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

compare selected cars
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4586 mm
1772 mm
1427 mm
442 liters
1184 liters
70 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4541 mm
1728 mm
1465 mm
470 liters
1384 liters
62 liters
2004 Audi A4 Avant
2004 Mercedes Benz C Combi

Engine

Volkswagen
3.2 FSI
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3123 cc
256 hp
330 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
3.2 V6 M112 E32
Petrol
6 - Inline, 3 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3199 cc
218 hp
310 Nm

Performance (manual 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
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1505 kg
7.9 s
244 km/h
16.7 l/100km
8.2 l/100km
11.4 l/100km
272 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

cvt - gears
1550 kg
7.0 s
245 km/h
13.6 l/100km
7.0 l/100km
9.4 l/100km
226 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1600 kg
8.0 s
235 km/h
15.1 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
10.9 l/100km
258 g/km

Expenses

2500 EUR
Price from
2800 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 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Audi and rear in the case of the Mercedes Benz). The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 256hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 18-valves 218hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the Mercedes Benz being a slightly better choice apparently. 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? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Audi A4 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 both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank A4 as average reliability-wise, and C is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Audi A4 rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.6 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.9 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 245 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be Audi A4, averaging around 9.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 21% difference compared to Mercedes Benz C!


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, Mercedes Benz C offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Audi offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but Audi. 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. 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.

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