Dacia is launching a new series on the market that is extremely inexpensive, especially when converted to euros per seat: The van called Jogger offers serious space for seven adults, considerable ground clearance and an appealing design. In addition, a Dacia-typical competitive price.
Something else has recently been typical of Dacia: The Romanian brand recently got a rough touch, something off-road-like. This is also expressed by the new logo, which was presented together with an off-road study. The Jogger is the first Dacia production model that does justice to this new image: plastic paneling, an underrun protection and, above all, 20 centimeters of ground clearance invite you to go on excursions into easy terrain. However, there will be no all-wheel drive, which is reserved for the SUV Duster.
The relationship to the cheap Sandero small car is obvious, especially in the interior design, but the Jogger towers over it in length by almost half a meter. The family Romanian is 4.55 meters long. The wheelbase is particularly striking: 2.90 meters is a real announcement and the basis for real family suitability with seven fully-fledged seats.
The jogger has five seats as standard, the rear bench can be moved by seven centimeters as an option. If you have ordered it like this, you have forfeited the chance of the third row of seats – you only get that if you order them with the first delivery. If you don’t need them for a while, you can easily remove the two rear seats. Or just one of the two. You don’t even need particularly strong arms, each seat weighs only 15 kilograms.
Full third row
It is surprisingly easy to get through to the very back: You pull on a loop on the backrest in row two and fold the backrest forward. The rear part of the seat frame is thus also unlocked at the same time, so you can easily fold it completely forward. Even a 1.90 meter tall person can climb backwards without dislocating too much. Two of us even sat in the back for the test, and you can endure that even on medium-long stretches. However, a queasy feeling can spread: you have the tailgate practically directly behind you, there is practically no trunk left (officially 160 liters). In the event of a severe rear-end collision, this probably also applies to the passengers in the “cheap seats”.
Row two is also a good place to sit. At least when it comes to head, knee and other freedom. But of course the seats don’t have a seal for special back-friendliness
The front feels similar to the Sandero and looks at the same dashboard. Here, too, there is no display as standard, but a bracket with which you can integrate your smartphone as a touchscreen. With an app, it completely replaces an operating system including an on-board computer, and can even be operated using the steering wheel buttons. Two different infotainment systems are optionally available, with an eight-inch touchscreen and a very clear menu. In both cases Apple CarPlay / Android Auto is included, in the more expensive case even wireless.
Large trunk, electric tailgate
In the 5-seater version, the trunk volume is 708 liters up to the upper edge of the backrest. In the 7-seater version, with the third row folded down, the volume is 565 liters. Thanks to the interior height of 661 mm and the long trunk floor, a stroller or children’s bike can be loaded horizontally without dismantling by folding down one of the two seats in the third row. The third row seats are also very easy to remove, each weighing just 15 kg. The maximum trunk volume is specified with a good 1.8 cubic meters.
Roof rails with integrated roof rack
The roof rails of the Jogger, which we already know from the Sandero Stepway, are very practical: two bars fold out, which easily become cross members. All you have to do is loosen four screws with a screwdriver stored in the glove compartment. Skis, bicycles or even a roof box can be mounted with a roof load of up to 80 kg.
Choice of three engines
Basically, Dacia offers three engines for the Jogger, but only two in Austria (as with the Sandero), as there is too little demand in this country for the 100 hp LPG engine. So we are left with the turbo three-cylinder with 110 hp at the market launch. The performance should be quite decent, because the jogger (as a five-seater) only weighs 1.2 tons (according to DIN).
The 140 hp full hybrid, which is already familiar from the Renault Clio, will follow in 2023. It combines a 1.6-liter petrol engine and two electric motors (an electric drive motor and a high-voltage starter) – and drives the front wheels without a clutch via a multimode claw transmission.
Thanks to the energy recovery when braking, up to 80% of trips in the city can be made fully electrically with a 1.2 kWh battery (230 V). This should be reflected in up to 20% lower consumption (compared to the pure internal combustion engine in the city cycle).
There are also assistants
The usual phalanx of assistants should of course not be expected, but there is a standard emergency brake assistant, a blind spot warning, cruise control, parking sensors, reversing camera and a hill start aid.
Battle Prize Van
Dacia has not yet announced prices, just this much: The base model with LPG engine will cost around 15,000. This suggests a base price of around 16,000 euros for the gasoline engine in Austria. You will probably still need a lot of extras, but you can assume that you get a very spacious car with attractive equipment for less than 20,000 euros. You won’t get so much space and, above all, seven seats that cheaply otherwise.
The Dacia Jogger replaces three Dacia series: the Transporter Dokker, the Van Lodgy and the Kombi Logan MPV. Orders will start in November 2021, market launch in February 2022.