Written by Ted Welford Updated: 28 March 2025

Overview

The Dacia Bigster is potentially the most important car this brand has yet launched. Not only because it’s the largest and most expensive Dacia ever, but because it’s the first time it has had a car to compete in the lucrative family SUV segment.

This is now the most popular class and the default choice for most families looking for their next car. It’s dominated by key names such as the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, all of which are among the UK’s top 10 best-selling new cars. 

The Bigster sits above the Dacia Duster, sharing similar exterior and interior styling, though it’s been stretched by 25cm to create more interior space. The Bigster has more rear-seat room and a far larger boot than the Duster; in fact, at 677 litres, this Dacia has the largest boot of any car in its class. 

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Standard equipment levels are also more generous than we’re used to from Dacia, the Bigster debuting several ‘firsts’ for the brand, including a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control and an electric tailgate. These features are widely available on cars such as the Qashqai and Sportage, so Dacia had to step up its game to make sure it’s giving customers the type of equipment they expect. 

The result is Dacia’s most expensive car, though with prices starting from £24,995 for the petrol car and £27,995 for the hybrid, it’s significantly cheaper than most of its rivals. The only exception is the MG HS, which is a yet larger and better-equipped car, but costs the same. 

So is the Dacia Bigster the car to conquer the family SUV segment? We’ve covered 450 miles in this new SUV in France across a mix of motorway, rural and city roads to give you the answer. If you want to know more about how we reached our conclusions, read our How we test cars page.  

What’s it like inside?

The Dacia Bigster’s interior is very similar to that of the Duster, which is largely a good thing. All versions get a 10.1-inch touchscreen and either a seven-inch or 10-inch digital instrument cluster (depending on spec), and both are easy to use and clearly display key information. We found the touchscreen on our test car quite laggy, though. 

It’s a smart and functional interior with excellent ergonomics – we appreciate that Dacia has retained physical buttons for features such as the climate control and demister. The contrasting silver trim in the cabin helps brighten things up, as do the Y-shaped air vents – this latter theme runs across Dacia’s full line-up, including on the LED lights. 

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Quality is the one element that could disappoint some buyers used to posher-feeling cars in this class. Though the main touchpoints have a solid feel to them, all the hard plastic on the door cards and dashboard makes the Bigster feel quite cheap. That’s fine on the more affordable models, but when buyers are potentially spending £30,000 on a car, a few more soft-touch materials would have gone a long way. 

A far more positive note is just how roomy the Bigster is, especially its boot. Measuring 677 litres in standard front-wheel-drive petrol guise, it’s massive – stretching back a long way and folding the rear seats opens up a vast 1,977 litres. Both of those figures give it the largest boot of any car in this class – a Nissan Qashqai, for example, offers 504 litres with the seats up and 1,477 litres with them down. While the boot of 4x4 and hybrid models is slightly smaller, the Bigster’s boot is huge regardless of which version you choose. 

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You also get handles in the boot to fold the rear seats, which have a 40:20:40 split, plus a height-adjustable boot floor with space for a full-size spare wheel beneath as a £300 option. The Bigster also addresses the Duster’s weakness of having limited room in the rear seats, its longer wheelbase enabling adults to sit comfortably. 

That said, it lacks some of the clever touches of pricier rivals, such as reclining and sliding rear seats – you’ll find these features on a Ford Kuga and Volkswagen Tiguan. Getting three people on the rear bench could prove a challenge, too, as the Bigster isn’t especially wide for a car of this class. In fact, it’s a millimetre narrower than the Duster. 

Comfort

Dacia says it has worked hard to improve comfort for the Bigster, acknowledging that many buyers in this class use their cars for longer journeys and for holidays. That’s why the Bigster is available with features such as a partly electrically adjustable seat for the first time (it’s only the recline and height that’s electric). Heated front seats and a heated steering wheel are also included on all but the entry-level Expression model. 

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Rear passengers will also appreciate the availability of a panoramic sunroof on a Dacia for the first time. It’s included as standard on the top-spec Extreme trim and available as a £550 option on a mid-level Journey model. Considering Volkswagen charges £1,385 for the same feature on the Tiguan, it seems an absolute steal on the Bigster. 

Safety 

Safety is an area where Dacia has often underperformed when it comes to Euro NCAP tests. Its cars have consistently scored average or low ratings, and the latest Duster was awarded just three (out of five) stars when it was tested in 2024.

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The Bigster is yet to face Euro NCAP, though we’d be surprised if it scored particularly high marks given Dacia’s history. It does come with plenty of standard safety kit, however, in order to meet the latest regulations, with features such as lane assist, autonomous emergency braking and traffic sign recognition all included. A reversing camera is also included as standard and adaptive cruise control – another first for Dacia – is included on all but the entry-level model, too. 

Engines

The Bigster is available with three engine options – a front-wheel-drive petrol, a four-wheel-drive petrol and a full hybrid version.

We’ve only driven the latter so far, which isn’t just new for Dacia but also for the Renault Group (the owner of Dacia) as a whole. Dacia historically got Renault’s hand-me-downs so it’s a big step that the Bigster receives this hybrid engine first. 

Using a 1.8-litre petrol engine paired to twin electric motors and an automatic gearbox, it develops 155hp, allowing for a 0-62mph time of 9.7 seconds. As it can also spend a lot of time running on electricity, you should expect low running costs. Dacia claims more than 60mpg and we averaged 49mpg on our test route, not driving with efficiency in mind, so it should prove frugal to run.

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If you want to stick with a regular petrol, Dacia offers a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine with mild-hybrid engine technology, which comes with a six-speed manual gearbox. You can have it with front-wheel-drive and 140hp or in a 130hp four-wheel-drive form if you want extra traction and off-roading ability. But given it costs £2,200 more to buy, is slower and more expensive to run we’d only consider the 4x4 if you really need that extra ability. 

In terms of numbers, the 130hp 4x4 can manage 0-62mph in 11.2 seconds and return a claimed 46.3mpg, while the 140hp model takes 9.8 seconds, with a 51.4mpg economy figure. 

What’s it like to drive?

The Bigster isn’t bad to drive at all, helped by being 200kg lighter than most of its rivals. That makes it quite nimble for an SUV of this size, which naturally makes it seem easy to manoeuvre. The steering is light, as you’d expect for a car like this, but it’s precise and easy to place through a corner. It didn’t stop raining the whole time we were driving the Bigster, and it struggles for grip if you’re driving faster in the wet, though driven normally, it’s able to stick to the road fine. 

The ride is fairly comfortable for the most part, but can become a bit unsettled on broken surfaces. Our test car was on large 19-inch alloy wheels (included with the Journey trim), which won’t have helped. We suspect that the basic 17-inch alloy wheels will prove far comfortable, though we will have to wait until driving the car on smaller wheels in the UK to be sure. 

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While the Bigster is a much quieter car to drive than the smaller Duster, even despite Dacia’s efforts to fit an acoustic windscreen (to reduce road noise), it’s still quite loud at motorway speeds compared to most rivals, with especially pronounced wind noise. A Nissan Qashqai is a much more relaxing car to drive at speed than this Dacia. 

We are impressed by the new hybrid system, however. The previous Dacia and Renault engine could prove rather unrefined and noisy under harsh acceleration, while also having an inconsistent power delivery. The Bigster’s setup is a noticeable improvement, and feels quicker to drive too, helped by its seamless acceleration pickup. It can still be a bit vocal under harsh acceleration, but it’s no worse than the hybrid engines fitted to far more expensive rivals. 

What models and trims are available?

Three trim levels are available on the Bigster – Expression, Journey and Extreme. 

Even the base spec is well-equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, electric folding mirrors, a multiview camera and 10.1-inch touchscreen. If you want the most equipment, the Journey model is well worth the additional £1,600, as it gains heated front seats, an electric tailgate, adaptive cruise control and wireless smartphone charger to name just a few features. 

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At the top of the range, the Extreme is distinguished by its copper-brown exterior details and modular roof bars, while also gaining a panoramic sunroof and rubber boot and floor mats. It’s designed to be the more ‘adventurous’ and rugged-looking version. 

Optional extras are few and far between, though we recommend a £300 spare wheel and the Bigster looks great in the two-tone blue and black colour scheme (pictured) for £650.

Read on for our full verdict and ratings.