Overview

We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Audi being a luxury car and the Volvo representing large family car vehicle class. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 8-cylinder, 40-valves 300hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 300hp engine designed by Volvo.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Volvo being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. The first vehicle is a luxury car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the large family car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. Furthermore, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the German car offers a marginal difference of 9% 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, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Volvo badge with 3.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank A6 as average reliability-wise, and S60 10% below the first one. We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the German car rank it on average as 3.0 out of 5, exactly the same as the other one.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volvo 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, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Swedish car, averaging around 10.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (26 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 21% difference compared to the German car!

Verdict

Volvo 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 this case though, it seems that both cars show similar levels of passenger protection all together, so that won't break a tie. But one thing that actually could is the performance, with Volvo 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 Volvo. 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™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.