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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
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1997. - 2003.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4484 mm
1741 mm
1500 mm
500 liters
1550 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4430 mm
1745 mm
1420 mm
360 liters
1180 liters
63 liters
1996 FIAT Marea Weekend
1997 Alfa Romeo 156 Sport Wagon

Engine

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

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1250 kg
11.2 s
183 km/h
7.5 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.7 l/100km
152 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
10.9 s
188 km/h
7.9 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
160 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 5-door wagon 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. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. 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, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, 156 offers a marginal difference of 6% 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 official statistics, 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.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 4.3 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, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (48 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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