Compare two cars

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
2003. - 2005.
S - Sports car
coupe, 2 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2005.
S - Sports car
coupe, 2 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4638 mm
1740 mm
1413 mm
435 liters
435 liters
62 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4720 mm
1820 mm
1410 mm
403 liters
403 liters
68 liters
2003 Mercedes Benz CLK
1998 Volvo C70

Engine

Mercedes Benz
3.2 V6 M112 E32
Petrol
6 - Inline, 3 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3199 cc
218 hp
310 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
5 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2435 cc
193 hp
270 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 - 5 gears
1451 kg
7.8 s
230 km/h
13.5 l/100km
7.4 l/100km
9.5 l/100km
226 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1505 kg
7.9 s
244 km/h
15.6 l/100km
7.5 l/100km
10.4 l/100km
250 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1471 kg
8.2 s
225 km/h
16.0 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
11.0 l/100km
263 g/km

Expenses

4200 EUR
Price from
4500 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 2-door coupe body style within the same 'Sports 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 Volvo). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 18-valves 218hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 193hp engine designed by Volvo.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, 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. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the sports car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Volvo does have a slight advantage, at least on all of the models level. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Volvo badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place CLK as average reliability-wise, and C70 is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.6, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 230 kilometers per hour, 14km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Swedish car, averaging around 9.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 9% difference compared to the German 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 offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Volvo offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Volvo. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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.

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