New Dacia Jogger – Family Motoring At Its Finest

For larger families looking for a capacious family holdall with plenty of seats, the choice can be somewhat limited, especially if funds are tight. A quick trawl through the list of cars on sale in the UK with seven seats reveals that the cheapest are all over £30,000, some by quite a lot!

Never fear, for those clever people at Dacia now have an affordable family wagon on sale in the UK – the Jogger. Priced from just £16,645, it continues the Renault owned Romanian brand’s value for money concept.

How do they manage to offer so much for so little and is the car any good? Well after a week behind the wheel, this review will hopefully reveal all.

The range is a simple one with just three trim levels now offered, Essential, Express, and Extreme. My early build test car was a mid-range ‘Comfort’ model, as Dacia has already changed the names of the trims available. Price £17,945 before options and in my opinion, the pick of the range.

Engine choice is simple. There isn’t one, with all models fitted with a perky 109hp 999cc engine. Turbocharging ensures it is more than up to the task in hand, though to be fair I didn’t test the car with a full complement of passengers on board. It feels quicker than the stated 0-62mph sprint time of 11.2 seconds.

The power delivery is not the smoothest, with a noticeable boost coming in rather abruptly just below 3,000rpm. You get used to it. The six-speed gearbox is smooth in operation and the clutch light and progressive.

On a long run to the North-East, with a good section of motorway, the trip computer hovered around the 50mpg mark, before settling at 46.5 at the end of my test week.

A hybrid power train will be available in the future, but I wouldn’t wait as the current offering is suitably frugal and green, with low CO2 emissions of just 131g/km.

I subjected the Jogger to my usual challenging test routes and can report the car is good to drive. It is not a car to thrill the keen driver, as the soft suspension set up is clearly designed for comfort rather than handling. Expect a little body roll if pushing on.

Motorway cruising was surprisingly relaxing, with little wind and road noise to spoil the calm.

The Jogger’s interior is what impressed me most. The flexible seating arrangement means that seven adults can be accommodated. I am around six foot in height and was able to sit in the rearmost seats in some degree of comfort. Headroom was fine and legroom adequate. Getting in requires a bit of manoeuvring, but those with more youthful bodies will manage it more easily than I did.

The middle row is wide enough for three adults and the seats upfront proved to be comfortable on a long journey, though a bit more lumbar support would have been nice.

If the rear seats are not needed, they can either be folded forward or removed altogether. They are not too heavy either so can be popped in and out without too much difficulty.

Mid spec models are nicely equipped with climate-controlled air conditioning, cruise control, reversing camera, remote central door locking and an eight-inch Media Display with the usual Apple and Android connectivity. Top models get factory-fit satellite navigation, but I was more than happy with Waze via my smartphone. There is just one USB socket which is a rather glaring omission.

Material quality won’t trouble the premium brands and I did notice that the interior plastics mark very easily. The hard-worked press car looked a little tired in places. A more caring owner would doubtless manage to keep things looking better.

So, let’s look at the competitors. A Citroen e-Space Tourer will seat up to nine people but is available in electric form only, which won’t suit all. Vauxhall offer an equivalent too. Over £30,000 needed.

Moving on, a Skoda Kodiaq, from around £33,000 will seat seven but the rear seats are really only suitable for children. A Ford’s S-Max and Galaxy models will seat seven adults, but you will need to up the spend to almost £40,000.

The Jogger therefore has the affordable seven-seat family car market all to itself. That on its own would not be sufficient justification to go out and buy one.

However, it really is a very good car. It drives well, comes nicely specified and most importantly that flexible interior will delight. It’s a five-star recommendation from me, something I don’t do very often.