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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
4 x 4
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
1.9 TDI AJM
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1896 cc
115 hp
285 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
1444 kg
11.5 s
192 km/h
8.0 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
1280 kg
12.5 s
183 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.8 l/100km
5.9 l/100km
158 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 wagon 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 115hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 101hp engine designed by Opel.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, 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 it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Golf offers a considerable difference of 13% 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. Independent research findings rank 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 4.1, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.2 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1 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 things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.1 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 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 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. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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