There are a lot of fast cars out there; from a speed icon like the BMW M3, to a thumping great Mustang up to the eye-wateringly beautiful (but expensive) Lamborghini Aventador, there’s something for everyone. But that’s a lie. There isn’t something for everyone because not everyone can go out and spend a cool £60,000 on an M3 or stroll into a Lamborghini dealership and leave with the keys to one of their raging bulls. Alas, it seems that for those that want to have some brand new fun on a budget you are stuck trawling through the pages of your local FreeAds or on internet auction sites.
So I’m sure you can understand that the words that suddenly appeared in my head when I first set eyes on this little eastern European were not going to be anything like ‘speed-demon’ or ‘howling fun’ or ‘mind-blowingly quick’. Despite this, I took to the wheel and as the mileometer started ticking over it suddenly dawned on me that I’d been driving for miles with a ridiculous smile on my face. How had this little Dacia given me the same feeling that I get thundering around in a car that costs ten times as much? For goodness sake, it didn’t even have electric rear windows! A quick stop at the side of the road was in need, I had to see what sort of V6 monster was powering this thing.
But no! Under the bonnet you’ll find a cheery little 900cc 3 cylinder petrol engine that hoofs out 90bhp and will get you to 60 in 11.1 seconds.It will even do 109MPH… Eventually. This engine can also be found in Renault’s brand new Clio, but unlike in the Clio this Sandero weighs about as much shoelace. You can expect anywhere from 45mpg around town to a respectable 65mpg going downhill in 5th gear and with it sitting in tax band C you won’t be breaking the bank every 12 months either. It really did take my breath away that a car that I had considered to be nothing more than a cheap small family run-around could be so much fun when it’s given the beans and taken to the red-line.
Inside this middle of the range model there was a very modern looking CD player with AUX and USB connectivity, a tastefully subtle steering wheel and the very sporty looking ‘Atom’ two-tone seat trim which gave the inside a really classy overall look. Chrome surrounds on the inside made the car feel far more expensive than it was. On the corners were a set of very tasty 15” ‘Sahara’ alloy wheels and at the back a subtle but fitting lip spoiler. In the back there’s plenty of space but I found my head slightly ajar with my ear rubbing the roof, but no more than I’m used to when trying to fit all 6 foot 5 inches of me into the back of a hatchback. An impressive class-leading boot also appealed to the sensible side of me.
What I love most about this little Romanian motor though is the way it feels to drive. No it isn’t as fast as a Fiesta ST or perhaps a Fabia VRS but whipping from corner to corner in this revvy little petrol was great fun and you’ll find yourself pushing the tiny tyres to their limits. It would be great to see Dacia roll out a sportier version of this model, but there’s no denying that this car is great fun and even though our test model was somewhat higher than the advertised ‘under £6000’ Access, it still came in at £8,290 which is remarkable for a car that’s this much fun and comes with a respectable level of equipment. This only really leaves us with one question; have Dacia given the likes of the giants such as Volkswagen and Ford something to be worried about? No. If you want to buy a hatchback with a somewhat ‘cool’ badge you’ll still buy a Polo or Fiesta, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot of these Sanderos on the road soon. People who just want a car to go from A to B now have an option that isn’t just reasonably priced, but it actually good fun too.
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