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

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2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2011.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4586 mm
1772 mm
1427 mm
460 liters
720 liters
70 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4660 mm
1828 mm
1422 mm
405 liters
405 liters
70 liters
2004 Audi A4
2004 Alfa Romeo 159

Engine

Audi / Volkswagen
1.8 5V BFB
Petrol
4 - Inline, 5 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1781 cc
163 hp
225 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Alfa Romeo
1.8 Twin Spark
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1747 cc
140 hp
163 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1470 kg
8.7 s
226 km/h
12.8 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
9.2 l/100km
221 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1405 kg
10.2 s
206 km/h
10.4 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
7.7 l/100km
181 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

2500 EUR
Price from
1700 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

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 4-door sedan 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 Alfa Romeo). The first one has a Audi-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 163hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 140hp engine designed by Alfa Romeo.

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 Alfa Romeo being a slightly better choice apparently. 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 it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the German car offers a marginal difference of 5% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Audi does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi, as well as Alfa Romeo, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank A4 as average reliability-wise, and 159 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 3.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 226 kilometers per hour, 20km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Italian car, averaging around 7.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (37 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 19% 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 Italian car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Audi being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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 Alfa Romeo. 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. I suggest you spend two more minutes in order to find out which car, based on your needs and budget, would be picked by the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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