Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Not only that they both belong to the city car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style, they are even powered by the same Renault-developed diesel engine! There is not much there to point us towards one vehicle or the other. Or is it?

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the Renault being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the city car segment, which is generally not a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the French car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Renault does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Dacia with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Renault badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Sandero as average reliability-wise, and Clio is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 4.5 out of 5.

Dacia is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 175 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Romanian car, averaging around 3.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (72 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 21% difference compared to the French car.

Renault appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the French car offers much better overall protection, which launches it ahead of the other contender. From there things take a different direction, with Dacia being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Dacia. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.