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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
4 x 4
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
3.2 VR6
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3189 cc
241 hp
320 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Renault
1.8 F4P 115
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1783 cc
115 hp
158 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1479 kg
6.6 s
247 km/h
16.4 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
11.5 l/100km
276 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1110 kg
8.9 s
199 km/h
10.2 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1521 kg
6.4 s
247 km/h
14.2 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
10.2 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
600 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 petrol 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 Renault). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 241hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 115hp engine designed by Renault.

Safety

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 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, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the German car offers a potentially life-saving difference of 33% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Renault does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. 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. Some independent research have also placed Golf as average reliability-wise, and Megane is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.9 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 247 kilometers per hour, 48km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the French car, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 49% difference compared to the German car!


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 much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same 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... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Renault. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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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