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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
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2004.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4397 mm
1735 mm
1473 mm
460 liters
1470 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4288 mm
1709 mm
1510 mm
480 liters
1500 liters
52 liters
1998 Volkswagen Golf Variant
1998 Opel Astra Stationwagon

Engine

Volkswagen
1.6 FSI
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
110 hp
155 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Opel / General Motors
1.6 X16XEL
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
100 hp
150 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1180 kg
11.5 s
192 km/h
9.4 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
166 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
12.0 s
183 km/h
10.2 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
185 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1264 kg
12.9 s
192 km/h
13.0 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
9.1 l/100km
218 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1130 kg
14.0 s
173 km/h
11.6 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
202 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 5-door wagon 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 4-cylinder, 16-valves 110hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 100hp 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. 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, Golf offers a marginal difference of 6% 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, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, 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.That apart, owners of different cars powered by 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 0.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 192 kilometers per hour, 9km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Golf, averaging around 6.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (41 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 12% difference compared to Astra.


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. 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. 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. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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