Compare two cars

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
2003. - 2008.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2007. - 2009.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4204 mm
1759 mm
1485 mm
350 liters
1305 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4249 mm
1753 mm
1460 mm
380 liters
1295 liters
52 liters
2003 Volkswagen Golf
2007 Opel Astra

Engine

Volkswagen
2.0 TFSI AXX
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1984 cc
200 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1796 cc
140 hp
175 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1339 kg
7.2 s
235 km/h
11.0 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
8.0 l/100km
189 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1210 kg
10.2 s
208 km/h
9.7 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
169 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1358 kg
6.9 s
233 km/h
10.7 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
188 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1210 kg
11.4 s
188 km/h
10.5 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
7.8 l/100km
186 g/km

Expenses

2400 EUR
Price from
1700 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 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 4-cylinder, 16-valves 200hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 140hp 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 11% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, all the models observed together. 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.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Golf rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 235 kilometers per hour, 27km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Astra, averaging around 7.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (40 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 13% difference compared to Golf.


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... 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. 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. 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

Check a car by its VIN number

Follow us

AutoManiac Instagram

AutoManiac Facebook

AutoManiac database currently covers:

47worldwide automotive brands
1.531different vehicle models
2.233engines
13.778specific cars