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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
1998. - 2003.
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
4149 mm
1735 mm
1444 mm
330 liters
1184 liters
55 liters
1998 Opel Astra
1998 Volkswagen Golf

Engine

Opel / General Motors
1.8 X18XE1
Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1796 cc
115 hp
170 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Audi / Volkswagen
1.8 5V
Petrol
4 - Inline, 5 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1781 cc
125 hp
173 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1095 kg
10.0 s
200 km/h
10.9 l/100km
6.0 l/100km
7.8 l/100km
188 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1123 kg
9.9 s
201 km/h
11.7 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.3 l/100km
199 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1115 kg
11.0 s
195 km/h
11.8 l/100km
6.3 l/100km
8.3 l/100km
200 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1147 kg
11.9 s
198 km/h
13.3 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
9.2 l/100km
221 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 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, 16-valves 115hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 125hp engine designed by Audi.

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. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the small family car segment, which is generally classifying them somewhere in the middle safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Golf offers a marginal difference of 3% 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. That's the official data, 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.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as Astra rank it on average as 4.2, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.8 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Volkswagen is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.1 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 201 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.1 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (35 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Opel 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. It all continues in the same direction, with Volkswagen offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... At the end, as much as I'd like to give you a winner here, it's simply a pure tie if you ask me. 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. 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 thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.

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