The Dacia Sandero, Citroën C3 and Kia Picanto may all be cheap, but which of them will make you feel the most cheerful if you buy one? Let’s find out...
- The contenders
- NEW Dacia Sandero 1.0 TCe 90 Expression
- NEW Citroën C3 1.2 Puretech 83 S&S You
- Kia Picanto 1.0 DPi ISG 2
- Driving
- Performance, ride, handling, refinement
The contenders
NEW Dacia Sandero 1.0 TCe 90 Expression
List price £13,995
Target Price £13,863
Despite a small price increase, the recently facelifted Sandero continues to offer a lot of car for the money, being bigger and more powerful than its rivals
NEW Citroën C3 1.2 Puretech 83 S&S You
List price £13,995
Target Price £13,995
This new entry-level version of the C3 packs a familiar 1.2-litre petrol engine and, as with all Citroëns, promises to make comfort a high priority
Kia Picanto 1.0 DPi ISG 2
List price £14,140
Target Price £13,389
We’ve always been fans of the Picanto’s grown-up feel and nimble handling, but can those things make up for its diminutive size and modest power in this company?
According to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, ‘price’ is what you pay; ‘value’ is what you get. And when it comes to the third-generation Dacia Sandero, what you get is an awful lot.
When it was launched just a couple of years ago, it was the cheapest new car you could buy in the UK, with prices starting from less than £8000. But unlike its old-school, rather agricultural predecessor, it impressed us with its modern, Renault Clio sourced underpinnings and punchy yet efficient 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine.
Skip ahead to the present day and the Sandero is more appealing than ever, thanks to a recent facelift (which introduced a fresh grille design centred around the brand’s minimalistic new ‘DC’ motif), but the starting price has increased quite significantly to £12,995. Part of this increase is a response to market forces (costs are rising everywhere), but it’s also down to the fact that Dacia has deleted the rather austere Access model from its line-up; according to Dacia, this old entry-level model made up less than 1% of sales.
The knock-on effect is that our favourite range-topping Expression trim now starts at £13,995, putting the Sandero right in the firing line of the identically priced Citroën C3 You (a new bare-bones version of the C3 that aims to replace the hole left by the recently discontinued C1 city car) and the diminutive but distinguished Kia Picanto – a car that has previously won the Value Car category at our annual Car of the Year Awards.
Driving
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
Each of these cars is powered by a small three-cylinder petrol engine and weighs around a tonne, so you’d expect similar performance across the board. But in reality, the Sandero has the advantage when it comes to outright pace, dashing from 0-60mph in 12.4sec (versus the C3’s 13.0sec and the Picanto’s 14.9sec). This is because its 1.0-litre engine benefits from a turbocharger, so it not only produces the most power (90bhp) but also pulls significantly harder from low revs.
To make brisk progress in the C3 and Picanto, you have to rev their engines hard, but the 1.2-litre C3 feels slightly perkier when you do so. This is particularly noticeable on steep inclines and in the outside lane of the motorway, where the modestly powered (66bhp) 1.0-litre Picanto feels breathless; you really need to plan ahead before attempting an overtaking manoeuvre.
At least you’ll be able to derive some pleasure from changing gears in the Picanto. Its five-speed manual gearbox is nice and slick and makes the one in the Sandero feel a little notchy in comparison. The C3 is hamstrung by a numb clutch pedal and a woolly gearshift, both of which make driving smoothly a real challenge.
It’s certainly not a car you feel compelled to drive quickly, and that’s probably a good thing, because it takes real concentration to place the nose of the C3 accurately through corners. Not only is its steering far too light, making it difficult to gauge exactly how much grip you have under the front tyres, but its soft suspension is also too easily upset by mid-corner bumps that can throw you off line.
This is in complete contrast to the Sandero and Picanto. Neither of them is remotely sporty in nature, but both offer up plenty of grip and reasonable body control. The Picanto just has the edge when it comes to delivering driver enjoyment, thanks to its more naturally weighted steering and sharper responses, but the margins are small.
While you’re unlikely to wake up early on a Sunday morning just so you can go for a drive in any of our contenders, you might want to take your family on a longer journey in them, so which is the best long-distance companion? Well, frankly, they’re all fairly noisy on the motorway. The Sandero’s engine thrums away at a cruise, while the C3 produces quite a lot of wind noise and the Picanto suffers from the most road roar. Pull out the decibel meter and you’ll find that the C3 is the quietest at 70mph (by the slenderest of margins) and the Sandero the loudest.
However, the latter makes up for this by delivering the most settled and composed ride. The firmer Picanto, in comparison, jiggles you around a bit more, but it’s not as tiring as the wallowy C3. The presence of squishy, loosely controlled suspension means the C3 tends to lollop over bigger bumps – bouncing you skywards and then sucking you back down to the ground again. This, as you can imagine, can make rear seat passengers queasy.
Keyword: Britain's cheapest new cars tested