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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2001.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2003.
C - Small family car
wagon, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4438 mm
1702 mm
1447 mm
520 liters
1580 liters
55 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4397 mm
1735 mm
1473 mm
460 liters
1470 liters
55 liters
1998 Ford Focus Wagon
1998 Volkswagen Golf Variant

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1596 cc
100 hp
145 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.6 8v ALZ
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1595 cc
102 hp
148 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1118 kg
11.3 s
185 km/h
9.4 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
185 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1153 kg
11.9 s
188 km/h
10.5 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
180 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1159 kg
12.5 s
176 km/h
11.3 l/100km
6.4 l/100km
8.2 l/100km
196 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1183 kg
13.7 s
185 km/h
11.9 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
8.5 l/100km
204 g/km

Expenses

800 EUR
Price from
800 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 small family car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon 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 Ford-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 100hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 102hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle 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, the German car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Ford does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Ford with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the Volkswagen badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Focus as average reliability-wise, and Golf is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the American car rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Ford is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 185 kilometers per hour, 3km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Ford 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 slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Ford offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 Ford. 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. 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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