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Engine
3.0 OM642 LS DE30 LA
Performance (manual gearbox)
Performance (automatic gearbox)
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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
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 executive car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 258hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 245hp engine designed by Audi.
SafetyUnfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the executive car segment, which is generally a fortune safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Phaeton offers a considerable difference of 13% more metal.
ReliabilityI don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Volkswagen does have a slight advantage, 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 Volkswagen badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank S as average reliability-wise, and Phaeton is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Mercedes Benz S rank it on average as 2.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.6 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyMercedes Benz is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 12km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Mercedes Benz S, averaging around 7.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (39 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to Phaeton.
Verdict
Volkswagen 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, Phaeton offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Mercedes Benz being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the 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. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.