CHILLI HOT STEPPER (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

In this improved form, the second generation version of the Dacia Sandero Stepway continues to offer a bit of fun for not a lot of money. Jonathan Crouch reports

Ten Second Reviewword count: 52

The Dacia Sandero Stepway is inexpensive but doesn't look it. It's a supermini that's been jacked up a bit to give a crossover look and seems to press all the right buttons for buyers who don't want big outlay but require big value. Here's the revised version of the second generation model.

Backgroundword count: 105

Dacia's Sandero has been one of the European motor industry's quiet success stories over the last decade. It's frequently been our Continent's best-selling car- and a major reason why is that it comes not only in its rather austere basic form, but also in the more appealing crossover-style Stepway form we look at here. This generation Sandero dates back to 2020 but got a significant mid-term update in Autumn 2025 to create the Sandero Stepway model we're going to look at here. Which is the Sandero variant you have to have to get the Romanian Renault-owned brand's latest hybrid drivetrain. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 235

In order to understand the appeal of the Sandero Stepway, know this. The basic Sandero supermini upon which it's based has been designed to sell into many third world markets and as such is billed as having excellent ground clearance and "robust underbody protection for impressive performance on unpaved tracks". If that's not a great basis for building a jacked-up version with even greater abilities, I don't know what is. Do remember though, that this isn't a four-wheel drive car, so there are limits as to what it can negotiate. For tougher stuff, you'll need to buy Dacia's Duster compact SUV. The extra wheel travel seems to give the Stepway a marginally better ride quality than the standard Sandero and the 41mm raise in height hasn't made body control noticeably worse. This current generation model's stiffer, more sophisticated CMF-B platform means it can deliver some better engineering. Most Stepway folk will want the powerplant we'd recommend, the three cylinder turbo petrol TCe unit, which offers 110hp and is paired with 6-speed manual transmission. Unlike the ordinary Sandero, the Stepway version can also be ordered with the brand's hybrid 155 electrified powertrain. The hybrid 155 combines a 109hp 1.8-litre four cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors (a 50hp motor and a high-voltage starter/generator), a 1.4kWh battery (230V) and an automatic electric gearbox with four gears for the ICE engine and two others for the electric motor.

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