Stepway to affordable estate heaven

THIS week, a car I was driving had a puncture, which got me thinking. Do we suffer fewer punctures today than we did, say, 30 years ago?

Car manufacturers certainly assume we do because so many of them no longer include a spare wheel for their cars, or they charge extra for them, instead providing a can of sealant and compressor.

The last time I was on the side of the road with a flat was about five years ago in a Porsche Boxster. Again, no spare, just a can of squirt that unusually actually worked. This week I was in a new Dacia Logan MCV Stepway. And Dacia commits the same crime as many manufacturers by charging extra for a spare wheel.

At least being Dacia it is cheap at £100. Should be free though, especially on our top-of-the-range SE Summit which sits above the Laureate trim.

As you have probably realised by now I’m a big Dacia fan.

I love unpretentious motors and nobody does them better than Renault’s Romanian brand. That said, the Logan MCV (Maximum Capacity Vehicle) is the least attractive and most Dacia Logan MCV Stepway Summit TCE 90 five-door estate

Price: £12,295

Engine: 0.9-litre three-cylinder, 90bhp 0-62mph: 12.4sec

Fuel consumption: 55.4mpg

utilitarian of the range. Only the Dokker van, which we don’t get in the UK, is more workmanlike.

Pretty, the Logan is not, but we’re testing the recently launched and facelifted Stepway version which in Summit spec includes 16in dark grey alloys, a ride height increased by 46mm compared to the normal MCV, tinted glass, satin chrome roof bars and plastic wheelarch protectors. Without

This is the new Ducati V4 engine that will be fitted to the company’s next generation of Panigale superbike. The new motor, which displaces 1,103cc, is derived from Ducati’s Moto GP engine and will produce a staggering 210bhp at 13,000rpm. Ducati will...