New Dacia Spring 2026 review: with more power comes greater ability

Verdict

With a larger, more powerful motor, the Dacia Spring is able to hold its own in a way it simply couldn’t previously. It transforms the dinky city car into an occasional – and surprisingly accomplished – motorway cruiser, even if refinement and road holding leave a little to be desired. The other changes are more trivial, meaning its pros and cons are otherwise unchanged; a used supermini will make more sense to most.

Two months ago, a huge £4,000 price cut made the dinky Dacia Spring immeasurably more desirable – literally overnight. What was previously a compromised, relatively expensive alternative to petrol city cars, instantly looked more attractive. In its entry-level Expression trim, the Spring could finally lay claim to the title of Britain’s cheapest new car.

The news followed a round of recent updates that brought in a new LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) battery, upgraded brakes and retuned suspension, plus the inclusion of a rear anti-roll bar for the first time. Also added was the option of a much punchier 99bhp electric motor, fitted to Extreme-spec cars such as the one we’re driving here.

That revised e-motor makes a massive difference to raw, on-paper performance. The Spring Extreme 100 (reference to this car’s metric horsepower figure) will officially do 0-62mph in just 9.6 seconds – only a fraction slower than a seventies VW Golf GTI. That claim doesn’t feel like the stuff of fantasy, either – providing you can tame that extra shove through the questionable Linglong-branded rubber.

Used - available now

2026 Dacia

Spring

AutomaticElectric

Cash £12,190

View Spring

2024 Dacia

Spring

6,595 milesAutomaticElectric

Cash £9,497

View Spring

2024 Dacia

Spring

1,095 milesAutomaticElectric

Cash £10,000

View Spring

2024 Dacia

Spring

1,000 milesAutomaticElectric

Cash £9,495

View Spring

The reality, however, is that it’s easy to overwhelm the front tyres, causing the traction control to rein things in and hamper progress. The steering is slow, with a reluctance to self-centre, and if you push the car into a corner too hard, understeer is the order of the day.

But in normal driving, whether that’s around town or on the open road, the extra power is welcome. During our time with the car, we performed a safe overtake on a rural road that would have previously struck fear into Spring drivers up and down the country. Despite a meagre 137Nm of torque, response is instant, and the car will pull strongly up to (and slightly beyond) the national speed limit.

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The Spring 100 is a much better motorway car than its predecessors, too. It’ll still blow about a bit as you pass slower-moving trucks, and there’s plenty of road noise to contend with, but it’ll sit comfortably at 70mph and keep up with faster-moving traffic in a way the old car couldn’t. Adding to the Spring’s ability to eat motorway miles for breakfast (within reason) is the easy-to-operate, standard-fit cruise control.

On the flip side, the driving position is awful; there’s no reach adjustment for the steering wheel, and the flat front seats sit remarkably high. The narrow body, as before, means you need to be on friendly, first-name terms with your passenger; it’s incredibly snug inside.

The revised suspension system gives the car a more grown-up feel. Despite the short wheelbase, it doesn’t bounce about too much, and the small wheels don’t crash through potholes or seek out tramlines in the road. The brakes are strong – there’s not much mass to control, after all – and the intuitive B mode accessed via the stubby gearlever allows you to boost the regen around town.

But while the motor, brake and suspension upgrades all seem worthwhile, the addition of a rear anti-roll bar has made seemingly little difference to the way the Spring drives. There’s still a comical amount of body roll through the bends, which in conjunction with the sub-standard tyres and sloppy steering doesn’t give you much confidence to throw it about. But that’s not what this car’s about.

Instead, it’s best to focus on the fantastic efficiency and strong kit list. We saw comfortably more than five miles per kWh at lower speeds, and over 4.5mi/kWh on the motorway. Taking this as a worst-case scenario, the Spring should return at least 110 miles of real-world range in warm weather – even without utilising the power-sapping eco mode, or switching off the air-con.

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A peak charge speed of 40kW might not sound like much, but factor in the tiny 24.3kWh battery and you’ll not be left waiting long. We plugged the car in at around 30 per cent charge and it instantly hit its advertised maximum. In theory, a 20 to 80 per cent charge takes 29 minutes, while a full top-up on a 7kW home wallbox is possible in a little over three hours.

It really is worth stepping up to the better-specced Spring Extreme. Not only do you add an extra 30bhp – with no detriment to range or efficiency – Dacia will also throw in a 10.1-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a reversing camera and all-round parking sensors. It looks a bit cooler, too, thanks to a set of black wheel covers and copper-coloured trim for the door mirrors. Our car’s Sea Foam paint is the only chargeable extra, at £650.

Otherwise, the Spring is as cheap and cheerful as it’s ever been. There are plenty of scratchy plastics inside, but you’re more likely to lament the lack of cupholders than you are the rubberised steering wheel or tactile manual handbrake.

A word of caution, though: an all-new Spring, based on the brand-new Renault Twingo, is due soon, and should be in showrooms early next year. If you can, we reckon it’ll be well worth the wait.

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