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

compare selected cars
2005. - 2008.
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
2005 Audi A3 Sportback
2003 Volkswagen Golf Variant

Engine

Volkswagen
1.8 TFSI CDAA
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1798 cc
160 hp
250 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
1345 kg
8.2 s
220 km/h
9.9 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
171 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
1375 kg
8.0 s
220 km/h
10.4 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
179 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

2800 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 160hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 115hp one.

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 Volkswagen being a slightly better choice apparently. 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, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Audi A3 offers a considerable difference of 10% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, 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.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Audi A3 rank it on average as 4.2, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 2.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 220 kilometers per hour, 28km/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 13% 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 being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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 Volkswagen. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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