DETERMINED JOGGER(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 44

Dacia's Jogger aims to blend the sensible virtues of an estate car with the usefulness of a compact seven-seat MPV and the style of an SUV. All at affordable pricing that will see you doing a double take. It gets modern engineering tech too.

Background word count: 146

You'd have thought in today's market that every conceivable market niche would have been filled. Yet in the rush to deliver every conceivable kind of SUV, one segment has been ignored; that for a truly affordable 7-seat family car. And who better to fill that niche than Dacia? If you want seven seats in a family car these days - even in a converted van - you'll need well over £20,000, which Dacia thinks is ridiculous. So the company has taken its Sandero hatchback and lengthened its platform enough to insert a third seating row, so creating this car, the Jogger. At the same time with this model, there are Crossover-inspired looks a world away from the dull conformity of the forgettable Dacia compact estate this contender effectively replaces, the Logan MCV. The Jogger has even been engineered with the option of Dacia's first hybrid engine.

Driving Experience word count: 224

Almost all Joggers are going to be sold in TCe 110 form, with a 1.0-litre three cylinder petrol turbo unit that produces 108bhp and nearly all of its maximum 200Nm pulling power from just 1,700rpm. It's mated to 6-speed manual transmission. The alternative to this unit is a 1.6-litre petrol 'Hybrid 140' powerplant with a dual electric motor and 1.2 kWh battery set-up borrowed from the Renault Clio supermini. Dacia expects the Jogger Hybrid to be able to run up to 80% of its time on electricity in urban driving and it offers 140hp and 62mph from rest in 10.1s (1.1s fastrer than the base version). Across the range, under the skin sits the stiffer, more sophisticated Renault CMF-B platform lately introduced into Dacia's Sandero hatch. Don't expect this to deliver particularly engaging handling dynamics; this car isn't intended for that kind of driving. But it'll be easy to use in town, thanks to a light electrically powered steering system that requires little effort to turn at low speeds. There's an 11.7-metre kerb-to-kerb turning circle. There's more camera safety kit than used to be on Dacias. This one gets an Automatic Emergency Braking System (AEBS). And can be fitted with Blind Spot Warning, which illuminates an LED light within the door mirror to warn the driver if another vehicle may be concealed from view.