It’s rare these days that a new ‘SUV’ comes along that excites us. Most of the time, they’re just jacked-up hatchbacks offering little more practicality and many more compromises for the sake of convincing people they need a ‘bigger’ car. So, when one comes along promising to do actual SUV things, it’s quite refreshing. Meet the Dacia Bigster.
As the name implies, the Bigster is the largest SUV from the Romanian manufacturer to date – and only bested in its line-up by the seven-seat Jogger. Very handily, volume is the USP of the Bigster too.
Coming into the C-segment of SUVs, rivalling school run and ‘40 in a 60 before doing 40 in a 30’ favourites like the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage, it boasts the largest boot of the lot. That measures at 667 litres, making it some way clear of both of those – 504 litres and 591 litres respectively.
Dacia Bigster, rear 3/4
It’s also claimed that the Bigster will offer the best head- and legroom in class, though we’ll have to try it out for ourselves before confirming if that’s the case. Not that we doubt it.
As for powertrains, you’re picking between two pure 1.2-litre three-pot petrol options and a hybrid system. Perhaps oddly, it’s the lowest output engine – 128bhp – that has our fancy as it’s the only one available as a proper 4×4.
We suspect most will end up as the front-driven 138bhp option, though anyone wanting an automatic will have to go for the hybrid. This pairs up a 107bhp variant of the three-cylinder with two electric motors for a combined 153bhp, with electric power drawn from a small 1.4kWh battery.
Dacia Bigster, interior
Three trims are offered, with standard equipment including dual-zone air-con, a 10.1-inch infotainment system, a digital instrument cluster and a reversing camera.
From there, two somewhat-adjacent trims are available offering slightly varying equipment, Extreme seems more focused on being used and abused off-road with trinkets like washable fabric upholstery, rubber mats, a panoramic sunroof and hill descent control. Meanwhile, Journey is a touch more daily-oriented with electric seats, adaptive cruise control and an electric tailgate.
Dacia Bigster, boot
No word yet on pricing, but we’d expect the Dacia Bigster to be the most expensive of the brand’s offerings. That said, expect it to be one of the – if not the – cheapest options in the C-segment. A sub-£20k starting price would be a delight.
