Overview

Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Audi and front in the case of the Lancia). The first one has a Audi-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 125hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 130hp engine designed by FIAT.

Safety

The fact that the Audi 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 large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Lancia does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Lancia badge with 4.3 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed A4 15% below average, and Lybra those same 15% above the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Lancia is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 201 kilometers per hour, 3km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Italian car, averaging around 8.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (32 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 7% difference compared to the German car.

Verdict

Audi 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 German car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with Lancia being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Lancia. 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. 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.