Dacia Jogger review

Pros: Space, price, comfort

Cons: Challenging looks, entry-level cars lack equipment

The Jogger is the latest in a line of cheap and practical cars from Romanian brand Dacia. Offering ample space for passengers and luggage in a car with the same footprint as a Volkswagen Golf Estate and a similar price to a VW Polo, it’s a bit of a unicorn. But are cars like the Jogger rare for a reason, or should there be far more alternatives to this MPV/SUV/estate car mash-up?

Dacia Jogger Design

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the Jogger is the way it looks. With 200mm of ground clearance and all that plastic body cladding, it’s clearly designed to hint at off-road capability. That’s fine, but the height gives the Jogger a somewhat ungainly silhouette, with that high roofline and near-vertical tailgate.

And the details don’t make it much easier on the eye, either. There’s a small step between the front doors and rear doors, which is designed to make the back seats feel airier, but it just succeeds in making the side profile look messier. That said, we’re big fans of the modular roof rails with their removable centre sections that double as cross bars, meaning there’s no need to carry the bars in the boot.

Overall, the image is one of an off-road estate car in a hall of mirrors, and we suspect some customers will find that challenging. But Dacias are anti-fashion cars anyway, and the Jogger is all about practicality.

Dacia Jogger Interior

Space is the name of the game here, and the Jogger has that in abundance. Not only is there seating for seven, but you really can seat seven adults without too many complaints. Admittedly, the two rearmost seats won’t be especially comfortable for very tall people on long journeys, but they won’t have any issue with trips of, say, less than an hour. Kids will have more than enough room, and will probably fight over who gets to sit in the boot.

Speaking of which, that’s predictably roomy, too. With all seven seats in place, there’s 212 litres of luggage capacity, which is about what you get from a small city car, but removing those seats altogether – a process that involves undoing a few catches before lifting each 10kg seat out independently – frees up 699 litres of space. That’s huge by any car’s standards, let alone something that takes up about the same area as a Focus Estate. And if you fold the middle row, then tumble them forward, you get a ridiculous 2,085 litres to play with. That’s more than you get in the massive Skoda Kodiaq SUV. The only catch is the boot floor is never truly flat in two- or five-seat configuration, no matter what you do with the seats. But when there’s this much raw space, that might be a sacrifice worth making.

But while the Dacia’s cabin may be spacious, it doesn’t major on style. A swathe of houndstooth fabric across the dashboard adds a welcome splash of interest and detracts from some of the hard plastics, but it isn’t the most inspiring cabin on the market. But even though it’s built to a price, it feels more robust than you might expect.

All but the cheapest models get a touchscreen infotainment system more or less lifted from sister company Renault, and that also adds to the interest and feels much slicker and easier to use than most other budget brands’ touchscreens. And with the Android Auto and Apple CarPlay phone integration systems, it has all the functionality you really need.

Dacia Jogger Performance & Drive

For the time being, there’s just one engine option for Jogger customers, and that’s the 1.0-litre 110 TCe unit. A turbocharged three-cylinder engine, it produces 109hp and takes the Jogger from 0-100km/h in a leisurely but perfectly adequate 11.2 seconds. That sounds slow, but it’s more than enough to keep pace with cars on the motorway; it just isn’t particularly exceptional.

Much more important is the fuel economy, which sees the engine burn through a little over five litres of unleaded for every 100km it travels. That might not be achievable with all seven seats occupied, but the Jogger remains efficient and cheap to run no matter how many are on board.

Don’t be fooled by the Jogger’s off-road image, though. This car is only available with front-wheel drive, and although a hybrid model is in the pipeline, there’s no plan to introduce an all-wheel-drive model. That means serious off-roading is not an option, but a decent set of tyres and the plentiful ground clearance will see the Jogger cope admirably with the odd rutted farm track.

It’s better on the road, however, where the steering is fluid and precise, the ride is supple and the body control is surprisingly good for such a tall car. Of course, the Jogger leans in corners – there’s no hiding the effects of that tall body – but it doesn’t wallow in such a way as to make its occupants queasy. It isn’t sporty, but it’s stable, comfortable and easy to drive.

Dacia Jogger Pricing

Jogger prices start at the absurdly low figure of €23,290, though that only pays for the Essential model, which does without alloy wheels or a touchscreen, but it does get rear parking sensors, manual air conditioning and Bluetooth connectivity. Even so, it’s barely more expensive than the cheapest VW Polo, and any equipment is a bonus.

The mid-range Comfort model is arguably the pick of the range, offering a touchscreen, front and rear parking sensors and alloy wheels, as well as a reversing camera and those clever roof rails. Climate control and automatic windscreen wipers are also included in the €25,090 starting price. If you want more, there’s always the Extreme SE model with its black alloy wheels and heated seats, as well as its snazzy navigation system. But with prices from €26,590, it doesn’t look such good value.

Carzone Verdict: 4.5/5

Nothing else on the market offers as much space and comfort as the Jogger for such a low price. With an efficient petrol engine and decent build quality, it could well be all the family car most customers will ever need. Opt for a mid-range Comfort model and it even comes with plenty of standard equipment without raising the price too excessively.