All-new Dacia Bigster: flagship SUV undercuts key rivals by over £5,000

• All-new mid-size SUV
• Full hybrid option and various off-road features
• Prices start from just £24,995

This is the all-new Dacia Bigster, and it’s here to shake up the mid-size SUV market. It’s the brand’s largest car yet, but don’t assume that means it’s expensive – Dacia has confirmed that prices for the Bigster will start from just £24,995 when it goes on sale in March this year.

That puts the Bigster in a pretty favourable position against its key rivals. SUVs like the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage – two of the UK’s best-selling cars – start from around £30,000, but even the top-of-the-range Bigster comes in under this figure. That’s not all, though, because the Bigster even gets some unique adventure-ready features to set it apart from those rivals, along with a clever self-charging hybrid engine option.

The Bigster is the first of three new family cars headed our way from Dacia as it plans to expand into the mid-size market. It’ll be joined by the ‘C-Neo’ hatchback further down the line, while the third model remains a mystery.

What does the new Dacia Bigster look like?

The design of the Dacia Bigster won’t come as a surprise to anyone who saw the Bigster concept in 2021 – the production car is virtually unchanged. It’s chiselled, tough and chunky, with square proportions and black cladding that wraps around the whole body. It’s a design shared with the smaller Dacia Duster, but the Bigster is 230mm longer overall, opening up more interior and boot space.

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The Bigster’s upright front end features the brand’s latest Y-shaped headlights, sitting either side of a gloss black grille and above a grey skid plate. The rugged look continues around the sides and to the rear of the Bigster, where more ‘Starkle’ cladding is used. This material first appeared on the new Duster and is made from up to 20% recycled plastic. It’s also unpainted, so chips and scratches won’t affect its colour.

What about the Bigster’s interior?

Much like the outside, the inside of the Bigster is essentially carried over from the Duster but – you guessed it – bigger. You get the same dashboard with Y-shaped air vents and a 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen. That’s standard fit across all Bigsters and comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, while the driver gets a digital display for driving information. This is seven inches in entry-level cars, while higher trim levels get a 10-inch unit.

Things differ from the Duster when you open the rear set of doors. Dacia claims the Bigster offers one of the most spacious interiors in its class, and having sat in the rear seats ourselves, we’re inclined to agree. There’s plenty of legroom across the whole bench, even with six-foot tall passengers sitting up front. 

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Boot space is impressive too, with 667 litres of space with the rear seats in place. That ‘s more than you’ll find in many of its rivals, including the Qashqai, Sportage and MG HS. Plus, you get a handful of Dacia’s YouClip anchor points around the cabin, which can be used to attach various accessories, such as tablet holders, cup holders or bag hooks.

Like we’ve seen with the Duster and Jogger, adventurous customers are catered for by the Dacia’s ‘Sleep Pack’. This slots into the boot of the Bigster, and folds out into a double bed for stealthy camping trips. Other unusual options include a rear-mounted tent, a tow-bar cargo box, and a rear central armrest that converts into a backpack.

What engines are available for the Dacia Bigster?

The Dacia Bigster utilises the same underlying platform as the Duster, which in turn is shared with the Renault Clio and Captur. There are three engines to choose from, all using some form of hybrid assistance.

The entry-level option is the mild hybrid TCe 140. This uses a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine and a small electric motor, delivering 138bhp through a six-speed manual gearbox. Dacia claims it can return up to 50.4mpg, which is considerably more than the petrol MG HS.

The Bigster TCe 130 4x4 uses the same engine and manual gearbox but with a slightly lower peak power figure, at 128bhp. In exchange for the loss in power, it gains four-wheel drive and a host of off-road driving modes.

At the top of the range sits the Bigster Hybrid 155. Unlike the previous two engines, this is a full hybrid set up, consisting of a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, an electric motor, and a 1.4kWh battery. Thanks to the greater electric assistance, this model returns the best fuel economy, with Dacia claiming up to 57.6mpg. It’s also the most powerful with 153bhp, and the front wheels are driven through an automatic gearbox.

How much does the Dacia Bigster cost and when can I buy one?

Value for money has always been a Dacia strong point, and the Bigster is no different. The entry-level Expression model starts from just £24,995, making it one of the most affordable mid-size SUVs on the market. It’s a price that exactly matches that of the MG HS, another value-focused SUV.

Upgrading to Journey trim costs an extra £1,250, but we imagine that lots of buyers will spring for this version. It gets the larger digital driver’s display, heated seats, a heated steering wheel, larger alloy wheels and a powered tailgate.

Range-topping Extreme models get practically all the options in the brochure, including a panoramic sunroof, modular roof bars and washable upholstery. This model costs from just £26,495.

Those prices are for the Bigster equipped with the base mild-hybrid TCe 140 engine. Four-wheel drive models are available in Expression and Extreme trim, costing £27,195 and £28,695, respectively. The Hybrid 155 engine is the priciest of the lot, but even this model costs £29,495 in Extreme trim – less than the entry-level Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and Hyundai Tucson.

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