Astra is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Golf rank it on average as 4.2 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 211 kilometers per hour, 23km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (47 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Opel 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, Golf offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen 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... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Volkswagen. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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