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

compare selected cars
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
2.0 FSI AXW
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1984 cc
150 hp
200 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1999 cc
145 hp
185 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1294 kg
9.2 s
211 km/h
11.1 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.0 l/100km
191 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1269 kg
9.5 s
210 km/h
10.2 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
7.4 l/100km
177 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1317 kg
9.9 s
207 km/h
11.8 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
199 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1364 kg
10.6 s
200 km/h
13.2 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
9.1 l/100km
217 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, 16-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 145hp engine designed by Mazda.

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. 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, 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, all the models observed together. That's the official data, 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. Independent research findings rank 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 4.8, 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 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 211 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 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, the Swedish car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different 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... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Volvo. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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