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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2005.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1996. - 2008.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

3527 mm
1639 mm
1460 mm
130 liters
830 liters
34 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
3620 mm
1639 mm
1385 mm
186 liters
724 liters
42 liters
1998 Volkswagen Lupo
1996 Ford Ka

Engine

Volkswagen
1.4 AZE
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1397 cc
60 hp
116 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1299 cc
60 hp
103 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
912 kg
14.3 s
160 km/h
8.5 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
149 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
846 kg
15.4 s
155 km/h
8.8 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
163 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

1000 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 micro car segment and utilize the same 3-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, 8-valves 60hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 60hp engine designed by Ford.

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 Volkswagen being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a marginal difference of 8% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Ford does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Volkswagen with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Ford badge with 4.5 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Lupo as average reliability-wise, and Ka 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 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 160 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (44 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Ford 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 German car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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