Dacia Logan 1.0 SCE engine

NickTellis

Hi,

Is anyone driving the Dacia Logan with the (new) 1.0 SCE petrol engine and, if so, is it up to the job? The car ticks all the boxes for us in terms of its basic specs and the thought of a new motor with 3 year warranty is very appealing, however, the only reservation I have is with the power of the entry-level petrol engine. We simply don't do enough mileage to justify the diesel as the car will mostly be used for school runs, 10 km trips into the city center a couple of times a week and motorway journeys (Galway - Dublin) 10 times a year.

I know the general consensus will probably be that it is under-powered but I would appreciate hearing from anyone with hands-on day-to-day experience.

Cheers,
NT

Alanstrainor

I have no experience of this engine whatsoever. But would you not take it for a good long test drive and see for yourself? You're looking to spend a good chunk of change on it, no harm in trying it for a while. Looking at the specs it's a very slow car, but should be grand enough for most things I'd say.

NickTellis

Yeah, the dealer didn't have the Logan with the 1.0 SCE engine so we took the Sandero (same engine, similar weight) out for a very quick spin around the block. It seemed up to the job, at least for our needs, but I really would have liked to fill all the seats and get her out on the motorway to see how it performed in the real world...

bear1

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/dacia/sandero/first-drives/2017-dacia-sandero-10-sce-75-laureate-review

I know it's not the model you are looking at but the engine is the same.
Tbh it seems seriously underpowered and I suspect having to rev the nuts off of it to get it to move will hit you When it comes to fuel consumption.
Would you not consider a bigger engine or even the 0.9 turbo version which is slightly more powerful?

NickTellis

Thanks bear, I'd actually read that review and to be honest it was one of the more positive ones as it reckons the engine is fine for city use (which it primarily will be used for) and ok for motorway driving once it get's up to speed.

ba_barabus

For the type of driving you have highlighted that you do I'd see it as perfectly acceptable.

If you said you were covering large mileage or doing many motorway trips I'd suggest something else but for urban driving it should be perfect.

Only way to get good MPG in an urban environment is with petrol, then hybrid or finally electric.
But you'll spend twice as much to get into a hybrid unless you get a Yaris which isn't as big as the Logan.

BrianD3

That engine develops about 75 bhp and the car weighs under 1000 kg unladen. It's not that long ago that Ford, VW, Skoda and others were selling heavier cars than that with similar power outputs and people managed ok with those. Eg the Ford Focus Mk2 1.4 and Golf MkV 1.4.

The Logan is something of a "throwback" in terms of interior plastics, soundproofing, technology. Brake drums on the back. Not necessarily anything wrong with that though. Personally, I like the idea of a simple cheap new car.

The main issue I'd have with Dacias is the strength of the body in a crash. The EuroNCAP report doesn't make good reading, check out in particular the comments about footwell rupture and the integrity of the passenger compartment. This is the sort of thing you'd expect from a early 00s car.
https://cdn.euroncap.com/media/4594/euroncap_dacia_logan_mcv_2014_3stars.pdf

Result was 3 star but that was using the 2014 EuroNCAP protocol. Since then the side impact and pole test have been made tougher.

From what I've seen of real world crashes, Dacias don't fare too well there either. Here is one where a current model Sandero is badly buckled in comparison to the Audi A3 that it collided with
http://www.onetz.de/ploessberg/vermischtes/dacia-fahrerin-ueberholt-trotz-gegenverkehrs-und-prallt-frontal-mit-audi-zusammen-schwerer-unfall-in-der-leichauer-senke-d1680822.html

NickTellis

That was my thinking too in that the Logan kerb weight is 980 kgs which is just 20 kgs heavier than the Sandero hatchback. Not sure how this is possible as I thought the Logan was basically a Sandero with an extra half metre stuck on the back.

Still, all the reviews I'm reading are saying that the 1.0 SCE engine should easily get us from A to B around the city and as long as we can (eventually) get her up to 120 kms on the motorway and maintain that speed without going deaf I think we can justify that engine.

The crash test reports are definitely a cause for concern but I wonder if Dacia have made any improvements in that area along with the new 2017 facelift and engine upgrades. I will investigate further...

_Brian

NickTellis wrote: »

That was my thinking too in that the Logan kerb weight is 980 kgs which is just 20 kgs heavier than the Sandero hatchback. Not sure how this is possible as I thought the Logan was basically a Sandero with an extra half metre stuck on the back.

Still, all the reviews I'm reading are saying that the 1.0 SCE engine should easily get us from A to B around the city and as long as we can (eventually) get her up to 120 kms on the motorway and maintain that speed without going deaf I think we can justify that engine.

The crash test reports are definitely a cause for concern but I wonder if Dacia have made any improvements in that area along with the new 2017 facelift and engine upgrades. I will investigate further...

Firstly 120 on the motorway is the maximum and not compulsory, unless I’m pushed for time 100kph gets you there just fine in an extra 5-10 minutes. Saves a good deal on fuel too.

Secondly, sadly I doesn’t seem Dacia addresses the NCAP problems with the MK2 Duster is I expect the same will be said of any new Logan.

I did read that the 3 star on the duster was because only the base model was tested and apparently it didn’t have ESC at the time but since then all models have it fitted, I’m not sure of that though.

NickTellis

So, again, is there anyone out there currently driving a Logan with the new 1.0 SCE engine?

kneemos

NickTellis wrote: »

So, again, is there anyone out there currently driving a Logan with the new 1.0 SCE engine?

Can’t help. But a one litre engine in anything would break your heart. Much easier to drive something with a bigger engine and more comfortable and better fuel consumption.

ba_barabus

NickTellis wrote: »

So, again, is there anyone out there currently driving a Logan with the new 1.0 SCE engine?

I'd doubt there is many/any sold yet.

ba_barabus

kneemos wrote: »

Can’t help. But a one litre engine in anything would break your heart. Much easier to drive something with a bigger engine and more comfortable and better fuel consumption.

Things have moved on in the world of motoring.

Zubeneschamali

ba_barabus wrote: »

Things have moved on in the world of motoring.

Moved on to performance, quality and safety of a basic Ford from 15 years ago.

ba_barabus

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Moved on to performance, quality and safety of a basic Ford from 15 years ago.

How much did the Ford of 15 years ago cost? Adjust it for todays prices and still see if it compares to the Dacia Logan being talked about. The Ford didn't come with a 3 year warranty at the time either.

colm_mcm

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

Moved on to performance, quality and safety of a basic Ford from 15 years ago.

One thing to be mindful of is that a 5 star rating today is completely different to a 5 star rating 10/15 years ago.

Good case of this is the Grande Punto which when it was launched in 2005 had a maximum 5 star rating. As it is still on sale, it was retested recently and scored the first ever 0 star rating.

So fair enough, the Dacia only has a 3 star rating, but that by no means makes it a death trap.