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

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2005. - 2011.
C - Small family car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
C - Small family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4554 mm
1781 mm
1459 mm
527 liters
527 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4468 mm
1770 mm
1452 mm
404 liters
883 liters
55 liters
2005 Volkswagen Jetta
2004 Volvo S40

Engine

Volkswagen
1.6 8v ALZ
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1595 cc
102 hp
148 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1596 cc
100 hp
150 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1243 kg
12.2 s
186 km/h
9.9 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
7.4 l/100km
176 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1224 kg
11.9 s
185 km/h
9.5 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
171 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 7 gears
1282 kg
13.3 s
183 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.2 l/100km
195 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

2200 EUR
Price from
3000 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 4-door sedan 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, 8-valves 102hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 100hp engine designed by Ford.

Safety

The fact that the Volvo got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning 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 with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Volvo badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place Jetta as average reliability-wise, and S40 is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the German car rank it on average as 3.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.7 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 185 kilometers per hour, 1km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Volvo 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 Swedish car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Volvo 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 Volvo. 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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