ON THE ROAD- IAN LYNAS PREVIEWS THE DACIA BIGSTER

With the finance of the world in an unreliable state; could this be the time for Dacia; a range of real value for money vehicles. A few years ago we might have turned our heads the other way when we saw one of these Romanian cars on our roads; but times do change and for this carmaker, they have done so  very positively. The name comes from a historical region of Europe that constitutes the present day Romania. Established in 1966 and after thirty three years the company was sold to Renault and with all the know-how from the French carmaker at last Dacia was producing vehicles that not only were very price conscious, but what many people wanted.

Currently, the Bigster is attracting a lot of attention; a new addition to the C-segment of the market and one which offers buyers robust, well equipped value for money transport. At last, Dacia is offering a spacious vehicle with many features found on more expensive vehicles and it comes with a reasonable helping of on road presence. Okay, it is not the most attractive in class, but for many that will not be the priority; I guess it will be to obtain an all-round, practical set of wheels at a reasonable cost. One might expect the Bigster to not offer as much as its competitors in this very crowed area of the market, but it does hold a number of surprises with a reasonable helping of on-board tech; a 10.1 inch central touchscreen, a digital instrument panel and surprisingly a powered tailgate. When it comes to comfort for all who travel in the Bigster, the interior space is exceptional, firm, well supportive seating, optimised acoustic insulation, dual zone air conditioning with rear vents, a panoramic sunroof and for entertainment on the move, a multimedia system with six speakers and Arkamys 3D sound.

For everyday use, the Bigster scores well as being a very practical vehicle, the boot like the interior is spacious, there are modular roof bars and a 40/20/40 bench seat, ideal for when carrying a long object. The new Bigster is the first from Dacia to feature the company’s new electrified powertrains and the Hybrid 155 is the first Renault Group model to have this all new powertrain, combining a 109bhp four cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors, a 50bhp motor and a high voltage starter/generator, a 1.4 kWh battery and an automatic electrical transmission. There are four gears for the ICE engine and two for the electric motors; this technology is possible by the absence of a clutch. The 140 is based on the TCe 130 which is available in the Duster range; there is a new 1.2 litre, three cylinder engine petrol turbo based on the Miller cycle; a 48V mild hybrid system and a six speed manual gearbox. For when the going gets tough, customer choice might just extend to the 130 4×4; it has an all four wheel drive system mated to a six speed manual gearbox and a 48V mild hybrid system which aids the three cylinder 1.2 litre petrol engine; again it is turbocharged.

With the addition of the Bigster to the Dacia range, customers have a choice of a vehicle that can take on head to head the opposition which costs a good deal more and while it will not win on looks, there are plenty of reasons for buyers to choose this newcomer.

Ian Lynas