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Dimensons & Outlines
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Engine
1.8 M271 KE18 ML
Performance (manual gearbox)
Performance (automatic gearbox)
Expenses
Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
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 'Luxury car' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Mercedes Benz and front in the case of the Chrysler). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 184hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 193hp engine designed by Chrysler.
SafetyThe 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. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the luxury car segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the American car offers a marginal difference of 8% more metal.
ReliabilityReliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Mercedes Benz does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the Chrysler badge with 4.4 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed E as average reliability-wise, and 300C is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the German car rank it on average as 4.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyMercedes Benz 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 225 kilometers per hour, 16km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the German car, averaging around 8.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (32 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 26% difference compared to the American car!
Verdict
Mercedes Benz 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 outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. 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 Mercedes Benz. 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. 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.