Published:
8 February 2023Does the law of diminishing returns apply anywhere more greatly than it does with car interiors?
Spend a third of a million pounds on a car and it will keep the cabin at a pleasant temperature while linking with your smartphone to play some music and tell you where you’re going. For less than £9000, a Dacia Sandero will do the same thing. Perhaps the existence of cars like the Sandero is precisely what drives ‘premium’ manufacturers to offer infinitely variable ambient light settings.
Obviously, it is not so well finished. Hard plastics abound – there aren’t really any soft ones – but there is a pleasing fabric finish around the edge of the dashboard and some brighter highlights on the air vents.
The seats are large and flat, the steering wheel is big, reach and rake are adjustable, and the pedals are pleasingly spaced. It’s a really sound driving position, with two clear dials ahead of you and, on this version, a relatively simple touchscreen plus a very neat phone holder, and easy integration between the two. Ergonomically, it’s pretty sound all around, partly as a result of its basicness. The heating and ventilation controls are big clear dials and, on lower versions, the handbrake is a conventional lever.
It’s spacious in the front and as big as you’d hope for a supermini-sized car in the rear, too. Adults can sit behind adults without trouble – even six-footers will find they have knee room – with good interior spaciousness for a car of just over four metres in length.
