Dacia Sandero Stepway Dual-fuel Dacia says hello
We’re familiar with the car – it’s the cheap fuel that really intrigues us. We’ve sourced a dual-fuel Dacia to determine whether running a car on LPG is practical in Britain
It’s something we’ve all cast an envious eye at before: the third entry at the bottom of an illuminated fuel prices sign. The one at Cobham Services near junction 10 of the M25 read ‘58.9 pence per litre’ when I went to pick up this Dacia Sandero Stepway with a difference for our long-term test fleet.
That’s the price of a litre of Autogas, the brand name for the most common form of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) you’ll find in the UK. That makes it about half the price of a litre of petrol or diesel or, in other words, rather appealing financially.
Despite a push at the turn of the century, however, LPG has not taken off in the UK. Unlike on the continent, no cars with a factoryfitted LPG tank are sold her, meaning a conversion is the only way to go if you want to drive on the cheapest fuel available on UK forecourts.
The gas industry wants to change that and is trying to get LPG back on the agenda as a ‘here and now’ solution to the UK’S well-publicised and pressing air-quality problems. With the government vowing to ban sales of new petrols and diesels in 2040, the LPG lobby argues that the infrastructure is already in place to support a less-polluting fuel that can make an immediate difference to air quality at a palatable cost.
So, to that end, we’re running the Sandero Stepway for six months to find out how well an Lpg-powered car works in Britain in 2017.
You’ll notice our car has Dutch numberplates and the steering wheel on the wrong side. Because manufacturers do not sell Lpgpowered cars directly to new-car buyers in the UK, we decided against a conversion and popped over the Channel where they do sell them. Are UK car buyers missing out? That’s one of the things we’ll be finding out.
So why a Sandero? Well, it’s the epitome of cheap motoring. The cheapest fuel on sale in the UK, in the cheapest car. Or in the words of Dacia’s Dutch website, run through Google Translate: “What is even smarter than a Dacia? A Dacia LPG!”
We had a Sandero on our f leet when it was launched, so are well versed in its simple charms, which haven’t diminished in the intervening period. This time it’s a Sandero Stepway, which is raised by 40mm compared to the standard car, has extra kit and looks more rugged. There’s not much difference in how they drive, although the Sandero Stepway has a softer ride.
The engine powering the car is the familiar 89bhp 0.9-litre turbocharged three-cylinder unit from myriad Dacia and Renault models. Our car has the same 50-litre petrol tank as Sanderos sold over here and will happily run on petrol all day as normal, but in addition has an LPG tank. It is 40 litres in capacity and sits in the boot in the space where a spare wheel would be.
The tank is round and unobtrusive, robbing no obvious usable boot capacity, and is a world away from the mental image of aftermarket LPG conversions that leave the car’s boot filled with gas cylinders.
The obvious difference is when you look behind the fuel filler cap. Next to the conventional petrol one is a smaller cap for the LPG. In the UK you need to screw a supplied adaptor into the LPG filling neck
each time you refill because pumps vary according to territory. To refill, you slot the pump over the adaptor, turn 90 degrees to lock it, pull the handle on the pump and latch it on, and then press the button on the dispenser to start filling. It’s really not as complicated as it sounds and dispenses fuel at the speed of the slower petrol pumps you might find on an older forecourt. Just watch out for the pump making you jump with a big release of pressure when you unlatch the handle afterwards.
There’s only one difference inside between an Lpg-powered Sandero compared to a regular one: a little low-tech dial next to the gearlever. The dial indicates how much fuel is left in the LPG tank and tells you whether you’re running on petrol or LPG, with the option to switch between the two. We have a full tank of petrol on board for emergencies but don’t plan to use it during the car’s six months here or this would all be a bit pointless, wouldn’t it?
The fuel is cheap, then, so what of the car compared to a standard Sandero? It’s a bit like comparing apples and oranges given the differences in taxation and various incentives and rates, and the fact that our car is one of the last prefacelift versions. Setting all that aside, an Lpg-powered Sandero Stepway will cost ¤15,380 (£13,490) in the Netherlands compared with ¤15,980 (£14,017) for a conventional petrol one.
In the UK, a Sandero Stepway is much cheaper to begin with (£8995£10,995 for this engine, depending on the trim) before you consider the different taxation system. But when cars equipped with factory-fitted LPG tanks were sold in the UK at the turn of the century, they cost about £1000-£1200 more than their petrolpowered equivalents. Let’s imagine that it would cost from £10,000 here.
This will be the long-term test of the calculator and credit card as much as the car. How many LPG fuel stations are there? How does the economy compare with a petrol car? Is it really cheaper? How often do you have to fill up? How many people could benefit from switching to LPG? I’ll be channelling my inner Carol Vorderman to find out.
❝ The gas industry is trying to get LPG on the agenda as a solution to air-quality problems ❞
OWN ONE? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE mark.tisshaw@haymarket.com