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 large family car segment and utilize the same 5-door wagon 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 105hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 200hp engine designed by Alfa Romeo.

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the Alfa Romeo being a slightly better choice apparently. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Italian car offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Opel as a brand displays somewhat better results, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Opel, as well as Alfa Romeo, with the same average rating of 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Vectra 24% below average, and 159 26% below the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 3.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.4 out of 5.

Alfa Romeo is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 5.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 233 kilometers per hour, 43km/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 17% difference compared to the Italian car.

Opel 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 Italian car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. It all continues in the same direction, with Alfa Romeo 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 not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Alfa Romeo. 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.