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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, 3 door
front
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
1997. - 2001.
C - Small family car
hatchback, 3 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
4190 mm
1695 mm
1375 mm
225 liters
600 liters
45 liters
1998 Opel Astra
1997 Honda Civic

Engine

Opel / General Motors
1.6 Z16SE
Petrol
4 - Inline, 2 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1598 cc
84 hp
138 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1595 cc
160 hp
153 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1063 kg
13.0 s
180 km/h
9.6 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
7.1 l/100km
171 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1065 kg
8.0 s
207 km/h
11.0 l/100km
6.9 l/100km
8.4 l/100km
201 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1063 kg
14.5 s
170 km/h
11.2 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.1 l/100km
195 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
1400 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 3-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Opel-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 8-valves 84hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 160hp engine designed by Honda.

Safety

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the Opel being a slightly better choice apparently. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 1% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Honda as a brand displays somewhat better results, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Opel with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Honda badge with 4.7 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Astra as average reliability-wise, and Civic 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 3.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Honda is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 5 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 207 kilometers per hour, 27km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 7.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (40 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 18% difference compared to the Japanese car.


Verdict

Honda 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, the German car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Honda outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Opel. 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, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.

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