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

compare selected cars
1998. - 2004.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1998. - 2003.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 5 door
front

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4110 mm
1709 mm
1425 mm
370 liters
1180 liters
52 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4149 mm
1735 mm
1439 mm
330 liters
1184 liters
55 liters
1998 Opel Astra
1998 Volkswagen Golf

Engine

Isuzu / General Motors
1.7 Y17DTL
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1686 cc
65 hp
130 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Volkswagen
1.9 SDI AQM
Diesel
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1896 cc
68 hp
133 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1115 kg
17.0 s
163 km/h
7.7 l/100km
4.9 l/100km
5.9 l/100km
158 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1164 kg
17.2 s
160 km/h
6.9 l/100km
4.2 l/100km
5.1 l/100km
138 g/km

Performance (automatic 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
 
kg
s
km/h
l/100km
l/100km
l/100km
g/km

Expenses

500 EUR
Price from
800 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

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 small family car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a Isuzu-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 65hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 68hp engine designed by Volkswagen.

Safety

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but that fact doesn't break the tie between the two cars. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Golf offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Opel, as well as Volkswagen, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Astra as average reliability-wise, and Golf is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as Astra rank it on average as 3.7, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.3 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Opel is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 163 kilometers per hour, 3km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Golf, averaging around 5.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (55 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 16% difference compared to Astra.


Verdict

Volkswagen 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, Golf offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Opel offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Volkswagen. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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