• Petrol engine offers adequate performance
• Hybrid noisy but punchy
• No diesel option

Petrol engine

The petrol is a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged unit. It has 110hp and 200Nm of torque – neither of those numbers are particularly impressive, but when you consider that the Jogger weighs just 1,200kg they’re actually perfectly adequate. Most owners will be more than satisfied with its blend of performance and economy.

Paired with a six-speed manual transmission, the Jogger does need working hard to make quick progress. You can take it a little easier without holding anybody up, though, and the Jogger cruises in a relaxed fashion. New drivers to the Jogger will find the surging power delivery as the turbo kicks in can make it difficult to drive smoothly – but once in that power sweet spot, it’s surprisingly quick.

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Just expect to stir the slightly notchy six-speed manual gearbox quite a lot, especially if you’re fully laden or driving up and down hills – on the motorway, the tall sixth gear is good enough for gentle cruising, but introduce it to inclines, especially when loaded, and you’ll resort to fifth and sometimes fourth gear to maintain your momentum.

Hybrid engine

The 1.6-litre hybrid is more economical and more powerful than the regular model, plus it comes with an automatic gearbox. The 0–62mph time is improved upon by around a second, thanks to 140hp. It uses a tricky kind of automatic gearbox specific to Dacia and Renault models, where an electric motor actually takes the place of a clutch and a second electric motor fills in the resulting gaps in the power delivery.

The result is that, under hard acceleration, the Jogger feels distinctly lumpy compared to rivals with seven- or eight-speed traditional or dual-clutch automatic gearboxes. It shares some characteristics with CVT-equipped hybrids, namely the willingness to let the revs spiral if you put your foot down.

Dacia reckons it can run around at city speeds in electric mode for around 80% of the time. During our driving we reckon it’s a bit less, but it does spend a lot of time using just the electric motors. This is good – when it’s in pure EV mode it’s smooth and pretty quiet.

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The problem comes when the petrol engine kicks into life. It’s loud and the transition is not particularly smooth – you can really feel and hear it kick in. Under harsh acceleration the revs rise at a rate not in line with actual acceleration, which is annoying.

However, driven gently you soon learn to live with its foibles, and while the soundtrack isn’t ever particularly pleasant it is easily drowned out by the stereo. It’s rarely louder than a diesel engine would have been. The hybrid is punchy enough to deal with even a fully loaded Jogger, and it’s very efficient too.

What’s it like to drive?

• Jogger’s soft ride is very comfortable
• Light and easy…
• … but not exactly engaging

The Jogger’s 200mm of ground clearance, small wheels and soft suspension means it soaks up most bumps and potholes effortlessly. The payoff for this is that it can feel a little wallowy on some roads, (especially an undulating A-road), and that the body control isn’t the tightest leading to some roll in the corners. But importantly, it’s perfectly comfortable in most situations for passengers, regardless of which of the three rows of seats they’re sat in.

It probably won’t come as any surprise that the Jogger isn’t exactly a hot hatchback in the corners, either, with light and precise but uncommunicative steering. It’s better not to hurry too much. But once you’ve dialled in to this softness and drive accordingly, you’ll be impressed with how much speed you can carry through corners – if that’s your bag.

The brakes on the hybrid can also be a bit tricky. The car uses regenerative braking, capturing lost kinetic energy that would otherwise be lost. This energy is turned into electricity, used to power the motors. All good for mpg. But when you brake the transition between this type of braking and the physical brake pads is not smooth and can be jerky. Sometimes there’s a lot of travel in the pedal before much braking happens.

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It’s also rather a shame that the Jogger can’t be had with four-wheel drive like you get on some rivals, but a set of good tyres should see you capable of most ‘soft-roading’ exploits. Especially in the winter, when we suspect it’ll be near unstoppable on all-weather or winter tyres.

Dacia has also recognised that its owners might want to venture off the beaten track in a Jogger, so it introduced its Extended Grip system on the range-topping Extreme model. It’s a piece of software that adjusts the car’s electronic stability control settings to keep the wheels spinning and keep it moving on loose surfaces. We’ll update you once we’ve tried it out.