Less is more
DACIA SANDERO COMFORT TCE 90
£11,595
FOR Improves on the old car in every way. Smart looking, spacious and great value
AGAINST Very little that can’t be explained away by its tiny price
It’s easy to build a car cheaply You just have to cut corners Do the bare minimum Fashion the dashboard out of polystyrene Beg borrow or steal engines and platforms other manufacturers have long since mothballed Pay the designer in ‘exposure’ and buy o the shelf infotainment systems The results are usually pretty poor
But Dacia appears to have done precisely none of those things The new Sandero and we’re talking all new here sits on the same platform as the current gen Renault Clio and Nissan Juke It uses e cient modern engines Most versions have a six speed gearbox It looks smart and inside has more than enough space enough for five people and their luggage And though Euro NCAP hasn’t tested it yet the Sandero even promises to be pretty safe The new platform is stronger and more rigid plus every model gets no fewer than six airbags and automatic emergency braking The outgoing Sandero which we like very much looks and feels cheap This new one doesn’t Not as much anyway Even though prices start at less than half what you’ll pay nowadays for an entry level Ford Fiesta or Vauxhall Corsa It’s bewildering
Admittedly nobody actually buys the cheapest Sandero Less than one per cent of Sanderos sold are the entry level Access model which doesn’t even have a radio The vast majority of customers upgrade in pursuit of a better engine and more equipment
But the most you can spend on a new Sandero is a still outrageously reasonable That buys you all available tech including cruise control Apple CarPlay keyless entry climate control and a parking camera and a CVT automatic gearbox The Sandero Stepway is a bit more expensive with prices starting at and rising to The pseudo crossover with mm extra ground clearance and a more rugged looking body accounts for per cent of Sandero sales in the UK
The cheapest Sandero comes with a naturally aspirated litre engine with just bhp and a five speed manual gearbox Dacia calls it the ‘SCe ’ Mid range ‘Essential’ spec upwards gets the option of the ‘TCe ’ turbocharged litre with bhp and a six speed manual gearbox or CVT auto There is no diesel because diesels are complicated and expensive but Dacia does o er a bi fuel Sandero that can run on LPG stored in a tank that replaces the spare wheel Curious
The TCe is unsurprisingly the one you want There’s enough power for the day to day no annoying peaks or troughs in its delivery doesn’t make too much noise and the noise it does make isn’t unpleasant The new six speed gearbox is a bit whiny but smooth and easy going and the brakes work handy
Not in the least bit sporting of course Which is fine because the Sandero makes precisely no promises in that regard It rolls but the steering is light and easy and the ride copes well enough with Britain’s uniquely terrible B roads It’s very easy to drive smoothly All in all there are no nasty surprises here It’s a tidy comfy grown up car to potter around in with a deal more finesse than its price would suggest Even works on the motorway where the new Sandero is noticeably more refined and stable than the old one
Refinement is the overriding theme inside Material quality is improved though still a rung beneath the Fiesta and Clio Everything is robust and hardwearing There’s no flimsiness and the design is leagues ahead of the old car’s with a strip of textured fabric that runs the width of the dash and covers the armrests on the doors and a more modern fascia
The top spec Comfort model gets the inch touchscreen pictured with built in mount for your phone o to one side and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto The user interface is straightforward and uncomplicated and the screen responds faithfully to your prods and swipes but doesn’t do/o er much in the way of functionality versus more expensive superminis Most lesser Sanderos get a more serious phone mount instead of a centre screen Idea is you download and run the Dacia media control app and do everything through that
There’s seating for five in the Sandero Rear legroom is up mm from the old car a six footer can comfortably sit behind someone of the same height without their knees hard up against the back of the front seat which is rare in a car of this size/type and the boot is bigger too The rear seats fold not flat increasing capacity from to litres That’s supermini size and space for often sub city car money
It won’t bring a smile to your face in the same way a Ford Fiesta does but that’s fine The Sandero is not a car for drivers and doesn’t claim to be Comfy enough and gets you where you need to go without fuss or fanfare It’s workaday and that’s a compliment If you don’t in the least bit care about cars this is probably what you should buy And if you do care about cars and choose to buy something else just be happy that cheap simple cars like the Sandero still exist
This new one is much improved over the old car with a smarter design inside and out loads of space more modern tech and decent road manners It makes no promises it cannot keep and absolutely nails the brief Renault/ Dacia set for it simple spacious motoring for pennies on the pound Big tick
“IT’S A TIDY, COMFY CAR WITH A DEAL MORE FINESSE THAN ITS PRICE WOULD SUGGEST”