Dacia Bigster makes long awaited debut ‘extra long’ Duster

While supposed to have made its long awaited unveiling at the Paris Motor Show next week, Renault-owned Dacia has sprung an early surprise by officially revealing the all-new Bigster.

The Romanian marque’s new flagship SUV above the Duster, the Bigster, which debuted as a concept three years ago as part of Renault’s post-pandemic “Renaulution” plan, largely bows as an extended wheelbase version of its sibling without the reported seven seats.

XL Duster

Aesthetically identical to the Duster all the way to the B-pillar, the Bigster receives bigger rear doors, still with the handle concealed in the C-pillar, but with a thicker D-pillar plus a floating roof.

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Differentiated further by a redesigned front bumper and an altered lower air intake, new side vents and a wider tailgate, the Bigster also comes equipped with Dacia-first 19-inch alloy wheels and a new bespoke colour option called Indigo Blue.

Dimensionally, the CMF-B platform that underpins all of Dacia’s current models has been stretched to 4.5 m in overall length and 2.7 m on the wheelbase front.

Longer by 230 mm but with the same 1.8 m width as the Duster with its height standing at 1.7 m, the Bigster, surprisingly, retains a five-seat only configuration despite the previous mentioning of seven.

Claimed boot space increases substantially over the Duster’s 472-litres to 667-litres with the 40/20/40 split rear seat in place.

Same inside

Inside, the Bigster’s changes mostly centre around more specification items as the 10.1-inch instrument cluster and the pair of infotainment systems – measuring seven and 10-inches – are all carried over from the Duster.

This also applies to the dual-zone climate control with the rear vents, although on the safety and driver assistance side, Adaptive Cruise Control has been included along with Hill Descent Control on 4×4 models.

Similar to the Duster, the Bigster line-up spans four trim levels; Essential, Expression, Extreme and Journey with the latter pair getting a six-speaker Arkamys sound system, an electric tailgate, integrated satellite navigation and a Dacia first panoramic sunroof from the start.

Reserved for the latter is a wireless smartphone charger and imitation leather seats, with the former getting a washable synthetic material option made out of recycled plastic bottles.

As with the Duster, the YouClip clipping attachment, Sleep Pack, specifically made tent and roof rails can all be had from the list of accessories.

Mild-hybrid or full-hybrid petrol

Up front, the Bigster’s powerunit count spans four choices, all with electric assistance and like the Duster, without a diesel option.

Commencing the range, the turbocharged TCe 130 displaces 1.2-litres and, as per its moniker, produces 130 pferdestarke (PS) or 96 kW with the added inclusion of a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

Mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, the TCe 130 gets four-wheel-drive as standard, which expands to the Terrain Control system with five modes; Eco, Auto, Snow, Mud/Sand and Off-Road.

Up next, the Eco-G 140 boasts the same mild-hybrid 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, but with a 49-litre liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tank located underneath the boot board.

According to Dacia, the tank doesn’t impact on boot space and allows for a “seamless transition” from petrol to gas propulsion using a switch on the dashboard.

As its name indicates, the Eco-G produces 103 kW, 29 kW more than the Duster Eco-G 100, with drive seemingly going to the front wheels only through an unspecified transmission.

Upping the ante, the TCe 140 debuts as a new option not offered on the Duster with the same 103 kW as the Eco-G, minus the LPG tank. Drive is routed to the front wheels only through the six-speed gearbox.

Completing the range is the Hybrid 155, which combines the now widely used normally aspirated 1.6-litre petrol engine with a 1.4-kWh battery pack driving a pair of electric motors.

Mated to the clutchless multi-mode transmission that comes with four-speed and a further two provided by the electric motors, the setup develops 155 PS or 114 kW, which represents an uptake of 12 kW over the Duster Hybrid 140.

South Africa bound but seemingly as a Nissan

Set to go on-sale in early 2025, pricing for the Bigster remains unknown, although Dacia CEO, Dennis Le Vot, did previously state that a sticker price below €40 000 (R772 973) would be applied.

While largely aimed towards Europe, the Bigster will be marketed as a Renault in certain Old Continent markets, as well as, reportedly, in South America and India where the Dacia brand isn’t sold.

At the same time, it will serve as a base for a new still unnamed SUV alliance partner Nissan will produce at the Chennai plant in India as part of a two product roll-out – the other being a rebadged version of the Duster.

As it stands, both Nissan variants have been approved for Africa, although it remains to be seen whether both make it to South Africa as a gap filler between the Magnite and X-Trail now that the Qashqai has been discontinued.

For the moment, the Bigster is an uncertainty for South Africa, however, expect Renault South Africa’s importer, Motus, to make an announcement once sales of the Duster kick-off next year.

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