Dacia Jogger - Practicality, comfort and boot space

The Jogger is a very user-friendly family car; the seven-seat configuration provides decent flexibility, while the large windows make it feel light and spacious inside and provide good visibility for the driver. All versions come with rear parking sensors to help you avoid low obstacles, but mid-range Expression trim provides front parking sensors and a reversing camera so you can see what’s behind you.

Sometimes, climbing into the third row of a seven-seater SUV can be a bit of an ordeal, but access to the rear seats in the Jogger is quite simple – you can either fold the middle row backrests or flip the whole seat squab forward. Once sat down, you can pop the rear windows out to allow fresh air into the cabin.

The mid-range Expression model might be the better option if you need extra carrying capability. It features modular roof bars as standard which can be manually adjusted to a horizontal position and will hold up to 80kg of kit – particularly useful if the rear seats are occupied and taking up boot space. Models with modular roof bars can be fitted with a bicycle roof rack.

Numerous accessories are available for the Jogger, including the 'Sleep Pack' which we tested ourselves earlier this year. The box can be transformed into a support for a full-sized bed, and/or fold forwards to be a table, all the while offering 220 litres of storage space. Another option for campers is a huge four-person tent Dacia offers as part of the 'Sleep Pack Ultimate' that attaches to the boot of the Jogger.

Size

For a seven-seater family car, the Jogger is pretty compact. At 4,457mm long it’s 242mm shorter than a Skoda Kodiaq, while being 138mm narrower than the Czech SUV means it will be much easier to pilot around town and park up in tighter spaces.

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Leg room, head room & passenger space

Room upfront for the driver and front passenger is fine, while buyers will be pleased to know that the Jogger doesn’t compromise on space as you move into the middle and rearmost seats. Accommodating three adult occupants across the second row should be pretty painless, while only the tallest of passengers will find that kneeroom is a bit limited in the rear seats. We also found during our testing there's ample headroom for six-footers in the Jogger's third row, as well as some room for your feet under the seats in front.

Parents with young children that they need to put in child seats will find two sets of ISOFIX mounting points in the second row of seats, and the rear doors are both longer and taller than the ones at the front, giving them better access.

Boot

It’s a tale of two halves with the Jogger’s boot space. If you’re carrying a full quota of passengers then there’s a modest 160 litres of luggage capacity, while folding the rear two seats unlocks a useful 565 litres. Dacia claims that, with both the second and third-row seats in a folded position, you’ll have up to 1,807 litres of cargo space. In case you're wondering, those figures apply to both the petrol and hybrid Joggers.

Towing

Adding to its practicality, the Jogger 1.0-litre petrol model is rated to tow up to 1,200kg, which means it should be able to pull a trailer or even an average-sized (2-4 berth) caravan – although we’d always advise to double check any weight limits before setting off. However the Jogger Hybrid's towing capacity is limited to 750kg.