Dacia Bigster review

The Bigster is supposed to be Dacia’s plushest model, and let’s face it, that wouldn’t be very hard. Obviously, to operate within that budget-conscious sphere which Dacia seems to do so well, there have been compromises, but like the Duster, they’re well judged.

So you can get a panoramic roof, powered tailgate and dual-zone climate control. But you still get the hard-wearing but hard plastics scattered about the cabin, and you can see the joins in places. Be aware: the three trim levels walk up the kit in a convincing fashion, but you’re not looking at mink-lined oddments trays.

All models come with a 10.1-inch touchscreen as standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – unlike the Duster which just has a phone mount on basic models. You also get a 7.0-inch digital driver’s display on entry-level cars, rising to 10.0-inches on mid-spec cars and up, and all Bigsters come with dual-zone climate, with 17-inch wheels on the basic Expression.

Journey trim gets you a few cosmetic upgrades including 19-inch alloy wheels and different seat material, plus heated front seats and wheel, wireless phone charging and high beam assist.

Then there’s Bigster Extreme, which gets the pano roof, cool modular roof bars (you can swing them from lengthwise to crosswise), washable seats and rubber floor mats. Interestingly, depending on trim level the Bigster gets three types of centre console at the front: low, intermediate and high, with an armrest with a built-in cooler compartment and a wireless charger.

And that’s not all: Bigster also comes with all the accessories you’d ever need. A Sleep Pack with a fold-out double bed that slips into the back (like the Duster and Jogger), roof racks… even a roof tent. The ‘Nomad’ armrest in the centre of the second row can become a backpack – which will be interesting to see – and there’s those organisers for seatbacks and cargo boxes for the tow hitch. It gets a bit Amazon car accessories with the smaller stuff, but it’s all actually solidly useful.

The best bit though? It remains the effective YouClip system. It’s devilishly, stupidly simple; a set of little square pegs scattered around the car to which you can clip various accessories like cupholders, phone mounts, oddments trays and coathangers or organisers. And you can buy the little attachments from a dealer depending on what you need – or 3D print them yourself.