The Sandero keeps accumulating miles at breakneck speed, for two important reasons. First, it always seems to be convenient in conflicting roles, such as easily carrying four adults while fitting down narrow suburban streets. Second, it’s frugal and has a fairly big petrol tank, so it hardly ever seems to need refuelling, which is especially handy in the present circumstances.
One frustration is that I haven’t managed to get the trip computer’s running fuel economy figure to the 50mpg that my initial gentle treatment promised. It seems to have settled at 48.9mpg and hardly changes whatever I do. But that figure matters even less now, because recent accurate checks of the fuel computer’s veracity have established that it’s exactly 1mpg optimistic, so the real running figure is 47.9mpg.
One recent interesting episode was spending a week in a Renault Clio powered by the same 1.0-litre petrol turbo engine as the Dacia’s – and riding on the same platform – to clock the differences. The fact that the Stepway has a slightly lumpier ride and creates a bit more road noise is understandable enough, given that there looks to be £3000-ish extra value in it.
Proof that the new Stepway is as attractive as any supermini lies in the fact that people who don’t study car brand hierarchy simply see no status difference between this latest Dacia and, say, the Volkswagen Polo. The previous Stepway was much more styled to stay in its pigeonhole. But the nub of the matter is more fundamental. Whereas the previous Stepway was content to undercut its supermini peers and be happy with that, the new one offers at least the same price advantage yet is quite prepared to challenge its betters anyway. That approach gives the car a powerful and enduring appeal.Dacia’s designers have found ways to modernise the Stepway’s shape and toughen its character.It’s smooth and quite powerful, but the engine’s uneven mid-range response can be annoying.
James May is that you?
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: autocar - 🏆 93. / 67 Read more »
Source: CARmagazine - 🏆 382. / 55 Read more »
Source: motorauthority - 🏆 61. / 68 Read more »
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »
Source: CoinDesk - 🏆 291. / 63 Read more »