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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. - 2005.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2002. - 2006.
E - Luxury car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4747 mm
1820 mm
1422 mm
430 liters
430 liters
65 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4818 mm
1822 mm
1452 mm
540 liters
540 liters
65 liters
2001 Hyundai Sonata
2002 Mercedes Benz E

Engine

Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2656 cc
175 hp
245 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
2.6 M112 E26 HP
Petrol
6 - V config, 3 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2597 cc
177 hp
240 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
1470 kg
9.1 s
236 km/h
15.9 l/100km
8.0 l/100km
10.9 l/100km
257 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1443 kg
9.7 s
210 km/h
14.7 l/100km
8.3 l/100km
10.7 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1505 kg
9.4 s
232 km/h
14.8 l/100km
7.8 l/100km
10.3 l/100km
247 g/km

Expenses

1500 EUR
Price from
2500 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 'Luxury car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (front for the Hyundai and rear in the case of the Mercedes Benz). The first one has a Hyundai-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 175hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 18-valves 177hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

The fact that the Mercedes Benz got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing 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 2% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Hyundai as a brand displays somewhat better results, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Hyundai with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Sonata as average reliability-wise, and E is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Korean car rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Mercedes Benz is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 236 kilometers per hour, 26km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 10.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (26 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Hyundai 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 beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with Mercedes Benz offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 Mercedes Benz. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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