First drive: Dacia Jogger Hybrid - voila! vehicle

2023-02-21T08:07:41.380Z

A hybrid and automatic version has been added to Dacia's passenger carrier. When it arrives here it will be the cheapest 7-seater car in Israel, but it offers more than that

Dacia Jogger Hybrid, the big change under the hood (Photo: Kenan Cohen)

Price:

about NIS 130-140 thousand (estimate)

We liked:

fuel consumption, comfort, usability

We didn't like:

safety, gasoline engine

In 2014, Dacia started its operations in Israel under "new management" as they say.

The cheap prices, the strict pricing policy that assured the Israeli that no one released the vehicle at a better price than it and its entry with a model like the Duster which is very fast, and in fact for a short period it was also its best seller - all these and other factors caused that the people of Israel were able to protest the memory of the adventure The previous one with Dacia (you can too '88 and the other jokes).

He also managed to overcome the gap in the level of safety between it and the advanced cars, and even believe it or not - he bought them with manual transmissions.

But the car you see here, the hybrid-automatic Jogger, is really a very refreshing change in Dacia's offering, it's really a car that this time puts it at a competitive jumping-off point like no other of its models has.

There is an asterisk, there is "but" - but we will get to that later.

Exterior appearance with a "leisure" flavor but oriented towards utility (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Design:

The appearance of the hybrid jogger is no different from the one we know here for half a year since it began to be sold.

Here is Dacia's new front, a more recent look than the manufacturer's earlier models and the one that the rest of its products will adopt later.

It's a square box that devotes the utilization of space and utility to a sleek look and still packs it into some show with a dash of leisure look, especially at the level of finish that arrived at the launch.

Cabin:

Entering the cabin of the Jogger reminds you that it is ultimately a vehicle that comes from a brand with a very basic approach to life.

The materials are mainly simple plastic, rigid and hard to the touch.

This ensures that he will survive even in difficult living conditions, but to the eye it does not make him happy.

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The materials are simple, the human engineering is basically good, we lack storage spaces (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

The driving position is good, with a high seat and a good view of the surroundings.

The driver's seat is adjustable within a good range (the passenger's without height adjustment) and you can get into a driving position easily.

The seats have good support for the body and also here with a relatively simple fabric.

Here, too, there is an 8-inch multimedia screen in a good location and a USB socket next to it.

We were happy to find another socket at the bottom of the console, something that was sorely lacking in the model we met in Israel.

The matter of the minority of storage cells has not changed.

The differences between the manual version we are familiar with and this one begin to emerge when the standard dashboard is replaced by a 7-inch color TFT digital display, and the standard gear lever is replaced by an automatic selector.

Very convenient entrance to the third row of seats that will suit even adults (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Access to the second row of seats is extremely easy thanks to large rear doors and with 290 cm in the spacious wheelbase there is also excellent for three passengers, who also get a deep seat that supports the thighs. Folding the second row to allow access to the two rearmost seats is done easily and once again the wide opening comes to the fore with easy access to the third row. Again we were happy to see that a full-sized adult can be seated in these two seats in a Jogger, perhaps not going down to Eilat like that, but even in relation to more expensive 7-seat crossovers it offers an advantage in this area. We were less happy to discover that the carrier of the rear seat belt is caught The metal fixing of the seats with the folding of the second row has not been solved.

Trunk:

The location of the batteries of the hybrid system under the second row of seats does not affect the volume of the trunk.

It stands at 160 liters in use with all 7 seats, 212 liters if you load it up to the height of the roof and when folded there is a volume of 565 liters or 631 liters respectively.

Folding the seats is convenient and can be done with one hand and in two steps;

Folding the backs of the seats only, or lifting them including the base.

160 liters or up to 212 liters when loaded to the top when all the seats are in use (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Accessories:

We are used to finding the most equipped versions of the cars at launches, but the list of accessories, as usual in Dacia, is relatively modest.

Cruise control, wiper sensor, keyless entry and drive, one-click opening for the driver's window only, 12V socket for the rear seats, heated front seats, Android and Apple compatibility in the multimedia system and that's about it.

The list of advanced safety systems is also modest;

and includes only automatic braking, parking sensors and a reverse camera.

Here, unfortunately, Dacia has a gap and a serious problem in its priorities.

A single star in the European crash tests does not improve its situation.

An automatic gearbox with a gear transfer mechanism without a clutch that is electronically controlled by the electric motor (photo: Keinan Cohen)

Engine and performance:

the main difference between this jogger and the version we know in Israel and in fact between it and any other Dacia model is under the hood.

Instead of the lean and anemic 1.0-liter 110 hp 3-cylinder engine of the manual version, here it receives Renault's hybrid drive system with 140 hp combined, which uses a 1.6-liter atmospheric engine (with a timing chain that does not require replacement unlike the belt) 4 cylinders, to which two electric motors are connected;

A central one that is responsible for the drive and a smaller one that is responsible for starting the gasoline engine and is also used to control its unique gearbox - 4 gears without a clutch, while the synchronization is done by the electric motor through a direct combination of the gears.

It stores the electrical power in a 1.2 kWh battery. This is an arrangement we have already encountered in the Renault Arcana and we will encounter more in the concern's products in the future.

The new engine didn't turn it into a sports car, but finally the performance is decent (photo: manufacturer's website)

The start of the trip is always done in the electric mode and with moderate and intelligent use of the gas pedal and mode B in the gearbox which increases the regeneration, it is possible to use the electric drive for very nice periods of time.

The gasoline engine is less impressive in its operation, it is a bit rough, noisy and when it starts up it does so in a very tangible way, four gear ratios also mean that it has to rev up quite a bit. On the road the feeling is of a vehicle with much more worthy capabilities than The gasoline version. This is far beyond the official offset of 1.2 seconds to 100 km/h which it reaches in 10 seconds, it's the better response to pressing the pedal and the confidence to take detours and know that you'll finish them in time.

These are 30 horses that do not turn it into an asphalt burner but are definitely noticeable and important.

The large rear doors make it easy to get in (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Fuel consumption:

Although the fuel consumption while driving the trucks does not reflect the one we measure in the local test on the fixed test track, it is impossible not to consider it when it comes to a hybrid car.

In a route that included a combined drive with a mix of 50% relatively slow city driving, highways and side roads and with three adults on their modest equipment, the jogger recorded excellent fuel consumption, no less - 20 km per liter. Comfort and behavior

As far as the comfort of the ride is concerned, it is the best at the base of the jogger thanks to soft shock absorbers, tires with a normal section on 16 inch rims and it receives compliments here again.

It is possible that the 100 kg added to this version (1,385 kg) and the ride in a three-adult composition contributed to this.

Noise isolation is still not its strong point, but this time at least it is not as a result of a gasoline engine that requires constant effort.

The road behavior is the same as what we know from the regular Jogger - very moderate, with tangible roll angles, a steering wheel without feedback and above all a very, very clear signal that you drive here to get there, not to enjoy the road.

The good ride comfort of the Jogger is preserved here as well (photo: manufacturer's website)

The bottom line

The importance of this version of the jogger to the brand in the local market cannot be underestimated.

And it has to do with two things.

The first is the local thirst for 7-seat vehicles, which have skyrocketed in price and start somewhere in the NIS 170,000 segment, while most of the category is already closer to NIS 200,000.

A vehicle that offers this seating arrangement at a significantly lower price is good news: the Jogger is currently estimated to cost less than a family car or a hybrid Jeep, about NIS 140,000 and maybe even more than less.

The second thing is that the hybrid Jogger takes care of two of the big problems of the model as it has been sold so far - a very weak gasoline engine resulting in poor fuel consumption and a manual gearbox that is not liked by the Israeli driver and in the case of the Jogger is also not liked in general.

By the way, the combination of these two may make it a hysterical taxi hit.

With the correction of these two defects, it is stabilized with a good drive unit, excellent fuel consumption, a sophisticated gearbox that, in terms of its use, behaves like an automatic gearbox for everything, and to these you can add what it did well anyway - driving comfort and excellent space.

Its flaws in the areas of quality of materials and accessories can be accepted in light of its expected low price, we still look at its safety problem with a very critical eye.

But in the bottom line, when it arrives here around May, it will be an important and interesting addition to the local market that will offer an alternative that saves the extended family twice, in the showroom and the current fuel expenses.

The writer was a guest of Dacia

7 seats, hybrid and cheap?

There is potential here for a local hit, if only the level of safety was high, this would be an unequivocal recommendation (Photo: Keinan Cohen)