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DACIA Logan MCV Review

OUR TEST CAR: DACIA Logan MCV 1.5 dCI (85 hp)

 
DACIA Logan MCV  - Page - 1
Dacia started making cars in 1968, after the Romanian government made a deal with Renault about acquiring the design and tooling for the Renault 12 model. Interestingly, the Renault 12 was launched just before the Dacia 1300 clone started production at the factory built near Pitesti, Romania. After approximately 10 years, the Renault contract had expired, but the Dacia 1300 and all its variants continued production with various facelifts until 2006, when a double cab pickup based on the same design exited the plant's doors for the last time.

Although on their own for almost twenty years, the Romanians from Dacia did moderately well, being able during this time to even launch a model from scratch, the Nova. Of course, when thinking about other well-known car brands, launching a model designed from scratch is a piece of Tiramisu cake, but keep in mind we're talking about an ex-communist country with pretty much no automobile manufacturing history prior to this.

Things had started to go down hill for Dacia in the mid-nineties, when they were still selling (or trying to sell?) upgraded versions of the Renault 12-based car along the in-house-developed Nova. So it happens that Renault once again came to the rescue of the ailing Romanian car manufacturers, only this time they bought the whole company and started work for designing the cheapest modern sedan in the world.

In 2004, this work paid off and the Dacia Logan was launched, which has become in recent years the epitome of cheap and basic transportation in several countries. First offered only in a sedan version, it can now be had in a hatch version called Sandero, a small and rugged pick-up called... drum roll... Pick Up, a spacious station wagon with up to seven seats called Logan MCV, and a wagon-based light commercial vehicle called Logan Van.

We tested the seven-seater version of the Logan MCV, equipped with the slow but fuel conscious 1.5-liter common rail turbodiesel with 85 horsepower. After these recession times, if this turns out to become the future of basic family transportation, don't call us Nostradamus.

The Logan MCV, technically just like all Dacias ever made, is not exactly the prettiest girl at the prom. It's more like the girl that should have stayed home filling up on Rocky Road and watching cheesy B-rated romantic movies. The front facia isn't that bad looking, especially since our test car consisted of the facelift model, with new slimmer headlights and a re-designed grill and bumper.

The only downside might be the re-designed Dacia logo, which looks either like a piece of modern art or exactly like a beer bottle opener, whichever you prefer. The design of the rear is also on the upper scale of "niceness", looking like a cross between an utility van and an elevated station wagon.

The main problem which we encountered design-wise is the way it looks from the side. We are even inclined to believe that Dacia Logan MCV designers took a shelved Logan light commercial vehicle project, added a few inches in length and height, threw in a couple of extra side windows and called it a day. Also, the similarity between this people-carrier and a hearse is a joke so passe it's not even funny anymore.

From certain angles it looks like a bloated station wagon on a diet of enough Mexican food to keep you on the toilet for a week. Not a very pretty sight, we know. Even though it's far from being the all time ugly duckling in today's automotive world, the Logan MCV would look more appropriate design-wise in the early nineties or the end of the 1980s.

Most of its ugly bits consist of the aggressive height, which is of course there to provide ample space that is used mainly for the passenger's heads and the flat side windows, which hark back to the 1970s era of design.

A well-known catchphrase from the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series was "Space: The Final Frontier". Well, it seems that the engineers in charge of the Logan MCV brief included Jean-Luc Picard fans when they decided how much headroom this car was going to have. Somewhere between a mid-size minivan and a compact, there isn't exactly enough space to fit a handball team in perfect comfort, but there are still up to seven seats available. By coincidence, our test car was equipped with the seven seats package, in a 2-3-2 configuration.

Although the overall space is more than enough from the lowest point in the vehicle to the highest, the legroom isn't something to brag about, especially considering you're going to fill it up with seven different individuals. In other words, those seven people should be really close friends in order to coexist in peace during a longer journey in the Logan MCV. This especially considering that, besides some space for your beverages flanking the two rear seats, there isn't that much storage available.

For example, the only storage space available for the passengers in the middle is a small travel bag or a murse on their laps, IF they do carry one with each other. Other than that, there's the medium-sized glove compartment and front door pockets enough to fit a few Coke bottles into them. Sure, there are a a few optional features to improve this "lack of storage spaces" situation, but out test car didn't have them.

The fit and finish of the interior is abounding with good and bad exclamations. First, the bad: the plastics are as horrendous as in almost any 90's commercial vehicle, but we'll let this slide considering it costs almost half than the cheapest seven-seater out there. On the good side, the fit is not exactly what you'd expect from a low-cost car such as this one, and the main reason for this is the one-piece dashboard. This makes it pretty hard for any random pieces to detach themselves from one another, so the whole dashboard gives a pretty solid feeling for such an inexpensive vehicle.

The worst part about fitting a car so short (4.5 meters, or 176.2 inches) with seven seats is of course the fact that the luggage compartment is almost non-existent, with only 198 liters (7 cubic feet) available behind the two seats in the rear. Of course, you can - very easily we might add – retract either the two seats in the back or/and the middle bench, thus creating enough space for a game of Twister – 2350 liters (83 cubic feet).

Also, the interior is far from being at least mildly ergonomic from a number of reasons. First of all, the switches for the front windows are on the center console, while the ones for the rear are between the front seats, in a place hard to reach both by the driver AND the rear passengers. Second of all, the knob for controlling the tilt of the exterior rear view mirrors is placed just under the handbrake lever. It's like the project managers first imagined this car without power windows and mirrors, which were later added to the interior as a last-minute finishing touch.

Fitted with a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-banger diesel with common rail, the Logan MCV 1.5 dCI doesn't exactly deliver supercar performance. Also available in a cheaper, 70 hp version, our test car had the "fire-breathing" 85 hp variant, which, apart from the sluggish power delivery on almost every step of the power scale, provides an impressive fuel economy. In the three-day period we had the MCV on our hands, most of the driving was done in a busy city, with stop-and-go traffic.

Well, despite not the best conditions, the overall fuel economy didn't exceed the 6.2 liters per 100 kilometers (US 38 mpg) mark. Considering this is a compact seven-seater, we find that more than impressive. Living in the city with a car like this isn't such an easy feat though, if we take into account a few more details. The car has a wheelbase almost as long as the one of a Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse, which doesn't exactly "feels good" in a crowded city. Parking is also not facilitated by the oddly-shaped D-pillars, which curve upwards, restricting visibility towards some angles to the rear of the car.

On the other hand, the overall visibility and parking on the kerb is positively influenced by the almost SUV-like 16 centimeters (6.3 inches) of ground clearance. This, with the help of the flat and mildly-high lateral windows give you the impression of driving the G-Klasse Popemobile, with very good visibility around the vehicle whenever you find yourself in a "tight" situation. Also, you should consider the car lacks parking sensors.

All in all, the fuel consumption is way below the average of what we've recently tested, especially considering the amount of seats available in the MCV, almost making us feel as snub as a Prius driver. Still, on the whole, this is not a car made to be used exclusively in the city, since it's not quite easy to park.

With seven seats spread around an igloo-like interior and a relatively high ground clearance, the Dacia Logan MCV looks like a good choice for taking trips through the outdoors. With an 85 hp and 200 Nm (147.5 lb ft) of torque, you can't expect much dynamic qualities from this vehicle though. The naught to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration is a struggling 14.6 seconds, which coincidentally is just about the same time as the two rear passengers will take to jump into their seats through the lateral rear doors. In other words, this is a cheap family vehicle and that's about it.

The small oil-burner under the hood is enough to propel the car to a maximum speed of 163 km/h (101 mph), which of course makes it pretty obsolete on a de-restricted portion of Autobahn. Its only qualities are a rather low level of sonic pollution, even though the MCV's engine compartment isn't exactly covered in sound insulation, and a very small fuel consumption.

We fail to comprehend why Dacia engineers didn't design a larger fuel tank for the it, since its current 50 liters are enough to a maximum driving range of about 1000 kilometers (620 miles). Imagine this car with a 70 liter tank, you'd be breaking long distance records with your family on a single refuel.

The fuel economy during a relaxed drive on the highway at 110-120 km/h (70-75 mph) can go as low as 4 liters per 100 kilometers (US 59 mpg). This is indeed in new Toyota Prius territory. Now for the bad things about taking the MCV on a stroll outside the city: No, we didn't expect a majestic interior silence at cruising speeds, but after 100 km/h (62 mph) or so, the sound of a giant piece of furniture breaking through the air is easily recognizable inside. Also, although comfortable during lower speeds, the suspension acts like a substitute for a boat simulator at highway speeds. The floating-in-high-waves sensation is only just a little bit suppressed by the gigantic wheelbase, otherwise all the passengers would become sea-sick after a single ride.
12
57user rating 40 votes
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autoevolution Apr 2009
39
History
4
Exterior
2
Interior
2
In the city
6
Open road
4
Comfort
4
Tech facts
4
Gadgets
3
Safety
4
Conclusion
6
57user rating 40 votes
Rate this car!
 
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