Test Drive: DACIA Sandero Stepway 1.6 MPI - 2009

A few months back we got the chance to test one of the cheapest hatchbacks on the planet, the Dacia Sandero. With a somewhat odd styling for a modern car and some pretty beefed up (height wise) suspension, the little Sandero fared pretty well for a car costing as much as a feature on a luxury car.

Its only major flaws were the lack of modern options and an engine and gearbox with 1980's technology, but other than those and the somewhat passe styling, the Sandero scored a decent amount of points. In the mean time, first rumors and then spyshots continued to pour in about a compact SUV that Dacia will unveil in the following year.

Probably thinking it might as well offer its customers a preview of what it's like to drive a Dacia compact SUV, they decided to first unveil a modified Sandero. By "modified" we don't necessarily mean a prequel to the Dacia SUV, but a more rugged-looking Sandero, with a design closer to a compact crossover/SUV than a hatchback.

Compared to the regular Sandero, the Stepway is almost two centimeters (about an inch) higher - by way of a suspension with increased travel – and has a body kit that makes the car look ready to tackle the Baja 1000. OK, we kid about the last bit, but it sure does look off-road ready, doesn't it?

We got the chance to spend some time behind the wheel of a Sandero Stepway 1.6 MPI, so in most of the chapters - if not all – we will compare it with the Sandero 1.6 MPI we tested earlier. Some may call the Stepway just another trim level on the Sandero, while others see a new model. Considering the technical differences are pretty big between the two, we'll consider it a new model just in the same way we consider the Subaru Outback a different car compared to a Legacy Wagon.

The rugged-looking bodykit is the first thing you notice when seeing a Sandero Stepway. Too bad pretty much all of the silver inserts all around the car are made of plastic and make absolutely no difference in the car's off-roading ability. The increased ground clearance is the second thing you notice different about the car compared to the Sandero, and this bit actually makes a lot of difference in its off-roading capability.

Sir May B. Bach's Opinion

I know, I promised myself I would never... ahem... ever climb in a Dacia again. After I drove that... ahem... Ecto 1... or Logan MCV... whatever it's called, I had to take a two weeks leave from running my self-made empire because I had to puke all day and all night. After riding in the horrifying Sandero I became... ahem... chronically depressed. Now you guys made me drive another atrocity by Dacia... the Sandero Stepway.
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Unfortunately, the Sandero Stepway's interior is available in a single trim level, and it's not exactly the cheeriest one Dacia designers could find. Obviously, the design of every button and every knob is identical to the one from the regular Sandero and the Logan/Logan MCV. The only thing setting the Stepway apart from those is the darker color for the "aluminium" plastic inserts on the center console.

3D Interior Panorama

>> Click to view the interior panorama

Since all the passengers, including the driver, are sitting at an SUV-like height, the overall visibility in the Dacia Sandero Stepway is quite a good step above your average subcompact hatchback. Did we say "step"? More like an entire ladder. To put things into perspective, the regular Dacia Sandero sits high enough for a car in its class, with a ground clearance of 16.5 centimeters (6.5 inches). If you think that's high, learn that the Sandero Stepway has no less than 18 centimeters (7.1 inches) of ground clearance. That's as high as some crossover/SUVs out there.

Lou Cheeka's Opinion

This is just the kind of car I need in order for my neighbors to "howdy!" me every time they see me. It looks almost as "butch" and intimidating as an 'merican truck, though at only a quarter of the price and about 1/8 of the size. The fuel consumption is not much better though, I would have rather tested the dCi model if I would have been you guys.
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Until the Kanjara/Duster compact SUV hits the markets in 2010, the Sandero Stepway is the closest thing to a four-by-four in the current Dacia model line-up. Without having an all-wheel drive system – albeit it sure looks like a small SUV – the Stepway can really hold its own on more-than-rough roads. We're talking cross-country mountain roads with huge potholes, where a high ground clearance is vital.

Mary's Opinion

You know, I've been wondering for quite some time now what is the cheapest Sport Utility Vehicle in the world. When I first saw the Dacia Sandero Stepway and read the price sheet I thought I had finally gotten my answer, only to be immediately contradicted by the rest of the guys.
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Just like the normal Sandero we tested earlier, the Sandero Stepway we drove came equipped with the best trim level available. There is a problem with this fact, though. You see, unlike the regular Sandero, the Stepway doesn't have a "Prestige" trim level. It only has one trim level as a matter of fact, and it is a bit basic, to say the least.

Charles Darveight's opinion

Although I'm a fan of Sir May B Bach, I hate his stupid habit of carrying at least a pair of extremely weird and expensive dogs with him all the time. And you know what? What I hate even more is the fact that these poop-making machines have to follow him everywhere: inside people's homes, in cars, on boats (which already cost a fortune), etc.
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You'll have to admit that only 90 horsepower and 128 Nm (94.4 lb ft) of torque are underachieving figures from a modern 1.6-liter gasoline engine. Well, the thing is that the engine found under the hood of the Dacia Sandero Stepway we tested is as far from modern as saying "neat" instead of "cool" or "awesome". Identical to the one from the Sandero 1.6 MPI we drove before, it managed to provide even less impressive figures, both from the performance or the fuel economy point of view.

The antique two valves per cylinder arrangement and the multipoint indirect injection manage to "steal" pretty much from the engine's potential. To give you guys an idea of how old this engine's conception is, you should just learn that it was introduced for the first time in this form in the early nineties, on the first generation of the Renault Megane.

To put it in short, the engine is the least powerful 1.6-liter in its class, while the fuel economy it provides is mighty far from being efficient, especially on a car such as the Sandero Stepway. As we mentioned in the regular Sandero 1.6 MPI test drive, we did like its power and torque curves, which are pretty flat, therefore making it pretty OK for city driving since you don't have to change gears so often.

Naturally, the lack of oomph at higher rpm is present on the Stepway as well, while the Renault-sourced JH five-speed transmission is as imprecise as on the regular Sandero. Also, another problem with the gearbox is the way you put it into reverse. There was more than one occasion when we got it into fourth instead of reverse, since they are so close together. Other than that, every technical bit is identical with the ones found on the normal Sandero, except for the McPherson suspension, which has a longer travel.

If you thought the Sandero or the Logan have basic equipment, wait till you hear about the Stepway. Probably in an effort to keep the overall costs under control, Dacia decided to only invest in an updated look for the exterior. Not only did the interior not get any major upgrade, it even has LESS equipment than the most basic Sandero.

For starters, the car only has front electrically actuated windows, while the rear passengers have to do with manual ones. Do you think that's bad? The Sandero Stepway we drove was also equipped with manually-operated rear view mirrors, making it impossible for the driver to adjust the mirror from the right during driving.

OK, so the gadgets are even more limited than in its "non-Stepway" brothers, but there was another accessory which probably shouldn't even miss from the cheapest car there is. We're talking about the onboard computer, which isn't available even as an option, at least for the time being.

It's actually pretty annoying to calculate the fuel consumption only by going to the petrol station and refueling. Apart from the Blaupunkt rather basic MP3 CD-player model and the manual air conditioning unit we couldn't find a single other "gadget" worth mentioning, making the Stepway the least equipped modern car we drove these past few years.

Since the Stepway is not only based on the same platform, but is actually the same car as the regular Sandero - sitting on a higher ground clearance and with slightly more weight - we will just refer to the Sandero test drive for the safety bit.

As we mentioned before, the model was tested twice by the EuroNCAP organization because it is available with two "safety packs". The first one received only three stars out of five, mainly because it wasn't even fitted with side protection airbags, while the second one got four stars.

The "fully loaded" safety pack gets thorax and head-protecting airbags for the front passengers, among the other minimum active and passive safety features, such as the Bosch 8.1 anti-lock braking system, the emergency brake assist system, the two frontal airbags and the front seatbelt pretentioners with load limiters.

Our test car was equipped with the second safety pack, thus including the side-bags, making us guess that it would also receive four stars at the EuroNCAP (as safe as the normal Sandero). All in all, the Stepway has approximately 100 extra kilograms (220 pounds) over its little brother, so we can assume it would fare a little better in an accident. Then again, the car is also taller, thus more likely to spin off the road...

Obviously, the biggest advantage of the Sandero Stepway over its little brother resides in its ability to go where no other Dacia has ever gone before. The gigantic (for a small car such as this) ground clearance and the suspension's travel level almost any pothole or road imperfection, making it the perfect car for a beginner driver. Wherever there's a road, the Stepway can drive over it, no matter how bad it is. Of course, the lack of an all-wheel drive system should keep you away from the off-road course, but the ground clearance and the short overhangs are almost trail ready.

We kind of struggled to find a really bad point in the Stepway, not because it doesn't have any but because they were too many. In the end we agreed about the lack of basic features. No electrically-actuated side mirrors or rear windows and no onboard computer for the fuel consumption. These might seem to be minor glitches for a car costing under ten thousand euros but they've pretty transformed from gadgets to necessity in recent times (circa 1980s).

The ugly bit about the Sandero Stepway we tested is most likely the engine and gearbox combo. The engine lacks a lot of power and is not quite fuel efficient while the gearbox had a pretty hard way of selecting reverse. Also, since it's not synchronized it has a very "rubbery" feel when changing gears. A new, more powerful and more efficient engine choice in the future would most likely erase this "ugly part" from our test drive.