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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
2006. - 2010.
M - MPV
MPV, 5 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2006. - 2010.
M - MPV
MPV, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4922 mm
1922 mm
1659 mm
244 liters
1950 liters
80 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4768 mm
1884 mm
1658 mm
480 liters
1820 liters
70 liters
2006 Mercedes Benz R
2006 Ford S-Max

Engine

Mercedes Benz
3.5 M272 E35
Petrol
6 - V config, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
3498 cc
272 hp
350 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
5 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2521 cc
220 hp
320 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 - 6 gears
1581 kg
7.9 s
230 km/h
13.3 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
9.4 l/100km
224 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 7 gears
2030 kg
8.1 s
234 km/h
15.7 l/100km
8.8 l/100km
11.3 l/100km
265 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

6400 EUR
Price from
3000 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 MPV body style within the same 'MPV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the Mercedes Benz and front in the case of the Ford). The first one has a Mercedes Benz-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 272hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 5-cylinder, 20-valves 220hp engine designed by Volvo.

Safety

The fact that the Ford 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 mpv segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, the German car offers a considerable difference of 28% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Ford as a brand displays somewhat better results, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Mercedes Benz, as well as Ford, with the same average rating of 4.4 out of 5. Independent research findings rank R as average reliability-wise, and S-Max 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 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.5 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Ford is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 230 kilometers per hour, 4km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the American car, averaging around 9.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (30 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 20% 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 American 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 Ford offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. 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 Ford. 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, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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