Dacia ECO-G 100, the LPG range is renewed

Dacia ECO-G 100

We are living in a very particular era as regards mobility, within a few years we will witness a profound mutation of the circulating car fleet but this does not mean that today there is no need for cars capable of supporting us in our travels while keeping an eye on ecology: it is for this reason that Dacia, the Romanian brand which today is part of the Renault group, still relies very strongly on LPG fueling, proposed on the Sandero, Jogger and Duster models.

After a period in which LPG has spread to many car catalogs, lately the car manufacturers have shifted their focus to electric with the result that LPG is hardly talked about anymore, but that does not mean that it is not a valid solution: as rightly pointed out by Dacia during the press conference dedicated to the ECO-G range, over the last year LPG is the fuel that has undergone the least fluctuations of all in terms of price, with an average cost that today is 2% lower than a year ago, while petrol and diesel are respectively +8 and +13%, with various fluctuations over the last 12 months.



--> Even taking into consideration all the costs associated with the purchase and maintenance of the LPG system, according to the data reported by Dacia, it is a very economically viable solution: in the price list, the LPG model will cost €750 more than the with equivalent petrol, and over 4 years you will have to pay €170 more for maintenance than with a petrol engine, on the other hand, over 4 years and 60,000 km travelled, fuel savings exceed the €2,500 threshold , thus bringing the savings directly linked to the decision to have an LPG-powered car to approximately €1,600.

The petrol-LPG dual fuel engine developed by Dacia consists of a 3-cylinder petrol engine turbo, with a maximum power of 100 horsepower at 4600 rpm and a maximum torque of 170 Nm at 2000 rpm; thanks to the dual fuel supply, and in particular thanks to the use of LPG, it is possible to save up to 40% on fuel costs, reducing CO2 emissions by 10% compared to a normal petrol engine. Furthermore, Dacia's ECO-G range can boast an astonishing mileage, thanks to low fuel consumption and large tanks: on the Sandero and Jogger we have a 40-litre LPG tank and a 50-litre petrol tank, while in the case for the Duster the LPG tank has been increased to 50 litres, and the same number are dedicated to petrol. All this translates into total autonomy, emptying both tanks, which can easily exceed 1200 km!

-->

The data speak for themselves: Italians like LPG Dacias, so much so that the Romanian brand has become the leader of the Italian LPG car market since 2019 , with a market share that today is close to 50% thanks to the Sandero models – by far the best-selling, also because it is the cheapest – and Duster. Dacia's success, especially with the LPG range, is confirmed by the 625,000 LPG vehicles that the brand has sold in Europe since 2009, of which 245,000 in Italy, while from 2019 onwards the dominance has been absolute.

The reasons that push so many Italians to choose Dacia's ECO-G 100 engine are various, starting from the economic one we have already talked about, but there is also the ecological aspect - LPG allows you to reduce fuel consumption by 10% CO2 emissions, but it is also free of toxic substances such as lead and benzene – so much so that in some cases it is possible to access the ZTL if you drive a LPG car. The other fundamental aspect is that of product safety and the consequent guarantee: for more than 10 years now Dacia has been integrating dual fuel into its engines and this guarantees a high quality LPG system, which have a particular impact on the interior spaces of the car since the circular tank is placed in the spare wheel compartment.

-->

During our test we had the opportunity to test the Dacia Jogger with the 100 horsepower 1.0 TCE LPG engine on the road and we must admit that we were pleasantly convinced by the solution offered by Dacia: let's start from the exterior, recently updated by Dacia with the new grille with the X logo (which is actually the D and C of the Dacia logo) which is much more captivating and modern than the logo used in the past.



Dacia Jogger is the longest car in the Dacia catalogue, with a length of 4.55 metres, this station wagon can boast a 7-seater configuration (which however reduces the trunk to just 160 litres) or a 5-seater configuration with an impressive rear load space of a good 595 liters – even by folding down the rear bench, the figure reaches 1800 litres. Among the main innovations we have the new light clusters with a very clear Y-shaped light signature that gives character and modernity to the Jogger and its sisters in the range.

Moving inside, you immediately notice how Dacia has made great strides ahead of a few years ago, in terms of material and assembly quality: the Jogger's dashboard and dashboard are not only solid, they are also well designed – the air conditioning vents, which recall the new logo, are very interesting – and made as quality, such as the fabric covering that runs along the entire surface.



The instrumentation is essential but does its job, Dacia also offers an integrated navigator as well as the possibility of using Android Auto and Apple CarPlay; the integrated navigator, to our great regret, is set to send an acoustic signal every time the speed limit is exceeded, even by 1 km/h, and becomes even more insistent when approaching a speed camera.

While driving, the Jogger proved to be sufficiently dynamic and snappy, even when using LPG fuel; it's definitely not a car with sporting ambitions and he makes it clear right away, but the 3-cylinder turbo has all the torque needed to not feel stuck in the middle of the road.

Let's now analyze the Dacia price list for the ECO-G 100 range, starting from the Dacia Jogger that we tested: available in 3 trim levels, Essential, Expression and Extreme, Jogger starts at €17,800 in the Essential version with 100 horsepower LPG engine, and goes up to €21,500 in the Extreme version with the same engine.

As for Sandero, which in turn comes in the Streetway and Stepway versions, the price of the LPG range starts at €14,300 for the Streetway Essential, and from €15,700 for the Stepway Essential.

Finally, one of the most iconic Dacia models, the Dacia Duster, available in 5 different trim levels (Essential, Expression, Journey, Journey Up and Extreme), which in the LPG version starts at 18,500 € in the Essential trim level and can reach up to €21,550 in the Extreme version – unfortunately there is no compatibility between the dual petrol-LPG fuel system and all-wheel drive.