Dacia Sandero Comfort TCe 90 2019 UK first drive

The Dacia Sandero remains Britain’s cheapest car even after a £1000 price hike last year to £6995, but almost nobody buys that UN-spec version. When did you ever see a plain white Sandero with black bumpers?

That’s because even those at the very bottom end of the new car buying market are looking for a few creature comforts. The headline-grabber of the latest round of subtle revisions to the Sandero range is this new Comfort model, a range-topper that can be had with the optimum petrol engine, and all for less than £10,000.

Your £9795 gets you the kind of toys that most other car makers were using to promote small cars a decade ago, such as air conditioning, electric front windows and a trip computer, before active safety systems and ever fancier infotainment and connectivity features found favour.

The engine tested here is a Renault-sourced 0.9-litre triple in its 89bhp/103lb ft state of tune, hooked up to a five-speed manual gearbox. Also on offer is a naturally aspirated 1.0-litre triple with 72bhp and what has become an endangered species in small cars: a diesel unit, in this case a 94bhp turbocharged four-pot. 

This may be the top-spec Dacia Sandero, but ‘top’ remains a relative term. The whole car is a bit like having dinner at Wetherspoon: you’re getting a meal out somewhere warm with a roof over your head and are in there because you’re happy to be, but it’s all in the full knowledge that others offer a better experience with the same ingredients. Yet they all cost more and you’re no less full up at the end of it.  

So, the Sandero is almost wholly uncompromised in its ability to offer a new car and the associated experience at a bargain price. This Comfort version offers just enough of the aforementioned toys (think of it as like ordering some coleslaw and onion rings to go with your basic beer and burger) to stop you feeling like you’ve gone back to the 1990s, with the added bonus of a 7.0in touchscreen infotainment system.

The driving experience feels rooted in the ‘90s, though. The ride is soft, lacking in any sophistication, and has the tendency to get flustered and send the whole car wobbling when dealing with more than one bump in quick succession. 

Corners? It goes round them. Leans around them, rather, before returning to an upright position. The only feel the steering has is the rather cheap feel of the wheel on your hands, which are further away than you want them to be, because there's no reach adjustment for the wheel. Which would be fine were it not for the rather awkward driving position that leaves your perched on the seat, higher than you’d like, too.