Similarly priced to the Kia Picanto, the Dacia Sandero is one of the most affordable cars available new in the United Kingdom at the moment of reporting. The 2024 model year adds more choice and power in the form of two new trim levels (Sandero Journey and Stepway Extreme), a new engine (TCe 110), and a new transmission (CVT).
Available to order from April 3, the Sandero Journey kicks off at £15,795 on-the-road or $19,935 at current exchange rates. What are you getting for your money? For starters, 16-inch alloy wheels dubbed Randia and black-painted side mirrors. Very popular with Duster customers, the Journey grade further sweetens the deal with a shark-fin antenna and a center armrest with console storage.
Standard goodies also include a removable phone support, door sill protectors, and a flexible trunk floor. Automatic air conditioning, a backup camera, rear parking sensors, an electronic parking brake, 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment with DAB radio, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto also need to be mentioned, along with the aforementioned CVT.
The continuously variable transmission is an optional extra, though, and for some reason or another, it's compatible with the TCe 90 three-pot turbo only. The TCe 110 comes with a manual in the Sandero Stepway Extreme exclusively. As implied, it belts out 110 metric ponies (108 hp).
Peak torque is 200 Nm (148 pound-feet) at 2,900 revolutions per minute, which isn't too shabby for a displacement of 999 cubic centimeters in a car that weighs nearly 1.2 tons. However, 10-odd seconds to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour) makes the Sandero Stepway Extreme TCe 110 rather slow by modern subcompact car standards.
Photo: Dacia
Dacia UK advertises this version at £18,645 on-the-road or $23,530 at current exchange rates. Lower down the spectrum, prospective customers are presented with the TCe 100 bi-fuel engine, the TCe 90 CVT, and the TCe 90 MT. Curiously enough, Dacia UK refers to the continuously variable transmission as being an automatic, which implies a torque converter à la the ZF 9HP for transverse applications and the ZF 8HP for longitudinal applications.
Even though it works harder than the TCe 100 bi-fuel and TCe 90, the TCe 110 is frugal at 45.6 miles per gallon on the WLTP combined test cycle. That's nearly 38 miles per gallon in the United States, meaning 6.2 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers.
Starting April 2024, the Sandero and Sandero Stepway for the United Kingdom are GSR2 compliant. The European General Safety Regulation 2 mostly comprises enhanced ADAS features, including advanced emergency braking, lane keeping assist, and intelligent speed assist.
Last year, the Renault-owned Dacia brand sold 562,890 vehicles in the Old Continent. The Sandero moved 269,899 units, whereas the Duster crossover ranked second overall with 200,633 deliveries.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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