Renault Sandero STEPWAY test drive since 2010 hatchback
Better late, but on time
Nevertheless, one cannot but rejoice for the future owners of Sandero. More recently, for a non -alternative ratio of price, quality and reliability of Renault Logan, money was counted with a sense of doom. Oh, this design Another year old, and a pretty hatchback (I am surprised to see that in technical terms it almost completely repeats Logan) would hardly have a chance of success. The youth, who has recovered from the crisis (namely, the car addressed it), would have managed to accumulate more on the brand, however, when there was little money, is it necessary to climb out of the skin in order to deliver a neighbor's eyes on the morning traffic jam?
Estonia and Estonians, where Sandero was represented by Russian journalists, is difficult to suspect of tasteless. Where-e-e in the esto-oh-o-o-o-how to do it? A former compatriot on the BMW 520 types asks me at the gas station. For his preferences, he gives me a bad pack of multi -colored crowns and, filling the tank, examines the Renault Salon of the Moscow assembly with interest.
There was no trace of the angularity of the nozzle. A pleasant muzzle with slanting headlights and foglights, modern smoothed forms quite fit into the aesthetic Baltic world. Sandero will not embarrass him painted now in all trim levels, unlike Logan with a bumper, linings and a modern radiator martial grate. Everything in its design corresponds to tradition, but not ours, uncomplicated, but European: massive, hollowed rear lights, and visible convex glass of the luggage door, and all completely uncomfortable profile. A wonderful miracle happened! Logan’s horror story (owners, excuse me) turned into a neat fairy-tale Ellie, not only changing the X-90 platform (except that shortening the base of 43 mm), but also without requesting special money for this.
Do you think you had to pay for beauty functionality? Not at all! If Logan was famous for a huge trunk, then Sandero is just a 1200 liter of a cave, of course, with a second side composed! But to transform the seats with a second business, it is enough to pull the plastic backs of the backs on yourself. Although 320 liters in the standard version are also a lot. The young family, including Bbitika, goes for purchases? No problem! Of course, the base cut by a few centimeters slightly reduced the spaces for the legs from behind, but not so much as to immediately look at competitors. Moreover, three adults there will still be swayed there, and the children are even more so.
The pretty younger Sandero retained one of the main qualities of the donor volume. Does not press, does not constrain. Due to the low door panels, the driver’s left hand easily fits on the window opening. When you exchange more than one hundred kilometers, such an armrest is very helpful. Actually, Logan is similar to the whole interior, only in Sandero you perceive it differently. Yes, the hard plastic of the torpedo and the central console, minimalist in design and not always convenient in placement of the button
But they are not annoying! For the appearance you forgive the asceticism of the interior, and when you remember money, the soul sings completely. Basic Ambient with a 1.4 liter engine for 349,000 rubles. very little. True, without a power steering and air conditioning, but there is Prestige for 428 400 rubles. With a new 102-horsepower 16-valve, air conditioning and a little more expensive finish. And as an intermediate option, the Expression is very notable for 386,000 rubles. With a pair of windows and ABS, it’s a pity only without air conditioning. However, for little money it can be ordered, as well as a musical design in the form of a rather decent audio system.
Yes, Sandero has not yet been provided for automatic transmission (it is promised at the end of the year) that for the metropolis is minus, but an almost weightless clutch pedal with frequent switching
the programs do not tire the leg at all. Given the fact that the new 16-valve engine in the bottoms is slightly weak, and its elasticity is small, appeal to a 5-speed checkpoint when maneuvering between cottages on the coast of the Baltic Sea are quite frequent. However, the selectivity of the rod is beautiful you will not miss, and in the straight area you completely forget about the box, stuck the fifth. It is in such conditions that the advantages of the 16-class is undeniable. From 3000 rpm, it is a horse in nature, without requiring additional switching. Yes, and the fuel to save this unit is taught: less than 7 liters on the highway. However, for exclusively urban driving, I would still prefer an 8-valve engine. From the place, he starts more a razor of an advanced counterpart, by the way, neither this nor this nor this nor this, and therefore the matter is only in preferences and driving style. Calm or gambling, the car will become universal-enlarged when it comes to a sortie into nature. And the matter will no longer be in horses, but in the clearance and strength of the suspension. Sandero, of course, is not an all-terrain vehicle, but before the snowy forest roads (to the honor of Estonians, slightly cleared) he did not save: 155 mm of the road clearance at full load and on 14-inch wheels quite suitable for sorties. What else is required? Sports control, maneuverability? She is already worthy, since the base is short and the tail does not hang. Suspension settings are slightly softer than Logan, but the asphalt outside the Moscow Ring Road is unlikely to become an obstacle. And even with such unsportsmanlike parameters you can go a turn, slightly slipping the front axle, but without loss of control over the machine. Such tricks on public roads, taking into account not a particularly sharp steering wheel, of course, are doubtful, but what the potential is laid!
With each kilometer, the hatchback caused increasingly respect. No, not emasculated by asceticism, but by common abilities for all configurations, multiplied by the necessary comfortable minimum, when you get a very specific necessary function for each invested penny. What else does a person, not burdened by a person do not need a person? So, maybe it is no coincidence that Renault Sandero Brazilian at the development place, already known in Europe as Dacia Sandero, has received considerable popularity not somewhere, but in Germany? After all, the Germans know a lot about profitable acquisitions. Let's try to learn, in addition, the investment object is already leaving the assembly line.
