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Compare any two cars and get our Virtual Adviser™ opinion

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

compare selected cars
2001. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2001. - 2004.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4285 mm
1695 mm
1495 mm
70 liters
370 liters
50 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4170 mm
1729 mm
1442 mm
280 liters
1030 liters
60 liters
2001 Honda Civic
2001 Alfa Romeo 147

Engine

Isuzu / General Motors
1.7 Z17DTH
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1686 cc
100 hp
240 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1910 cc
115 hp
275 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1259 kg
11.5 s
182 km/h
6.3 l/100km
4.4 l/100km
5.0 l/100km
134 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1265 kg
9.9 s
191 km/h
7.8 l/100km
4.7 l/100km
5.8 l/100km
155 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

1400 EUR
Price from
500 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 hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Isuzu-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 115hp engine designed by FIAT.

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 Honda 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, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Italian car offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Honda presents an order of magnitude better choice, 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 Alfa Romeo badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Civic as average reliability-wise, and 147 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 3.9, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Alfa Romeo is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 191 kilometers per hour, 9km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (57 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to the Italian car.


Verdict

Honda 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 Japanese car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Alfa Romeo being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but 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. 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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