Our "own" car reviews

Renault Sandero

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blayde/2011/01/04/goodnews2.jpg

Yeah, we don't get the Dacia brand here, so i stopped by the Renault dealer for a test drive. First impressions, it's not an ugly car, it doesn't feel like a korean one as well, and by korean i dont mean the new massive kias that arent so bad, i mean the crap you saw in TG a while back, this was none of those things, felt solidly built, but obviously to a price, the plastics felt decent and not dull, the seats werent a pukey colour and the dash isnt so bad, though the picture is much lighter cause of the sun, it really was a decent colour. The car i drove is pictured below, but the one they were offering came with alloys/fogs/cd/mp3/those weird bumper things and all for 13,000 USD or 9680 eur, compared to 13832eur/18567 usd for a decent spec Civic last i checked. The fogs and bumper bits were a 1300$ option they were throwing in for free

To drive, it's not too bad, pickup is decent, the brakes are a bit on or off but stops well. It rides quite smooth and other than a heavy steering it's not so bad, the heavy steering im told is cause it's not electric but an oil(i think he meant hydraulic) based system, I drove it for about 10 kms and it was roomy, i was sure even my dad at 6'4" could've fit into it with comfort, though the rear legroom was a bit tight behind me. The non electric seats werent so bad but the relax adjustment was a knob and not the spring release like in my Civic, and the height adjustment was spring loaded, so you had to either get out, or lift yourself off the seat while adjusting. Another annoying thing is the indicator beeps when in use, i find that quite annoying and would be the first thing i would disable. Also, the indicator light marker is together inside the dash, so they havent bothered to tell you which direction it's on for, which is a small annoyance but it's the way we're used to things i guess. The boot wasn't that great, which is to say... it's a boot, but was nicely padded and i would feel safe putting things in there and not worry about it.

One thing i did notice is it didn't roll much during a u turn or lane changing, but on the dirt roads it was still comfy, which did surprise me a bit.

All in all, this car WAS a surprise, it's built down to a price, but they still eked more out of it than some pacific rim cars have done, and i can see it getting character like James was saying in his short drive, it's small and easy to use, and definitely a nice little car.

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blayde/2011/01/04/sandero1.jpg

https://pic.armedcats.net/b/bl/blayde/2011/01/04/sandero2.jpg
 
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^didn't know they made those in auto
good review, confirms my thoughts on Dacia/Renault cars in general

not excellent, but great value
 
Yes, nothing great, but surprisingly better than i thought. I'd definitely look at it as an option for a city car and for the fact that i could yell GOOD NEWS everytime i have something to say about it.
 
I'm currently looking at Dusters because I think they look cool and the value is just unbeatable
you just cannot get a 4x4 with a 110hp diesel engine and some equipment (nice sound system with MP3 connectivity) for under 13k?.... I don't know how they're turning a profit.
At that price, even basic stuff like "paint" seem luxurious
 
Workers that are paid way under 500? a month will do that.
 
I get that, but are workers that are paid twice that or more THAT much better?
Even the basic materials etc are fixed costs, plus they have to import the car, make it roadlegal, give warrantees.... it's a damn good deal if you ask me.
 
Obviously Dacias profit margins are slim to begin with, and they use an somewhat oldfashioned approach to assemblywork (manpower instead of robots), and pay their romanian assembly workers ?393 a month. The average romanian auto industry worker earns ?312 (Ford drags the average down).
 
I'm currently looking at Dusters because I think they look cool and the value is just unbeatable
you just cannot get a 4x4 with a 110hp diesel engine and some equipment (nice sound system with MP3 connectivity) for under 13k?.... I don't know how they're turning a profit.
At that price, even basic stuff like "paint" seem luxurious

Honestly, I too like the Duster. It does feel like a Lidl kind of car, but it works.
 
I've always liked the Sandero, it doesn't look half bad at all. The interior looks decent too, perhaps a bit better than the Toyota Yaris.
 
My dad had a yaris as a company car, the sedan version at least, it's good as well, a bit better than the Sandero was, but i haven't been in a recent Yaris to know for sure.
 
I didn't know they made them as autos either. That sort of defeats the purpose in my mind, bothering to spend so little on a car and then jacking up the price by specifying an auto 'box. Case in point, the Holden Barina (Chevrolet Aveo). I think Holden said something like 90% of the ones they sell are manual, which makes sense as it's a cheap car. By adding an auto to the price, the price comes on par with a basic Fiesta or not far off a Polo, which are much, much better cars, enough to justify having to change gears yourself unless you have only one leg or something.
 
I didn't know they made them as autos either. That sort of defeats the purpose in my mind, bothering to spend so little on a car and then jacking up the price by specifying an auto 'box. Case in point, the Holden Barina (Chevrolet Aveo). I think Holden said something like 90% of the ones they sell are manual, which makes sense as it's a cheap car. By adding an auto to the price, the price comes on par with a basic Fiesta or not far off a Polo, which are much, much better cars, enough to justify having to change gears yourself unless you have only one leg or something.

Here it's the opposite, so the Aveo can be had as a Automatic. The cheapest Aveo that one can get here with an autobox is $14,860. For comparison's sake, one could get a Fiesta S for around 15K, a Rio LX for 15K, and a Yaris for $15,470.

Granted the Aveo and Rio are more likely to be discounted but yeah...what you said kinda applies...once you add a few more options to those models you could spend a bit more and get a larger car. Of course, the Fiesta (and to a much lesser extent...the Aveo) are trying to prove the opposite: that people are willing to opt for things like leather (or leatherette in the case of the Aveo) sunroofs, etc. on their subcompact car purchases, rather than move up to a larger car.

Personally, I'd be one of the people gravitating toward a "premium" subcompact car. If VW got off their ass and offered the Polo here, I'd be all over it.
 
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Yes, I?ve been out again. Luckily, the slushiness that has taken over the west coast wasn?t here yesterday, when I went to have a look at something that has been in the back of my mind for years now.

Anybody heard of the Mitsubishi Sapporo before? Named after a city in Japan, it originally was something akin to the Celeste ? a rear-wheel drive coupe that was Chryslerized for the US market, a captive import. Come the ?80s, the name was applied to this top-of-the line version of the Galant. Featuring electric everything, frameless windows, plush velour interior and a sleek aerodynamic styling reminiscent of an Audi 100 that had been sharpened a little, it wasn?t really a sales success with 42 867 examples built over three years. Nor was it meant to be, I guess ? it competed with the Mazda 929, not with E28:s or W124:s.

I first saw this example some years ago on nettiauto. It surfaced from a relative slumber with 90k-something on the clock, with a price tag of 3k if my memory serves. It was for sale for quite a while, and then disappeared again, only to return this spring with a bit over 100k on the clock. The ad claimed it hadn?t seen winter use, and that it had been rustproofed several times over. I think they wanted 2k-ish for it, and it sported a fresh MOT in May. This autumn a car dealer on the west coast took it under their wing, asking for 2990 euro originally. Needless to say, it didn?t sell like hot cakes. At this point it had accumulated 114k on its clock.

Last month I drove there to pick up my gf from the train. Unsurprisingly the train was late, so I decided to kill some time and drove to the forecourt where the Sapporo sat. It was dark and snowy, and it sat there looking forlorn. I had a peek at its sheetmetal and underbody, with my car?s headlights giving me just enough light to see that it only had a couple of light blemishes on the sills, nothing more. It still had its summer tires on, which told me no-one had been that interested in it. On Friday, I called them about it, and asked if it came with a set of winter tires, and if I could come round and check it out. They phoned back later, saying they had a bloke swap the winter set on and that the battery was charging. Great.

So, on Saturday I brushed the F clean from snow and drove over. This time round, the Mitsu looked a bit more sprightly, having spent the night indoors. I got the keys and walked over to prod about more closely.

http://img709.imageshack.**/img709/2145/sapporoforecourt.jpg

It started first try. The idle was a bit low and jittery, making the plastics inside jitter along, but things improved as it warmed up. I then started looking for the window wiper switch.

http://img441.imageshack.**/img441/563/sapporogauges.jpg

It took a while, as the Sapporo disposes with ordinary stalks and features a control center behind the wheel. Cruise is on the left, some of the A/C controls are on the right, and knobs in both ends of the module operate the lights and wipers. That little vestigial stalk on the left operates the indicators.

http://img831.imageshack.**/img831/6192/sapporocontrols.jpg

Somebody had fitted a quite swish head unit, which doesn?t actually look that out of place.

http://img220.imageshack.**/img220/8356/sapporodash.jpg

The rest of the dash is just as square.

http://img137.imageshack.**/img137/8384/sapporocabin.jpg

The blue velour was flawless, except of couple of stitches having come undone in the middle of the rear seat. No biggie.

http://img718.imageshack.**/img718/9438/sappororearseat.jpg

http://img190.imageshack.**/img190/2008/sapporowindows.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.**/img204/4338/sapporodoor.jpg

Frameless windows, which didn?t go up an inch after the door was closed. I think they weren?t supposed to.

After the windows had cleared, I went for a little drive. It didn?t take long to notice the steering was pretty much devoid of feel. It was light, but wasn?t really connected in any other way than to turn the wheels. Delivering feel to my fingers wasn?t its strongest suit. The gearbox felt snappy and clunky, instead of smoothness I had wished for. It was better then the ?91 Audi?s ?box, but not as good as my old Bluebird?s used to be. The streets were really slippery, so I navigated the Sapporo to the highway carefully. The studded Dunlops on its original alloy wheels hadn?t looked too box-fresh, so I didn?t trust them too much.

When I got on the E8, it cruised. Comfortably enough for a car that slept outside, untouched for months. Revs were pleasingly low at highway speed, so fuel economy probably wouldn?t break the bank ? not that would see too demanding use in my hands. The engine, a 124PS 2.4-litre 4G64 8-valve SOHC unit (in this guise a non-interference engine), mostly seemed to be under the hood just to occupy space. It didn?t deliver much of anything, but forward progress could be done without hassle. A V6 would?ve belonged in this car, even the useless 12-valve 150PS 3.0-litre would?ve suited it better.

http://img64.imageshack.**/img64/729/sapporoenginebay.jpg

http://img708.imageshack.**/img708/1356/sapporoengine.jpg

The engine bay would benefit from a steam wash and some toothbrush work.

After coming off the highway, I drove the Sapporo around town. It pretty much felt what the Bluebird used to feel like; numerous metres of FWD Japanese metal, old school. Instead of being a dynamikku sportsu saloonu, it really only was a Galant with full everything. Thinking back, it reminded me of the finest home audio systems? advertisements in the old magazines that litter my apartment. The car is Eric Clapton in a LaserDisc ad, really. Listening to the theme to Edge of Darkness as I write this, and looking at the photos I took, I feel like I?m getting it more than I did driving it. It?s a museum piece from an era nobody?s interested in, so the only occasion it would see any appreciation would be a Mitsubishi club meet. Dealing with the imperfections it currently bears wouldn?t be a big deal; if it were a Citro?n instead of a Galant with a Citro?n interior it wouldn?ve been snapped up a long time ago. The car doesn?t really need to be driven rather than preserved, as driving it isn?t as pleasant as just sitting in it is. After the light tobacco stench has been banished, of course.

http://img3.imageshack.**/img3/283/sappororoad.jpg

http://img407.imageshack.**/img407/5492/sappororight.jpg

http://img27.imageshack.**/img27/1636/sappororust.jpg

The most noticeable bit of rust on the car. The windscreen seal looked a bit shit, too, so I would have to find out if had been shoddily replaced.

http://img714.imageshack.**/img714/7697/sappororear.jpg

The rear light clusters are a bit DeLorean.

Talking money with the dealer, he was frank about them wanting to get it off the forecourt. 3k had come down to 1990eur a while ago, and still the Sapporo wasn?t moving anywhere. It?s not crack pipe, it?s just pipe and slippers, and used W124:s are still dominating that market.
I mentioned 1500 euro, and after suggesting 1600 he settled for 1500, ?perkele?. Hm.

This isn?t one of those reviews where I go out and drive something that is mildly relative to my interests, then bring it back and write a review explaining why I don?t really want it. The car is pretty good, it?s pretty affordable, it?s in pretty good condition and pretty close. I just need to get my head wrapped around it, whether I want to get it and get a garage space for it. It?s in way better shape than the W123 240D in this town, and getting it into the shape the Mazda?s in wouldn?t be that difficult. The?s jury?s just out on this one, and I don?t know when they?re reaching the verdict. Luckily, the one thing that?s not going anywhere might be the Mitsubishi ? nobody really cares about it as much as I do.
 
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Epic writeup, it's not a half bad car, it doesnt have the badge of a euro 80s car, but it's still a car and as TG has shown, any car can make you feel something for it.
 
Cool review, good flow. Nice detailing on the pics.

Thing is, you need it for highway-cruises. Grand tourer style, right? Will it

a. cope with the chilling relax-factor
b. have enough oomph to take over the Finnish road-going arsewipes in their slow moving Corollas
c. have the fuel economy you're looking for?
 
It's really not about needing it, just about the amount of want needed. It's a relaxed car to chill in, it could probably do the Punavuori Bar 9 windows down a/c ironic wayfarer sneaker hipster thing, like a CX would. Just look at the swirly Sapporo badge. Oomph and fuel economy wouldn't probably be too important, as it wouldn't do 40k a year. Anyway, it doesn't drink E10, either.
 
Wow great review! :D I remember those being badged as Dodge and Plymouth Colt's here...but they were never as plushly equipped...I wouldn't mind driving one :p
 
This was a bit bigger, think Dodge Monaco / Eagle Premier. Ah right, those failed too. :lol:

This preceded the Sigma / Diamante.
 
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Here are a couple of mid-'80s ads for the equivalent Galant and Galant Sigma.



[video=youtube;Hjyx-5Jz-QY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjyx-5Jz-QY[/video]

And the CYCLONE engine (4G) had its own commercial, too. Behold:

 
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