Dacia Bigster review (2025 - 2025)

What is the Dacia Bigster?

Take the Dacia Duster SUV, and make it bigger. That, basically, is the premise behind the new Dacia Bigster – as you can probably guess from the name. The idea is simple: a larger option for buyers who think the Duster doesn't offer enough space.

The Bigster isn't actually all that big; it's about the size of a Kia Sportage, and smaller than the seven-seat Dacia Jogger. The Bigster, by contrast, can only be had with five seats – meaning it targets cars like the Sportage, not to mention the Nissan Qashqai, Hyundai Tucson, MG HS, Citroen C5 Aircross and Volkswagen Tiguan.

The big difference, of course, is that like every other Dacia, the Bigster is much cheaper than its rivals to buy. In other words, it isn't in direct competition with them – instead, it's aiming to undercut them, to serve as a bargain basement alternative. It's intended to appeal to buyers, particularly those with young families, looking for maximum space for minimum outlay.

How practical is it?

Practicality is one of the Bigster's strongest suits — boot space in particular. Go for one of the two mild hybrid engine options, and you get a simply vast 677-litre boot. No similar-sized SUV, not even one that'll cost you much more money, can compete with that.

You do get a bit less space in the Dacia Bigster hybrid, as some space is taken up by the larger traction battery – but at 612 litres, it's still a huge space that'll cope with pretty much anything a family can throw at it.

The rear seats don't slide or tumble like they can in a Skoda Karoq (you can't have everything for this price), but they do split in a 40/20/40 formation, which means you can keep two child seats in place and slide longer items through the middle.

Space in the back seats isn't quite as cathedral-like, though it's still perfectly adequate, and few will complain about the amount of head, knee and legroom on offer. And the big, square door opening and high-mounted rear seats mean that it's a doddle to install your kids.

Up front, once again, the seats are high-mounted, which makes climbing in and out really easy, even if you've limited mobility. Headroom is plentiful despite this, and there's plenty of storage for odds and ends, with nooks, crannies, cupholders and lidded bins sprinkled liberally throughout the doors, dashboard, centre console and armrest.

There's a good view out over the front of the car, with the blocky, crenelated bonnet stretching out before you. This means you're easily able to see where the edges of the car are, which makes it easy to position the Bigster on the road. At the back, a large rear screen and good-sized rear windows help when parking, too.

What's it like to drive?

It'll come as little surprise to hear that a cheap and cheerful family SUV isn't all that much fun to drive, and so it goes with the Bigster. In corners, there's very little feedback from the steering, the front end feels vague and not too eager to turn in, and the whole car leans over quite a bit. It's not a complete disaster – there's enough grip that the Bigster does change direction when you ask it to – it just doesn't feel very happy about it.

The payoff for this softness is that the Bigster is really very comfortable most of the time, and especially on the motorway, where it wafts along like a much more expensive car. Around town it can get caught out by sharper, more sudden bumps, and the suspension is quite noisy, too – you hear a few clonks and twangs from below you over more churned-up stretches of road. But for the most part, the Bigster feels pretty comfortable.

You can choose between three different engine options, all sourced from Dacia's parent company, Renault. There's a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol mild hybrid with 138bhp, front-wheel drive and a six-speed manual gearbox; the same engine with 128bhp and four-wheel drive; or a 153bhp 1.8-litre full hybrid with an automatic gearbox and front-wheel drive.

Want more specs? Well, all three engine options have a top speed of 112mph; the two mild hybrid cars hit 0-62mph in 9.8 for the front-wheel-drive version, and 11.2 for the four-wheel-drive. The full hybrid will hit 62mph in 9.7 seconds, meanwhile.

We haven't driven the mild hybrids, but we know from experience of them in other models that they deliver good low-down punch but can feel a little breathless at higher speeds, especially when tasked with hauling around a car of the Bigster's stature.

The full hybrid powertrain, meanwhile, delivers solid performance at all speeds, with good low-down punch and still plenty in reserve on the motorway. It isn't going to set bales of hay alight with its pace, but it'll be more than adequate for most family buyers' needs.

It can also be really quiet, because there are times when it'll run solely on the electric motor, which means you can go long periods without hearing any engine noise at all. There's a flip-side to this, though, which is that when the hybrid system brings in its petrol engine, it can sometimes emit a gargling, growling sound, which can be intrusive.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

Dacias have a reputation for being sparsely equipped, but even the entry-level Bigster comes with a few fripperies, to wit: adaptive cruise control, keyless entry, parking sensors, dual-zone climate control, a multi-view parking camera, and a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

This is a pretty good touchscreen, by the way, unencumbered by fancy graphics – which means it's easy to find your way around and fast to respond – yet still looking fresh and modern, thanks to the lime green accents. Below it, a line of piano key switches allow for physical control of the climate functions – a welcome addition.

Upgrade to the plusher (though in a Bigster, such things are relative) Journey trim, and you add some little luxuries to the kit list: a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, an electric boot lid, live traffic navigation, a wireless mobile phone charger, 19-inch alloy wheels, and a digital instrument cluster.

There's also an Extreme trim, which is more geared toward off-road adventuring; consequently, it loses the electric tailgate of the Journey, but gains instead hill descent control, a panoramic sunroof, and Dacia's modular roof rails, which can turn clockwise to become roof bars. You also get 18-inch wheels with chunkier tyres, which helps improve the ride quality.

All trim levels come with a 'My Perso' button, which enables you to set up the safety systems to an individual profile that can be accessed with two quick taps. This is handy, because it means you can disable the nagging lane-keep assist and speed limit warning systems quickly and easily, each time you start the car.

Dacia Bigster running costs

One of the main attractions of the Bigster is its price: nowhere else will you find this much new car for this little cash. Instantly, then, it's onto a winner in terms of its running costs.

And the good news just keeps on coming. The basic mild hybrid in front-wheel-drive form should manage around 45mpg on average in the real world – and it should even slightly outperform some of its pricier mild hybrid rivals.

It's even better news if you go for the full hybrid model. It's possible to see fuel economy figures of 55, or in some circumstances, even 60mpg in the real world, with the attendant low emissions you'd expect. If you're doing enough miles, that'll be enough to negate the fact that this version costs almost £3,000 more.

Service schedules are a little more generous than the norm, with Dacia recommending that you get the Bigster serviced every year or 12,000 miles – giving you 2,000 miles more between services than most manufacturers if you're doing higher mileages.

And because of the Bigster's low list price, it's literally impossible to incur the luxury car tax surcharge, meaning your tax costs will only ever be as high as the basic flat rate.

Whichever way you square it, then, the Bigster is an affordable car to buy and run.

Dacia Bigster reliability

The Bigster is still too new for us to have any real-world reliability data as yet, but we do know that Dacia makes dependable cars: the company came sixth out of 31 car manufacturers to feature in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That suggests the Bigster should be a trusty companion.

That impression is backed up by the fact Dacia now offers a good service-activated warranty option on all its cars. What this means is that if you get your Dacia serviced at a main dealer, you'll benefit from an extra year, or 18,000 miles' worth, of warranty, up to a maximum of six years or 75,000 miles old.