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

compare selected cars
2004. - 2009.
M - MPV
MPV, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2003. - 2007.
M - MPV
MPV, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4280 mm
1768 mm
1568 mm
409 liters
1320 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4333 mm
1825 mm
1595 mm
550 liters
1620 liters
55 liters
2004 Seat Altea
2003 Ford C-Max

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.
1999 cc
145 hp
185 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1384 kg
7.7 s
220 km/h
11.1 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
194 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1320 kg
9.8 s
203 km/h
10.0 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
176 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
automatic - 4 gears
1335 kg
11.2 s
192 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
194 g/km

Expenses

2100 EUR
Price from
1200 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 mpv segment and utilize the same 5-door MPV 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 145hp engine designed by Mazda.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the Seat being a slightly better choice apparently. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the mpv segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Spanish car offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Ford does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat, as well as Ford, with the same average rating of 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Altea as average reliability-wise, and C-Max is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the Spanish car rank it on average as 4.4, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.2 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Seat is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 220 kilometers per hour, 17km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the American car, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 11% difference compared to the Spanish car.


Verdict

Seat 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 Spanish car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Seat being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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 Seat. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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