• Jogger has loads of space in all three rows
• Seats six and seven big enough for adult passengers
• Boot is large, but seating not as flexible as rivals

How much space is there?

Carrying people is what the Dacia Jogger is best at. It comes as standard with seven seats, and there’s an amazing amount of room for what’s still quite a small car – there’s really more space for passengers in here than in many seven-seat SUV rivals like the SEAT Tarraco.

The middle row of seats is spacious with plenty of head- and leg-room, and passengers here enjoy sturdy tray tables on the front seat backrests. These are only standard on top Extreme trim, however. The third row of seats really impress, too, as there’s room for two large adults. Anybody under about 5’10 ought to be happy back here for longer trips, while our 6’2 tester found it acceptable for a short hop.

29

Access to the rear isn’t as easy as on some MPVs with sliding rear doors, but it’s quite good nonetheless. The rear doors are larger than the front, while the second row of seats fold flat and tumble forward to leave a nice wide opening to clamber through and access the third row. We’d also point out that the Jogger isn’t the widest car out there on account of its supermini underpinnings, which is something worth considering if you’re planning on squeezing three people onto the middle row.

Boot space and storage

The Jogger’s boot is impressively large, but the seats make it a little less flexible than rivals. With all three rows in place there’s 160 litres of boot space – about the same as in a small city car, meaning it’ll be enough for a carry-on suitcase or a few bags of shopping but not much else.

Fold the third row down and you liberate 599 litres of space, which is much more tolerable. However, they don’t fold flat into the floor – if you want a large, flat load area at the back, you need to take the third row of seats out entirely. That’s not too difficult a task, accomplished with a couple of catches, and the seats themselves are very light – but it does leave you with the need to store them somewhere, which is a pain.

29

To liberate the maximum 1,807 litres, you’ll need to remove the third row and tumble the second-row forwards. Doing this gives you a load area 2m long and just over 1m wide, which is impressive.

Building on that interior storage are the Jogger’s modular roof bars. Standard on mid-spec cars and above, they convert easily into a proper roof rack with a capacity of 80kg – perfect for a roof box or bike rack.

The hybrid’s battery doesn’t eat into the boot or passenger space like in some cars. It’s also worth noting that the hybrid has a 750kg towing capacity whereas the petrol has a 1200kg one.

Is it easy to park?

All Joggers come with at least rear parking sensors, which takes the sting out of positioning that bulky rear end – and from the mid-spec model upwards, you also get a reversing camera. But the Jogger offers acceptable visibility and nice square dimensions, plus light and easy steering, so parking isn’t a particularly onerous affair.

Safety

• Not a Dacia strong point
• Jogger officially scores just one star
• Crash test score requires some explanation, though

Euro NCAP’s score for the Dacia Jogger could be seen as slightly contentious. Instead of crash-testing the Jogger, Euro NCAP decided that it shared enough of its structure with the Sandero Stepway and as such didn’t subject the Jogger to its full battery of tests. Considering the Jogger is a significantly larger car, with a structure that’s new from the front doors back, this seems a strange move to us.

After evaluating both cars, it decided to award the Jogger a one-star rating – even lower than the two stars that the Sandero Stepway received. The removal of one star was largely due to the third row of seats not having any audible seatbelt warnings.

Taking the score at face value isn’t necessarily fair, though. The Jogger (and indeed, the Sandero) performed reasonably well in the actual crash test portion of the procedure, with scores for adult and child occupant protection which while not class-leading are more than acceptable, especially considering the car’s price.

There are some areas where it was weak – such as side curtain airbags that don’t adequately protect the third row, or a compromised seatbelt mounting for front passengers – but you shouldn’t panic that the Jogger will fold up like a pack of cards in an impact. In comparison with other seven-seaters (which, for the same price, will be used cars from several years ago) the Jogger is a safe enough car in a crash.

It instead lost most of its points due to its lack of active safety features, such as autonomous emergency braking that can detect cyclists and pedestrians or lane-keeping assist. The Sandero also suffers for these same reasons.

It’s therefore up to you whether the Jogger’s safety score bothers you enough. If you’re concerned about having the very latest active safety aids, shop elsewhere – just know you’ll have to pay an awful lot more for the privilege. Parents may also be frustrated that the Jogger only has two Isofix points in the middle row – there isn’t one in the front passenger seat or the third row.