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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
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2004. - 2007.
D - Large family car
wagon, 5 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

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

Engine

Mercedes Benz
2.5 M272 KE25
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
2496 cc
204 hp
245 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
2.0 TFSI AXX
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1984 cc
200 hp
280 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 6 gears
1480 kg
8.6 s
235 km/h
13.6 l/100km
7.2 l/100km
9.6 l/100km
229 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1540 kg
7.5 s
233 km/h
12.6 l/100km
6.6 l/100km
8.8 l/100km
211 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 7 gears
1500 kg
9.1 s
228 km/h
13.4 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
226 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 6 gears
1585 kg
8.0 s
230 km/h
13.4 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
228 g/km

Expenses

2800 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 5-door wagon body style within the same 'Large family car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Mercedes Benz and 4 x 4 in the case of the Audi). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 204hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 200hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

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. 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 that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Audi A4 offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Audi badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank C as average reliability-wise, and A4 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Mercedes Benz C rank it on average as 3.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Audi is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 233 kilometers per hour, 2km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Audi A4, averaging around 8.8 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (32 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 9% 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 being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. 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, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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