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Dacia Sandero versus Bentley Flying Spur
Rory compares Britain's cheapest car (the £7,995 Dacia Sandero) to one of Britain's most expensive to see how far your money really goes.
Words by: Andrew Woodhouse
Published on 23 May 2021 | 0 min read
In his video review of the new Dacia Sandero, Rory Reid compares Britain’s cheapest car to one of Britain’s most expensive – the Bentley Flying Spur – to see what you’re getting for your money.
What would you spend £8k on?
For £7,995 you could buy a small part of the Bently Flying Spur – perhaps a new wing mirror, or maybe a wheel. For the same money, you could buy a brand-new Dacia Sandero. Yep, the whole car.
For that cash, the entry-level Dacia Sandero gives you all the essentials: power steering, power windows up front, electronic stability program.
For that cash, the entry-level Dacia Sandero gives you all the essentials: power steering, power windows up front, electronic stability program.
What’s the Dacia Sandero like?
Dacia is owned by Renault, and the Sandero shares a platform with the Renault Clio (you can learn more about platform sharing here). So it’s pretty well-built and, crucially, doesn’t feel cheap.
Dacia has made some nice design choices including hub caps that look like alloy wheels and chrome-effect inserts on the grille. Inside, it lacks the fancy extras you get in a luxury car like the Bentley (fancy wood on the dash, rotating screens, a champagne fridge and tablets on the rear seats) but there’s decent head and legroom and a boot that’s plenty big enough at 328 litres. But for a price difference of over £210,000 (the Flying Spur we review costs around £220,000), you could add pretty much any extras you like to the Sandero and have money left over. If factory options are what you want, then the Comfort trim (coming in at £11,995) gives you the option of a 100 horsepower engine and a touchscreen infotainment system with built-in navigation and wireless Apple Carplay.
Dacia has made some nice design choices including hub caps that look like alloy wheels and chrome-effect inserts on the grille. Inside, it lacks the fancy extras you get in a luxury car like the Bentley (fancy wood on the dash, rotating screens, a champagne fridge and tablets on the rear seats) but there’s decent head and legroom and a boot that’s plenty big enough at 328 litres. But for a price difference of over £210,000 (the Flying Spur we review costs around £220,000), you could add pretty much any extras you like to the Sandero and have money left over. If factory options are what you want, then the Comfort trim (coming in at £11,995) gives you the option of a 100 horsepower engine and a touchscreen infotainment system with built-in navigation and wireless Apple Carplay.
What about the Bentley Flying Spur?
Obviously, in performance cars like the Flying Spur, a big chunk of the cost goes the engine. Bentley’s 6-litre W12 offers over 600 horsepower and impressive acceleration on demand – 0-62 in 3.8 seconds and a top speed of over 200 mph.
Rear wheel steering and 48-volt anti-roll stabilisation are an essential part of Bentley’s offering, as is the dual clutch gearbox. In terms of the options, you’ve got the aforementioned champagne fridge, mood lighting, rear-seat entertainment screens, adaptive cruise control, leather headliner and a Naim audio system plus many, many more. You can learn more about the Bentley Flying Spur in our expert review.
Rear wheel steering and 48-volt anti-roll stabilisation are an essential part of Bentley’s offering, as is the dual clutch gearbox. In terms of the options, you’ve got the aforementioned champagne fridge, mood lighting, rear-seat entertainment screens, adaptive cruise control, leather headliner and a Naim audio system plus many, many more. You can learn more about the Bentley Flying Spur in our expert review.
So, is the Dacia Sandero worth it?
In a word, yes. Dacia’s cars show what’s possible on a budget without cutting too many corners. It goes without saying that the Sandero is a different experience to a Flying Spur, but the Dacia Sandero shows you don’t have to spend a lot of cash to get a lot of car.