Dacia Sandero Stepway review

The Dacia Sandero Stepway is what you might call an "SUV-themed small car". It's based on the Sandero hatchback but gets extra kit to make it look ready for the urban jungle.

The Stepway's additions include a more heavily sculpted bonnet, roof rails, chunky plastic wheel-arch extensions, an increased ride height and bumpers with integrated skid plates. That pushes the price higher than for a regular Dacia Sandero but it's still very competitive against rival small cars.

Some potential buyers might be disappointed there’s no hybrid or diesel version, just some turbocharged petrol engines. One is entirely conventional while the other offers an interesting way to reduce costs and CO2 emissions – as we’ll explain later in this review.

Dacia isn't the only car maker producing a high-riding hatchback, and if you have a decent budget you might also want to take a look at the Honda Jazz Crosstar. There are also traditional small cars to consider, from the Citroën C3 Aircross and Hyundai i10 to the Skoda Fabia and Toyota Yaris. 

Does the Dacia Sandero Stepway have what it takes to compete? Read on to find out...

There are three engine options for the Dacia Sandero Stepway – two regular petrols and the rather unusual Bi-Fuel option, which can run on petrol or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

The cheapest petrol-only option, called the TCe 90, has 89bhp, and delivers acceptable performance for a small car. With a 0-62mph time of around 12 seconds, it’s not the swiftest to reach motorway pace but it’ll sit there all day long without fuss once you’re up there.

For a bit more power, there's the TCe 110, with 109bhp. We’ve yet to drive it, but it cuts a couple of seconds off the 0-62mph time, giving it a useful added boost off the line.

Then there’s the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel, which allows you to fill up with LPG (typically much cheaper than petrol). You can flip between the two fuels using a switch next to your knee so if you can’t find anywhere to fill the LPG tank you can quickly return to running on petrol.

It's our preferred engine for the Sandero Stepway because it’s a little stronger from low engine speeds and is smoother and quieter when accelerating than the TCe 90. However, regardless of the engine choice, you’ll find far punchier options in most rivals.

We don’t have any issues with the light shift and easy-to-modulate clutch of the standard six-speed manual gearbox. If you opt for the top Extreme trim, you can swap for a CVT automatic gearbox with the TCe 90. It’s smooth enough around town, but does cause the engine revs to flare under heavy acceleration (a characteristic of CVTs).

You’ll hear a bit more wind and road noise than in the VW Polo but the Stepway cruises more quietly than the Suzuki Ignis.

It’s also far more comfortable than the Ignis – as well as most other small cars – smoothing out rough roads impressively, especially at higher speeds. Potholes and expansion joints send a bit of a thwack through the car, but not as noticeably as in similarly priced rivals. Indeed, you’d have to spend a fair chunk extra on a Skoda Fabia or a Polo for a more comfortable ride.

The soft suspension means handling isn’t the Stepway’s forte. There’s plenty of body lean in corners and it never feels particularly agile. Still, there's decent grip and the steering weights up in a reassuring manner when cornering, which inspires confidence.

The Dacia Sandero Stepway comes with a height-adjustable driver’s seat with an armrest, plus a height and reach-adjustable steering wheel. You’ll find plenty of easy-to-use switches and knobs conveniently placed around the interior to control all the major functions, plus legible instruments in front of you that can be seen at a glance.

Your forward view is improved very slightly over the regular Dacia Sandero by the raised ride height, and if you jack up the driver’s chair enough, you can just about convince yourself that you're in a small SUV. The windscreen pillars aren't thick enough to get in the way, but those at the rear are rather chunky. 

That’s one of the reasons we recommend Expression trim, because it makes parking easier by adding rear parking sensors and a reversing camera into the mix. Going for Extreme trim, meanwhile, adds front parking sensors.

Impressively given the price, all Stepways have LED headlights as standard, increasing your visibility at night. 

As for infotainment, entry-level Essential trim makes do with a DAB radio, Bluetooth and two speakers, with no touchscreen interface. If that’s something you’re after, you’ll need to go for Expression trim or higher, because they add an 8.0in colour touchscreen with built-in sat-nav plus Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

The touchscreen is mounted helpfully high up on the dashboard and is tilted towards the driver, with some touch-sensitive shortcut buttons down the side that you can use to switch between functions. We’d prefer physical shortcut buttons, but the operating system is easy to get the hang of and responds quickly to prods and swipes.

The Dacia Sandero Stepway is one of the biggest cars in the small car class. In fact it almost matches the Honda Jazz for front head room and actually beats it for leg room. The Stepway's interior is relatively broad so you won’t feel hemmed in. There are plenty of handy storage bins for all your clutter and a couple of cupholders.

Rear space also impresses. True, it doesn't have quite as much leg room as the Jazz, but six-footers will still enjoy a gap between their knees and the seat in front. There's absolutely loads of head room, and its considerable breadth helps when you need to put three people in the back. In fact, our only grumble is that the rear door bins are quite small. 

While the design of the boot could be improved – reducing the size of the lip at the entrance, for one thing – you can’t argue with its size. Officially there are 410 litres of space below the parcel shelf, and we managed to fit six carry-on suitcases inside. That's more than in any other car in the class, including the Tardis-like Jazz. Just be careful of the exposed metal instead of tough plastic around the boot opening – there's a risk of scratching the paint.

If you suddenly need a small van you can fold down the rear seats fold in a 60/40 split. The Jazz Crosstar, in contrast, offers all sorts of clever features, including rear seat bases that flip up like those in a cinema to create an extra luggage area. Then again, it costs nearly twice as much.

As you’d expect for the money, the Sandero Stepway has acres of hard, unyielding plastic, although a fabric insert on the dash and a few little chrome trim pieces on Comfort and up help lift things a little so it doesn’t feel too austere. Everything is solidly constructed, although those looking for a bit of luxury will need to dig much deeper for a Mini Cooper or Peugeot 208.

On the face of it, the Stepway seems quite a bit more expensive than the regular Dacia Sandero. However, even in higher-spec forms, it's good value compared with a reasonably well-specced Hyundai i10. As such, we recommend jumping up to Expression trim. The traditionally strong predicted resale values of Dacia cars make the Stepway attractive on PCP finance.

Fuel economy isn’t quite as good as that of the regular Sandero, let alone a hybrid Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris but the TCe 90 still returns an official figure of more than 50mpg and the TCe 110 around 45mpg. 

In our experience with the TCe 90, more than 40mpg will be easily achievable in the real world, so you’d have to drive your Yaris an awful lot to recoup the cost difference. The official CO2 emissions are nothing to write home about, but the low purchase price will lead to company car drivers enjoying a low BIK tax rate.

On paper, the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel isn’t quite as efficient as the TCe 90, with higher CO2 emissions when running on petrol and slightly heavier fuel consumption when using LPG. However, LPG is much cheaper per litre than petrol, so if there’s a filling station near you that sells it, you should see your fuel bills drop surprisingly quickly.

Essential trim gives you just that, with wheel trims, electric front windows, cruise control and remote central locking, along with a basic infotainment system.

If you can, we'd recommend going for Expression trim. It's still astonishing value but comes with a deep pool of extra kit, including electric rear windows, rain-sensing wipers and keyless entry, plus extra infotainment goodies and visibility aids. Extreme adds even more parking aids, along with alloy wheels, climate control and an electric parking brake.

Dacia did quite well in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey finishing in 11th place out of 32 brands. Every new Stepway comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty, which is par for the course in this class. It can be extended to seven years for a reasonable cost, but Kia still provides a longer warranty as standard.

The Sandero Stepway received a disappointing two-star safety rating from Euro NCAP. If you dive into the details of the results, you’ll find that it outperformed the i10 (the closest rival to be tested under the same regulations) for protecting adult occupants in a front collision.

In terms of safety kit, the Stepway gets automatic emergency braking (AEB), tyre-pressure monitoring, six airbags, Isofix child-seat mounts and e-Call emergency assistance. Extreme adds blind-spot monitoring, but more expensive rivals such as the Jazz and Yaris are in another league when it comes to safety, with both cars awarded a full five stars. They also get far more sophisticated active safety systems as standard.

For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here