Dacia Logan MCV Stepway (2017 – 2019) Review

If you like the look of the Dacia Logan MCV estate but need something a little more rugged, then the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway might just be for you. As with the Dacia Sandero Stepway, and rivals such as the Ford Fiesta Active, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway takes the standard car and adds some 4x4 design features – but not four-wheel-drive. Our Dacia Logan MCV Stepway review reveals if this formula is a winning one. 

The raised suspension provides increased ground clearance, and although there are no mechanical upgrades for better off-road performance, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway should at least be capable of getting over rougher ground, with plastic body cladding around the wheelarches and door sills, plus a skid plate at the front.

Available in Comfort, SE Summit, SE Twenty, Techroad and Laureate trims, the standard equipment goes from modest to quite generous, and includes features such as LED daytime running lights, alloy wheels, roof rails and navigation.

In other respects, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway delivers the same versatility and value that you get from the regular Dacia Logan MCV.

Based on the same platform as the Dacia Sandero, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is a small estate that offers an impressive 573 litres of boot space with the rear seats in place, and up to 1518 litres with the rear seats folded, which is comparable to cars from the next class up.

The engine options are limited to just two 90PS units – a 1.5-litre dCi diesel and a 0.9 TCe petrol, both linked to a standard five-speed manual gearbox and with front-wheel-drive.

In truth, there is little to choose between them, as they deliver sufficient rather than strong performance, but impressive levels of economy.

With a focus on value and practicality, driving the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is a largely forgettable experience.

All the major controls operate with sufficient smoothness, but there are modest grip levels and a fair amount of body roll should you try to press on, so there is little in the way of fun. It is at its best when driven with a steady pair of hands. If you after an entertaining drive with your practicality you’ll be better served elsewhere.

Refinement is also slightly below the class standard. Both engines are reasonably refined, and although the Laureate specification brings some extra interior features, it’s hard to forget you are driving a car with a budget price tag.

Ride comfort is acceptable rather than impressive, and noise levels are more apparent when reaching higher motorway speeds.

Like the majority of offerings from the Romanian firm, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is an honest, good-value car that plays to its strengths.

For the money it is hard to find a car that offers this kind of space with decent equipment levels and low running costs. If you are happy to sacrifice a little bit of refinement, luxury and driving fun, it makes a compelling case for itself.

The Dacia Logan MCV Stepway was designed to cope with some of the tougher roads that Europe has to offer, so the emphasis is firmly on dealing with poor surfaces rather than a driving experience to put a smile on your face.

That means quite soft suspension, which does a good job of filtering out the majority of bumps. It’s no magic carpet, of course, but for the price it offers compliance and comfort, and as an urban runaround it is well equipped to smooth out imperfections.

The downside of this is that at higher speeds or on twistier country roads it can become a little bouncy, with the softness of the suspension letting the body move around more than is ideal.

For many drivers, this won’t be much of an issue, and there is always the option to dial back the speed a little. But the unsophisticated nature of the set-up becomes apparent in these situations, and puts it behind rivals such as the Skoda Fabia Estate. 

Body roll is also quite evident when cornering with even a little speed, but the amount of grip on offer is sufficient.

The steering offers little in the way of feedback, either, and the taller ride height of this version means it is arguably less enjoyable to drive than the regular Dacia Logan MCV.

It drives well enough for the most part, but if you take any kind of pleasure from tackling a twisty road, there are better alternatives.

The 0.9-litre TCe will be the pick of the bunch for most drivers, as it offers superior economy and is the more refined of the two options.

It’s not super-smooth, however – the three-cylinder unit can be thrummy should you decide to rev it, but the turbocharger means it offers decent acceleration and is happy to cruise at motorway speeds with little need to change down on inclines.

The 1.5-litre dCi unit has a higher torque output than the petrol, so if you do plan to load it up on a regular basis, it might prove to be the better option.

There is some diesel clatter, but generally speaking it’s quite refined and also adept at cruising with little fuss at motorway speeds.

Both engines are mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, and the lack of a sixth gear hurts the economy and makes cruising more fussy than it could be. It has a short shift action, but can be a little baulky at times.

Euro NCAP did not crash test the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway separately, but assessed the regular Dacia Logan MCV in 2014, when it was awarded a three-star overall score.

Adult occupant protection was particularly low, with a rating of 57 per cent, although child occupant protection was significantly better at 75 per cent.

Pedestrian mitigation was a modest 55 per cent, while the safety assist rating was also at the lower end of the scale, at just 38 per cent.

In terms of safety systems, all versions are fitted with ESC as standard, while a speed limiter/cruise control function is available on higher-specification models.

Unsurprisingly, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway cannot be fitted with more modern safety systems such as automatic emergency braking or lane assist, something which may well put off some buyers.

Unusually, both engine options in the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway offer the same 1110kg maximum braked towing capacity. The petrol has a lower 580kg unbraked capacity, while the diesel allows up to 625kg unbraked.

Given its modest exterior dimensions, the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway offers impressive interior space, although the focus is geared towards front-seat occupants and the boot area, rather than second-row passengers. 

In the front, there is enough room to accommodate most sizes of adult, but in the rear you may find that some adults are lacking in elbow room, although head and legroom are acceptable.

It’s ideal for children though, so as a family car it ticks a lot of boxes.

The boot itself is a generous size, although the rear seats won’t fold completely flat, and there is no exterior handle for the boot itself. You either have to use the key to open it or pull the release by the driver’s seat, which can be a bit of a faff if you need to close the boot repeatedly when loading up.

The Dacia Logan MCV Stepway shows there is a difference between material quality and how well a car is screwed together.

As far as the former is concerned there is little to get excited about. You might get features like a leather steering wheel, and even leather seats were available as an option, but elsewhere you’ll see plastics that seem fairly cheap and feel hard to the touch.

However, look a little harder and it is clear that the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway is well constructed for its price tag.

There is a sturdiness about the interior that makes you think it will stand up to years of toil, and well-proven mechanicals underline that this is a car that was designed and built to be cheap by using older tech, rather than cutting corners.

The upside of the Dacia Logan MCV Stepway as far as infotainment goes is that it was not available in the basic Access trim.

This gave you a black hole where the radio would be with the wires to fit your own system, so you at least have some form of in-car audio whichever version you choose.

The majority of versions come with a seven-inch touchscreen system, which is fitted with most of the features you would hope to find in a modern car: Bluetooth, DAB, navigation and smartphone mirroring.

The downside is that this is a system formerly used in Renaults, which means it feels a little bit old-fashioned, despite the decent specification.

The screen is smaller than you would find in rival cars, partly as a cost-saving measure but also because there is not much room in the dashboard for anything larger. The graphics are quite basic, and the size of the screen makes it tricky to hit the right button on the move.

Using the smartphone mirroring function can get around this to a degree, but you may find it easier to just use the Bluetooth function and stream music direct from your phone.

As it was on sale for a relatively brief period, the number of Dacia Logan MCV Stepways on the market is limited. So you may need to be patient and search for the right car if you have your heart set on one.

A search in the classified ads turned up several examples, with the most recent examples around £11,000 with between 10,000 and 20,000 miles.

At the other end of the scale, we found a few dipping under the £8000 mark with around 50,000 miles.

With a limited engine choice and both of those units being modestly powered, the good news is that fuel economy should be strong.

Official figures under the old NEDC testing system put the 0.9 TCe at 51.4mpg, with the diesel slightly worse at 42.8mpg.

Similarly, insurance groupings are low regardless of which model you choose. All trim levels, bar the Comfort version, are in group 7 with the petrol engine, while diesel versions range from group 9 to 11.

You can expect premiums to be relatively low.

Standard equipment on all Dacia Logan MCV Stepways includes a heated rear screen, rear wash-wiper, tinted windows, rear door child locks and a 12v accessory power socket.

There’s also a 60:40 split folding rear seat, a gearshift indicator, a rev counter and a Thatcham-approved engine immobiliser.

More generously equipped Dacia Logan MCV Stepway Laureate models add manual air-conditioning, height-adjustable driver’s seat and steering wheel plus electric windows front and rear, with driver’s window one-touch function.

Buyers also get a MediaNav navigation system, incorporating a seven-inch touchscreen, aux input, radio and USB and Bluetooth connectivity and rear parking sensors.