DACIA Sandero Stepway Review

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.

For one thing, there are no electrically-operated rear view mirrors. And we really mean there aren't any. Not even optional. In other words, if you want to change the way the rearview mirror on the right is positioned you have to either lean over the front passenger or have orangutan hands. Not a very comfortable choice either way.

Getting to the other comfort areas, the Stepway actually feels like a totally different car compared to the normal Sandero. The raised suspension can practically soak in everything you throw at it: every speed bump, every tram line or every pothole, without even reducing your speed. Obviously, the 15-inch tires with rather high side walls play a pretty important role in this equation but most of the work is handled by the increased suspension travel. So, only top marks in this area.

Even though the trim level was pretty basic, as we said, the interior on our test car wasn't exactly identical to a lower-spec Sandero/Logan. We say this because the color of the "aluminium" plastic inserts in the interior was darker than in any other Dacia, be it the Logan, the Logan MCV or the normal Sandero. Everything else is absolutely identical, so the comfort marks will also be similar.

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.