Overview

We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the FIAT being a large family car and the Volvo representing luxury car vehicle class. The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 200hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 205hp engine designed by Volvo.

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 same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. The second vehicle is a luxury car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the large family car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Italian car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that FIAT does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of FIAT with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Volvo badge with 3.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Croma as average reliability-wise, and V70 2% above the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Italian car rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.7 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 225 kilometers per hour, 9km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 5.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (52 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 33% difference compared to the Italian car.

Verdict

FIAT 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 Volvo 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 Volvo. 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. 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.