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

compare selected cars
1997. - 2001.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2002.
A - Micro car
hatchback, 3 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

3537 mm
1639 mm
1460 mm
131 liters
790 liters
35 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
2500 mm
1515 mm
1529 mm
150 liters
479 liters
22 liters
1997 Seat Arosa
1998 Smart City-Coupe

Engine

Volkswagen
1.7 SDI AHB
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1716 cc
60 hp
115 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
3 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
799 cc
41 hp
100 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
935 kg
16.8 s
157 km/h
5.9 l/100km
3.6 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
118 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

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 - 6 gears
730 kg
19.8 s
135 km/h
3.9 l/100km
3.1 l/100km
3.4 l/100km
90 g/km

Expenses

950 EUR
Price from
600 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 3-door hatchback body style within the same 'Micro car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Seat and rear in the case of the Smart). 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 3-cylinder, 6-valves 41hp engine designed by Smart.

Safety

The fact that the Smart got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, isn't really an advantage, taken the poor 3-star rating it received. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune 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, the Spanish car offers a considerable difference of 28% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Smart does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Smart badge with 3.9 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Arosa as average reliability-wise, and City-Coupe 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 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Seat is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 157 kilometers per hour, 22km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 3.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (83 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 29% difference compared to the Spanish car.


Verdict

Smart 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 Seat 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... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Smart. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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