14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Dacia presented the latest version of Eastern Europe's biggest hit in the last two years. Dacia is a part of Renault-Nissan alliance and the car is the well known Logan, a car that is now offered with a new engine and also with new equipment.
The Romanian Logan received an exterior facelift, the bumpers being now painted in the color of the car. For a better side view, Dacia changed the external mirrors; the new ones are bigger and more stylish. Inside, Renault and Dacia have made the most significant changes to the car, which is available with leather steering wheel and with new upholstery.
The dials are painted in white and the counter has the red line at 6.000 rpm. One of the biggest problems of the first Logan was the opening system of the trunk which needed the ignition key to be opened. Now, Dacia has fitted a push style knob that is also connected to the central locking of the car. For those who travel in the back seat, this new version is available with a second ashtray mounted in the right door panel. This Prestige version has the most complete level of accessories in the range, meaning that features like CD-Player with MP3 capability, leather steering wheel and gear knob, ABS and alloy wheels are available as entry level.
Another big improvement is, of course, a new engine made by Renault in Spain. This new version has a 1.6 liter engine with 16 valves capable of delivering 105 hp and almost 150 Nm. The officials from Dacia said that technicians have modified the gearbox to make this car more pleasant to drive in the urban environment. The new Logan is capable of reaching 100 km/h in just 10.2 seconds and 1000 meters in 31.9 seconds. The maximum speed is 183 km/h.
With this increased power, the braking system remained the same from the entry level 1.4 liter engine. This fact could be a problem at high speeds, because the car has the center of gravity very high and - in an emergency braking - the mass of the vehicle could change the trajectory of the car. Fitted with the latest generation of the ABS system made by Bosch, this Logan is going to be a safe car; the lack of the braking discs on the rear wheels is a problem when the car is driven in a sporty manner. Anyway, Dacia Logan Privilege is a car which is bound to be a big hit in Europe, because in this auto segment there is not a real competition for this Romanian product. In Romania, the price for this version of the Logan is 9.900 Euro, but - equipped with the extended warranty and the metallic paint - the car passes the 10.000 Euro mark. Even so, at this moment - with this engine and with the complete equipment - there is no competition for Dacia Logan.
Since 2004, when production began, Dacia has produced over 300,000 units and later this year its production facility is going to be increased to 840 units a day. The car is a hit not only in Romania, but also on the Russian market, where it is assembled since last year in CKD format. Next year, Dacia is going to begin the production for Logan in Iran.
Photo: Tudor Raiciu
