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

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1996. - 2001.
B - City car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2002.
B - City car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

3735 mm
1614 mm
1445 mm
290 liters
290 liters
48 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
3877 mm
1640 mm
1422 mm
250 liters
782 liters
45 liters
1996 FIAT Palio
1999 Seat Ibiza

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1242 cc
75 hp
104 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.4 16v
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1390 cc
75 hp
128 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
970 kg
12.2 s
168 km/h
9.1 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1003 kg
12.5 s
170 km/h
8.4 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
161 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

550 EUR
Price from
750 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 city car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a FIAT-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 75hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 75hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

The fact that the Seat 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. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the city car segment, which is generally not a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the Spanish car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that FIAT does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of FIAT with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Seat badge with 4.4 out of 5. The same official information place Palio as average reliability-wise, and Ibiza is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Italian car rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.2 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

FIAT is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 168 kilometers per hour, 2km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.6 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (43 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, the Spanish car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with FIAT offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Seat. 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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