We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Audi being a executive car and the Volvo representing luxury car vehicle class. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 30-valves 193hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 272hp engine designed by Volvo.

The fact that the Volvo got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. The first vehicle is a executive car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the luxury car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Swedish car offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

Reliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Volvo does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Audi with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Volvo badge with 4.6 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed A8 as average reliability-wise, and S80 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the German car rank it on average as 4.9, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Volvo is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.2 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 250 kilometers per hour, 14km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the German car, averaging around 9.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (29 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 14% difference compared to the Swedish car.

Audi 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 Swedish 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 Volvo being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Volvo. 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. 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.