DACIA Sandero Review

When discussing the comfort features of a car like the Sandero, one tends to exaggerate. Road test editors around the world either boasted the fact that the car offers spectacular comfort for its price, while others pretty much compared it to a donkey cart. We will try not to fall in either pit, and instead focus on the amenities we actually found on this low-priced means of transportation for the young families out there (press release wooden language, not ours).

Besides the second hand choice which many people take when in the market for a cheap and decently-equipped automobile, the Sandero is pretty much the epitome of low-cost transportation for the masses of poor newly-weds out there. Our test car was quipped with the "Prestige" level of equipment, which in "Dacia language" means it's pretty much the top dog among all its versions.

Sure, "Prestige" might sound like a bit far off when talking about the comfort features found inside, but we wouldn't actually compare this car to the aforementioned donkey cart. The interior space is more than enough to carry four, or even five medium-sized passengers (including the driver, naturally), while the overall ambiance is that of a car a bit more expensive. What exactly does buying a Sandero "Prestige" get you compared to the other, cheaper versions, you may ask?

Well, the first thing you notice upon entering the car is that its interior is much more brightly colored, thanks to the beige inserts on the seats and on the dashboard. At first glance it almost looks (and feels) like a much more expensive car. Sure, that impression fades away as soon as you begin touching the bulky control knobs for the air conditioning unit. Speaking of AC, this isn't exactly a well-thought out feature in the Sandero, since it pretty much has only two modes - gentle breeze or glacial hurricane (and yes, we're well aware there's no such thing as a hurricane at the North Pole).

Other than that, the Sandero is actually rather comfy. The seating position could have been a little more adjustable, especially for the driver, but on the whole we didn't find that many excuses not to consider this car a genuine alternative for the pauperized car-searchers out there. Also, the suspension does a very good job in keeping all those pesky road imperfection off passengers' bottoms. If we could describe the comfort features found in our Sandero test car with only one word, we would probably have to struggle between "decent" and "sufficient".

As we mentioned before, the two-valve per cylinder four banger under the hood isn't quite a provider of modern engine technology. In fact, this was probably an engineering prerequisite while Renault and Dacia engineers were working on the Logan project. Just like the Logan and the Logan MCV, pretty much everything about the Sandero is KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

There is no fancy direct injection, only a good ol' multipoint one and frankly we were a bit surprised Dacia doesn't offer a carbureted version of this, since that is even cheaper and easier to fix when (and mostly IF) it's broken. By limiting the number of valves per cylinder to two, they minimized the engine's performance as to pave a longer way to its 16-valve variant (not available on the Sandero so far), which in the eyes of its buyers might sound like a totally new engine.

Still, even if it isn't very high-tech, the 1.6 liter gasoline engine pretty much gets the job done, as long as you're not the "overachiever" type. Its main quality should be the rather flat torque curve, which influences a very relaxed driving, with few gear changes. The five-speed transmission on the other hand could have had better ratios, and by "better" we mean shorter. Also, its overall shifting precision precision lack a lot of finesse.

The KISS principle is also followed by the suspension, with a McPherson up-front and a semi-rigid in the rear. Despite its simplicity and the pretty high ground clearance, its setup is almost perfect, providing a very nice and unexpected compromise between comfort on bad roads and a good roadholding at a more dynamic pace.

The Dacia Sandero, even when equipped with the top Prestige trim, isn't the kind of car you'd expect the James Bond producers to include in the next installment of 007. Since the price is basic, so is the car's equipment. The necessities are there, mind you, even though the standard equipment is rather limited.

As we mentioned before, the manual air conditioning unit works just fine if you only prefer a weak gust of wind or a freezing F5 tornado. Sure, there are four levels of ventilation, but somehow the two levels in between aren't providing much of transition between "soft" and "hard". The leather (a first for a Dacia) steering wheel is height-adjustable, in manual fashion of course.

There are four non-automatic electric windows, whose controls are spread in one of the most non-ergonomical way possible. The buttons which command the front windows are gigantic and sit almost upright on the center console. the ones for the rear passengers are even worse positioned, between the front seats. This makes them non-accessible for both the front and the rear passengers.

The lateral mirrors are electrically adjustable, but not electrically-foldable. The folding part is made manually, with some very strange noises included we might add. Apart from the aforementioned, there aren't that many gizmos or electrically-operated stuff in the Sandero, even in Prestige form.

The Dacia Sandero was tested by EuroNCAP in 2008, twice. Not because it was something wrong with it, but because there are actually two "standard" safety packs available for this model. One has almost nothing included and the other one one is about decent. The Sandero NOT equipped with side thorax and head-protecting airbags scored only three stars. Fortunately, another test was carried using a version similarly equipped with our test car, which scored a somewhat sufficient four stars.

Obviously, this is the version we would advise you to buy, since apart from the four-star rating at EuroNCAP and the side thorax and head-airbags it also comes equipped with front seatbelt pretensioners and a more refined load-limiter, all part of the aforementioned "safety pack". Yes, we're well aware this safety pack should actually be standard no matter how the rest of the car is equipped but hey, Dacia isn't the only one doing this.

The active safety equipment just became a bit richer this year on the whole Dacia range, including the Sandero, with the addition of the emergency brake assistance system on all its models. The electronic stability program is still missing even from the options list, so that is a pretty low point. Our test car was thus equipped with a Bosch 8.1 anti-lock braking system, the aforementioned emergency brake assistant and that's about it for active safety.

Just like the its Logan and Logan MCV facelift brothers, the Sandero comes equipped with ventilated discs at the front and drum brakes at the rear, which make it rather normal in its class, especially considering its very low weight (only a bit over a tonne). On the whole, the Sandero is far from being the safest car in its class, but in the form we tested it it's just around the middle of the pack.

For almost any modern Dacia, Sandero included, the best reason for looking at one is first of all the price. Then comes the equipment/price ratio, and in the end its desirability (brand image, design, etc.). We know that might sound a bit (a lot actually) superficial, and we apologize. The Sandero 1.6 MPI is not JUST about the price. It's not cute, but it isn't the ugliest car either. It's not fast or very economical but it gets the job done. As we mentioned before, the keyword for defining this model should probably be "sufficient". The Sandero 1.6 MPI is THE car for young people on the lookout for a very cheap, adequately equipped means of transportation.

We could extrapolate more on our test car's bad sides, but if we look at the big picture, the only real downside might be just the engine. It's not powerful enough to give you trouble-free passing on the highway and its fuel consumption is pretty far from being the best in its class. With that said, if Dacia people would make up their mind and offer the fuel economy-friendly 85 horsepower 1.5 dCi mill on the Sandero also, this would be pretty much the perfect car for young people wich are a bit low on budget.

The ugly part about the Dacia Sandero is most definitely its exterior design. The main problem doesn't reside in its front, for example, since it actually looks cute from that angle. The side view also doesn't look out of place, nor does the rear. The main problem, just like on the MCV and the Logan, is its humongous height. The body is so tall that it messes up the classic hatchback proportions for good. Overall though, this isn't quite the ugliest thing on four wheels out there.