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

compare selected cars
1996. - 2003.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1997. - 2003.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4378 mm
1741 mm
1420 mm
430 liters
430 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4430 mm
1745 mm
1415 mm
378 liters
378 liters
63 liters
1996 FIAT Marea
1997 Alfa Romeo 156

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1910 cc
110 hp
275 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1910 cc
110 hp
275 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1190 kg
10.8 s
185 km/h
7.4 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
150 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1280 kg
10.5 s
188 km/h
7.8 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
155 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
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

600 EUR
Price from
600 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. Not only that they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style, they are even powered by the same FIAT-developed diesel engine! There is not much there to point us towards one vehicle or the other. Or is it?

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, 156 offers a marginal difference of 8% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that FIAT is significantly less fault-prone, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of FIAT with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Alfa Romeo badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Marea as average reliability-wise, and 156 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 4.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Alfa Romeo 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 188 kilometers per hour, 3km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (50 mpg), in combined cycle.


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 my opinion, everything taken into account, 156 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Alfa Romeo offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 FIAT. 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. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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