Dacia jogger in the test: you won’t find so much car for so little money anywhere else

And with the ongoing SUV and crossover hype, what could be more natural than giving the jogger a rustic off-road look?? the dacia jogger’s two biggest assets are space and price. Who is satisfied with five seats, pays only 14.490 euro, the autogas version costs even 500 euro less. If you want seven seats, you have to pay an extra 800 euros each. (affordable new cars: five cars for under 30.000 euro)

Dacia jogger in the test: you won’t find so much car for so little money anywhere else

Thanks to its bivalent drive system with a 40-liter autogas tank and 50 liters of gasoline, the most affordable model, according to product manager andrea guinea, comes in at up to 1.000 kilometers. But jogger fans will have to wait until next year for a hybrid (HEV). a plug-in version is also planned, but "only if it’s absolutely necessary and the market demands it," explains global product manager xavier martinet with refreshing frankness: "our customers don’t pay extra for it."

But the crossover also offers a lot in this way. "with the jogger, dacia is reinventing the seven-seater family vehicle," explains dacia boss denis le vot. A bold statement considering the compact length of 4.55 meters. However, the seat test confirms that even adults with a height of 1.85 meters can find enough space in the third row, at least for short journeys. (renault: fatal crash test result – twice)

Dacia jogger on test: as clever as škoda?

Then the quite variable trunk shrinks to 160 liters, with five seats it’s already a tidy 565 liters. By a good 1.to get 800 liters of storage space, you have to fold the seat cushions up vertically or remove the last row completely. The one-by-two-meter flat load floor can easily accommodate the oft-cited shelves. If you’re going on vacation with the family, you can still turn the roof rails into a luggage rack with a load capacity of 80 kilograms with just a few hand grips. Sounds like "simply clever", the claim of the competitor škoda, and it is. "the jogger is the swiss army knife among automobiles", advertises andrea guinea. (dacia duster tce 150 in test: now also available with this comfort extra)

Dacia jogger in the test: modern smartphone connection

Inside, the jogger can’t deny its origins. The new dacia shares the platform with the smaller sandero, and thus also the instrument panel including an eight-inch touchscreen and smartphone integration via apple carplay and android auto. The interior is dominated by hard plastic, but fabric applications lighten the atmosphere. Small features such as a hook for the bag on the passenger side and a smartphone holder with a USB-A port next to the monitor stand out in a positive way. The storage compartments add up to a total volume of 23 liters, including the large glove compartment. (dacia spring electric in test: solid cheap electric car with strange operation)

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Dacia jogger in the test: lots of equipment for an extra charge – but no automatic transmission

In addition, the jogger offers LED dipped headlights, automatic air conditioning, heated seats, blind spot warning, a reversing camera with front and rear parking sensors and a keyless-go function, among other features. These are standard with the top equipment extreme+. Sure, the seats could offer more lateral support, the leg rests could be longer and the cushions could be a little thicker, but for less than 19.000 euro you get a lot of car – and we did a good 200 kilometers without getting backache.

The jogger is the first dacia with a newly developed all-aluminum engine. The one-liter three-cylinder engine is not a quiet performer, but comes with a mere 1.280 kilogram crossover copes well. With a full load, the power unit might have a slightly harder time. If you shift gears a lot (an automatic is not available), you make it easier for the jogger to move forward. Reaches highway speed in 11.2 seconds and has a maximum speed of 183 km/h. However, the sixth gear is quite long and is best suited to flat stretches of road. Dacia gives average fuel consumption of 5.7 liters per 100 kilometers. We needed on our first test drive only 0.6 liters more. So savings hunters looking for a new car will hardly find a better offer than the dacia jogger. (wolfgang gomoll/press-inform)