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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, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2004.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4149 mm
1735 mm
1444 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
2.3 V5 20v
Petrol
5 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2324 cc
170 hp
220 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Opel / General Motors
2.2 Z22SE
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2197 cc
147 hp
203 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1214 kg
8.2 s
224 km/h
12.4 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.7 l/100km
209 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1155 kg
8.8 s
214 km/h
12.0 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1268 kg
8.9 s
220 km/h
13.7 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.6 l/100km
230 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1175 kg
10.0 s
208 km/h
11.7 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.5 l/100km
g/km

Expenses

800 EUR
Price from
500 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 Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 147hp engine designed by Opel.

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. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Golf offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, 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 Opel, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Golf as average reliability-wise, and Astra is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Golf rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.2 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 224 kilometers per hour, 10km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (33 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Volkswagen 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 slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. 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. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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