Not very long ago, a Dacia purchase was made through necessity rather than desire. They were usually ideal for the task at hand, though they were bought because people needed what a Dacia could offer rather than because they wanted one of Romania’s greatest exports. In recent years that’s begun to change, thanks to a new design direction and some useful technology improvements. Cars like the new Duster are the perfect example of Dacia’s fresh approach: it’s a car to want, as well as being one of the more affordable in its class.
Now Dacia is taking its new vision to the C segment with the Bigster. ‘Elevating the essentials’ is the tagline, with the same principles that underpin all the models - albeit at a higher price point (and driving position) than ever before. In Europe, the C-segment SUV represents something like three million sales a year, and it’s a market that Dacia wants a slice of, particularly when the average sale price of a car in that class has ballooned from less than 30,000 euros pre-pandemic to almost 40,000 last year. The Bigster is here to offer that €30k price (from £24,995 in the UK) with all the equipment the average SUV buyer might expect.
But, crucially, none of the stuff they don’t want. Dacia spoke to customers in Germany (the biggest C-segment SUV market) about their must-haves and their not-so-bothered bits of kit, the result being that this is the first Dacia with an electric bootlid - because that was deemed essential. But seven seats were not (only 25 per cent said so, and it adds weight), so it wasn’t included. The boot is held up with just a single strut, because that’s all you need. The wheels don’t go bigger than 19s, there’s no plug-in hybrid option, and there’s only one engine option for four-wheel drive. You get the gist: what the customer has said they don’t want, the customer doesn’t get, and it means a fully-fledged five-seat SUV like this, with almost 700 litres of boot space and a (very small) battery pack, weighs 1,419kg. Less weight means lighter components can be used to support the car, which are cheaper to buy and cheaper to replace. Might be something in this lightweighting game...
With the caveat that all test cars were in range-topping Journey trim with the 155hp, FWD hybrid powertrain - and therefore more like £30k - it seems unlikely that any Bigster buyer will feel shortchanged in terms of design. The rear is perhaps a little plain, and the stance isn’t exactly assertive thanks to big overhangs (even on the 19s), but the front end is confident and smart, with proportions and surfaces pleasingly done. It’s a convincingly chunky SUV, one that just so happens to cost thousands less than the alternatives.
The interior, too, is a victory for common sense, with attention paid to the important stuff and money saved where it’s perfectly fine to do so. And it’s ruddy massive, with ample legroom and headroom - even with the pano roof. There’s a spacesaver in the boot (perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole test drive), HVAC controls you could almost work with eyes closed, and a wheel with buttons and stalks that don’t take 15 minutes to figure out. The gear selector looks good but feels a bit cheap, though again that doesn’t seem too much of a concern because of how seldom it’ll be used. Ditto some scratchy plastics - it’s easy to be less precious about them going to the tip. Vents that mimic the design of the new Dacia logo are a neat touch. The central infotainment touchscreen is responsive, logically laid out and features adequately sized icons. It’ll talk to your phone, or the native nav is good - and what else do you need?
The new 155hp hybrid is interesting, combining a relatively large 108hp 1.8-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder with a 50hp electric motor (and high voltage starter generator) supplied by a 1.4kWh battery. It builds on the principles set out by the earlier 140hp hybrid seen in the Jogger, where there isn’t any plug for the electrified model but there is the promise of plentiful urban EV running and a useful boost in fuel consumption.
It still rings true for the Bigster, a little ‘EV’ light on the dash letting you know when the motor has taken over at low speed. And then actually carries on for longer than might be imagined given such a small battery, with a slick handover between power sources as well (away from full throttle, at least). It makes for peaceful, enjoyable about-town progress, and an official 60mpg/105g/km is useful. A regen mode for the gearbox labelled ‘B’ is smartly done, too; because the Bigster is light, and because a small battery doesn’t require tonnes of energy, it can be both subtle and effective in slowing the car down. You’ll never see the battery reserve below half.
Those buyers choosing between the pair of front-drive Bigsters, however, should try the 1.2 turbo triple as well, even if it is manual only. While the 155 Hybrid goes about its business agreeably enough, the alliance of a naturally aspirated engine with a fairly small electric contribution means it’s quite light on torque: just 150lb ft. The little turbo can muster almost 170lb ft, and that could make a difference if regularly filling that big boot up. Obviously the four-cylinder noise in the hybrid is nothing exciting, though it’s probably well subdued enough; the bigger issue at cruising speed is wind noise from that fairly square silhouette.
It’s so refreshing to drive a car that doesn’t really do modes. ‘Eco’ softens the throttle response a tad, though doesn’t make a drastic impact. Otherwise it’s one ride and handling compromise, one steering weight, one brake pedal feel - and surely the better car for it. Certainly it makes for an easier car to assess, and it must be a less daunting car to engineer when not thinking about huge optional wheels, Sport mode or 15 settings for the adaptive dampers. Because there’s not a whole lot of mass to contain, a bit of squidge for the sake of comfort never becomes terminal wallow (check them out at Glasto this year), and there’s a pleasing resistance to all the controls. It’s not a thrilling car to pilot, the Bigster, but it’s not entirely aloof either. Because the spec and the limits are modest, it does require a bit of thinking about sometimes, rather than just barrelling into bends on super wide tyres. There’s a maturity and sophistication to it that eluded earlier Dacia products, alongside the fillip of joy that comes these days from anything light and simple. You’d not begrudge a few hours at the wheel of a Bigster.
Significant foibles are conspicuous really by their absence here, and the kerbweight - from just 1,350kg in the case of the 1.2 - is always worth remembering. Perhaps it would be nice sometimes to have more performance, though a faster car requires bigger brakes, wider tyres and so on - it becomes more expensive. Less wind noise would be welcome, though that’d probably come with the weight penalty of more insulation, as well as extra cost. Engineering any car is a compromise of sorts, and it certainly is for less than £30,000; it’s hard to come away from a first drive of the Bigster with anything but an overwhelmingly positive impression.
In paying attention to what customers say they actually want (rather than what it’s believed they want or can be persuaded to pay extra for), Dacia has created a great SUV. The ADAS is both easily disabled and configured via the MyPerso switch, a bugbear of so many these days. The doorhandles are just doorhandles, not aero-optimised ingress and egress modules. There’s even a stalk of audio controls like a Clio II - because it still works. In nailing the basics and ignoring the fripperies, Dacia appears to have created the family SUV so many claim to be after. On this experience, it’s little wonder that there’s been such strong pre-launch interest, because the Bigster is a fundamentally good car. Not ‘for a Dacia’, or ‘for the money’ - just a well-executed product that fulfils its brief expertly well. Expect a lot of those three million European C-SUV sales to be Dacias before long.
SPECIFICATION | 2025 DACIA BIGSTER HYBRID 155 JOURNEY
Engine: 1,793cc four-cyl, plus 1.4kWh traction battery
Transmission: 6-speed automatic (four-speed automatic plus two EV) front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 155@5,300rpm (total)
Torque (lb ft): 151@3,000rpm
0-62mph: 9.7 secs
Top speed: 112mph
Weight: 1,419kg
MPG: 60.1 (WLTP)
CO2: 105g/km (WLTP)
Price: £29,245
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