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

compare selected cars
2003. - 2005.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2003. - 2008.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4286 mm
1765 mm
1423 mm
370 liters
1100 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4556 mm
1781 mm
1467 mm
505 liters
1495 liters
55 liters
2003 Audi A3 Sportback
2003 Volkswagen Golf Variant

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
Volkswagen
1.6 FSI
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
115 hp
155 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1360 kg
7.2 s
236 km/h
11.0 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
7.9 l/100km
189 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1220 kg
10.8 s
192 km/h
8.5 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 6 gears
1410 kg
7.0 s
236 km/h
10.6 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
185 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

2400 EUR
Price from
2400 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 wagon body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. Both the engines are Volkswagen-engineered . The first one has a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 200hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 115hp one.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), 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 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Audi A3 offers a considerable difference of 11% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi, as well as Volkswagen, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place A3 as average reliability-wise, and Golf is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Audi A3 rank it on average as 4.4 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 236 kilometers per hour, 44km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Golf, averaging around 6.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (44 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 23% difference compared to Audi A3.


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 this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. But one thing that actually could is the performance, with Audi outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say 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. 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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