I struggle these days to get too excited about yet another new SUV. They tend to blur into one, newer models bringing little extra of substance apart from bigger price tags, beepily aggressive driver aids and digital touchscreens which do more to distract than help you safely operate the car.
This world of diminishing returns is confusing, even for those of us who take a nerdish interest in the new car market. Peugeot may or may not have recently brought out a new 3008, who knows what’s going on at Vauxhall, and if you squint, you might be able to spot the difference between a 2024 and 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan. Renault has a bunch of SUV-type vehicles whose names - Symbioz, Austral and Rafale - were unknown to me until I accepted the cookies to get onto the company’s website to research this article. And so it goes on.
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There isn’t really any such thing as a ‘bad’ car anymore. They all start when you want them to, tend not to break down or rust and are generally pleasant to drive and have the sort of technology that families actually want - USB sockets, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, that sort of thing. Call me jaded, but it’s just that there aren’t that many new cars which are particularly interesting.
However, Dacia’s newest offering has got my attention. In a pleasing example of nominative determinism, it’s called the Bigster and is their biggest car yet. It is, yes, an SUV, but is a size up from the cheery Duster, which means it should appeal to families looking at cars like the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and their largely identikit ilk.
The Bigster sets itself apart in two ways. First, because it’s a Dacia, it will be cheaper than the competition. It isn’t due to reach us until next year, with prices expected to be between £25,000 and £30,000. Not an insubstantial sum - and the most ever asked for a Dacia - but thousands cheaper than the competition.
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Second, it looks pretty cool. There’s a chunky affability to it, a sort of everyman Land Rover Defender vibe, which is rather appealing. It certainly isn’t bland, which gives it an immediate advantage over the vast majority of family-focused SUVs.
You’ll be able to choose from three hybrid drivetrains. There are two variations of a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, both with 48-volt mild hybrid set-ups, 170lb ft of torque and manual gearboxes. Counterintuitively, perhaps, a more powerful 138bhp unit is front-wheel-drive while the slightly less powerful 128bhp version is paired with four-wheel-drive.
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The third option is a full-hybrid, using a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, with front-wheel-drive and an automatic transmission. It produces 153bhp and 151lb ft of torque, and Dacia says it is capable of 57.6mpg and of relying on its electric power for 80% of time in city driving.
In traditional Dacia fashion, the interior seems to major on hard plastics but it’s smartly designed. There’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a pair of digital displays and - praise be - a healthy smattering of physical switches and buttons, rather than solely touchscreen controls.
The Bigster sets itself apart in two ways. First, because it’s a Dacia, it will be cheaper than the competition. Second, it looks pretty cool. There’s a chunky affability to it, a sort of everyman Land Rover Defender vibe
The Bigster measures 4.57 metres long and Dacia seems to have made the most of it; there’s good space up front but there’s also loads of legroom and headroom for taller passengers in the back. There’s air vents and USB-C sockets for the rear pews - your teens will be delighted…
Boot volume is rated at 667 litres, which puts it at the top of the class; fold the seats and you can get loads 2.7m long in there, too. Anchor points around the interior can be used to hold tablets, cups, bag hooks, torches and the like.
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The three trim start with Expression and rise to Extreme and Journey. Extreme is the rough-and-tumble version, with rubber mats, washable upholstery, modular roof bars and an opening panoramic sunroof.
Put all that together and it should be a case of Bigster is bettster for Dacia.
