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

compare selected cars
1997. - 2001.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1999. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4190 mm
1695 mm
1375 mm
225 liters
600 liters
45 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4152 mm
1735 mm
1427 mm
350 liters
1100 liters
55 liters
1997 Honda Civic
1999 Audi A3

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1493 cc
114 hp
134 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
975 kg
10.2 s
188 km/h
8.1 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.5 l/100km
153 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1065 kg
10.9 s
189 km/h
9.6 l/100km
5.3 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
163 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1000 kg
12.0 s
172 km/h
9.7 l/100km
5.9 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
174 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1135 kg
12.7 s
184 km/h
11.2 l/100km
6.2 l/100km
8.0 l/100km
192 g/km

Expenses

1400 EUR
Price from
700 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 3-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 Honda-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 114hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 102hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Audi 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 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 9% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Honda is significantly less fault-prone, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Honda with an average rating of 4.7, and models under the Audi badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Civic as average reliability-wise, and A3 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Japanese car rank it on average as 4.3, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.7 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Honda is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.7 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 188 kilometers per hour, 1km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (42 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Honda is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. 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 Honda offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Honda. 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. 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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