The Dacia Duster has been a real success from the Renault-owned brand, since the car first arrived in Ireland in 2012. To date, over 10,000 Romanian manufactured Dusters have been sold in Ireland, mainly due to the value price offering, which makes it the most affordable 4x4 on the market.
Now, Dacia has given the Duster a significant upgrade. The new model is more modern and stylish looking. Dacia claims that the exterior styling is brand new and not one body panel is carried over from the previous car and it looks it.
The boot space for the new Dacia Duster is marginally smaller than the previous model, with no spare wheel included under the boot floor.
The stylish package gives the impression of a car that has impressive off-road potential. That’s easily confirmed in the four-wheel-drive (4WD) version which can meet most off-road challenges with ease. This very impressive off-road ability comes from the links with Renault and probably more significantly Nissan.
I’ve driven both the two-wheel-drive (2WD) and four-wheel-drive (4WD) versions and this report is based on my longer test run with the 2WD version. This was a diesel-powered version, using the Renault-designed 1.5-litre turbo-diesel engine, which is also a well-proven package.
Dacia has taken some very smart technology in terms of engines, transmissions, off-road and safety systems and packaged them in a less ostentatious car that’s affordable. So does it materialise on the road?
First impressions
The first impressions are good with the Duster. You get a more solid and stylish feeling getting into the car.
There are lots of additional design features to give the SUV a more dynamic look and you instantly expect more from it as a result.
The interior layout has changed to a more modern look, with three air vents mounted high in the centre of the dash, over a clear-to-use infotainment screen. This unit gives control over the radio, Bluetooth phone system and the car’s sat-nav system. It gives the feeling of simplicity and practicality and was very easy to set up, as well as being functional to use.
There is a brighter look to the dash area. While it’s mostly plastic material, it has an improved texture. The steering wheel design remains unchanged, while they are using slightly better materials so it feels good to the touch.
The dash area of the Duster has been modernised, with a clearer layout and practical-to-use infotainment system.
Once inside I found that the seat position is relatively high, or at least I needed it as they moved the windscreen a little. This left little headroom space and that’s from an average-sized guy.
Space is also tight in the foot well, the space for the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals. There is no space to the left of the clutch pedal and this takes a little getting used to and can be tiring over a longer journey.
Dacia has taken to using the Renault push-button start system with the credit card-sized key fob. I’m not a fan of this fob and would prefer a normal key that’s easier to include in a bunch of keys.
The engine performance is impressive and slightly more powerful than in the past. Engine torque remains unchanged and so does the CO2 rating for the 2WD version that I drove. AdBlue is a feature of the new engine.
The six-speed gearbox is easy to use, although I found the clutch marginally heavier than I had expected. Out on the motorway, I cruised at 120km/hr with the engine running smoothly at 2,200rpm, which is a shade high and probably affected my fuel economy result.
Over a 1085km test drive, I returned a fuel economy figure of 17.6km/litre (50mpg) from the car’s 50-litre fuel tank, which gave me a range of 880km. That impressed me even if it is 30% lower than the Dacia-rated figure of 23km/litre.
The Duster has a towing rating of 1,500kg, which is average in this segment of the market, but 200kg lower than that of the new Skoda Kodiaq. This Duster comes with a more impressive safety package than before. It includes hill start assist, ABS and emergency brake assist, electronic stability control and traction control.
There are two ISO-fix points for child seats in both outer rear seats.
The Euro NCAP safety rating is a little lower than some of the competition with a three-star result. I was disappointed that the car had no spare wheel, even though there is a large well space on the underside of the reasonable size boot.
Entry prices for the diesel versions of the Duster in 2WD start from €18,950 or £13,595 in Northern Ireland. That makes it the most price-competitive SUV in this segment of the market that includes models such as the new and much more expensive Skoda Karoq. Within the Duster range, the price jumps to move up the specification ladder are not too large. The 4WD adds just €2,000 to the list price and for rural drivers with memories of the snow of last March, that’s certainly worth a serious consideration.
Verdict
The new Dacia Duster remains good value, and it delivers reasonable fuel economy in a more modern style. The interior is not as spacious as you would expect and the Euro NCAP safety rating is relatively low for the entry models. This is not a SUV for the bigger size driver.
The Dacia Duster has been a real success from the Renault-owned brand, since the car first arrived in Ireland in 2012. To date, over 10,000 Romanian manufactured Dusters have been sold in Ireland, mainly due to the value price offering, which makes it the most affordable 4x4 on the market.
Now, Dacia has given the Duster a significant upgrade. The new model is more modern and stylish looking. Dacia claims that the exterior styling is brand new and not one body panel is carried over from the previous car and it looks it.
The boot space for the new Dacia Duster is marginally smaller than the previous model, with no spare wheel included under the boot floor.
The stylish package gives the impression of a car that has impressive off-road potential. That’s easily confirmed in the four-wheel-drive (4WD) version which can meet most off-road challenges with ease. This very impressive off-road ability comes from the links with Renault and probably more significantly Nissan.
I’ve driven both the two-wheel-drive (2WD) and four-wheel-drive (4WD) versions and this report is based on my longer test run with the 2WD version. This was a diesel-powered version, using the Renault-designed 1.5-litre turbo-diesel engine, which is also a well-proven package.
Dacia has taken some very smart technology in terms of engines, transmissions, off-road and safety systems and packaged them in a less ostentatious car that’s affordable. So does it materialise on the road?
First impressions
The first impressions are good with the Duster. You get a more solid and stylish feeling getting into the car.
There are lots of additional design features to give the SUV a more dynamic look and you instantly expect more from it as a result.
The interior layout has changed to a more modern look, with three air vents mounted high in the centre of the dash, over a clear-to-use infotainment screen. This unit gives control over the radio, Bluetooth phone system and the car’s sat-nav system. It gives the feeling of simplicity and practicality and was very easy to set up, as well as being functional to use.
There is a brighter look to the dash area. While it’s mostly plastic material, it has an improved texture. The steering wheel design remains unchanged, while they are using slightly better materials so it feels good to the touch.
The dash area of the Duster has been modernised, with a clearer layout and practical-to-use infotainment system.
Once inside I found that the seat position is relatively high, or at least I needed it as they moved the windscreen a little. This left little headroom space and that’s from an average-sized guy.
Space is also tight in the foot well, the space for the clutch, brake and accelerator pedals. There is no space to the left of the clutch pedal and this takes a little getting used to and can be tiring over a longer journey.
Dacia has taken to using the Renault push-button start system with the credit card-sized key fob. I’m not a fan of this fob and would prefer a normal key that’s easier to include in a bunch of keys.
The engine performance is impressive and slightly more powerful than in the past. Engine torque remains unchanged and so does the CO2 rating for the 2WD version that I drove. AdBlue is a feature of the new engine.
The six-speed gearbox is easy to use, although I found the clutch marginally heavier than I had expected. Out on the motorway, I cruised at 120km/hr with the engine running smoothly at 2,200rpm, which is a shade high and probably affected my fuel economy result.
Over a 1085km test drive, I returned a fuel economy figure of 17.6km/litre (50mpg) from the car’s 50-litre fuel tank, which gave me a range of 880km. That impressed me even if it is 30% lower than the Dacia-rated figure of 23km/litre.
The Duster has a towing rating of 1,500kg, which is average in this segment of the market, but 200kg lower than that of the new Skoda Kodiaq. This Duster comes with a more impressive safety package than before. It includes hill start assist, ABS and emergency brake assist, electronic stability control and traction control.
There are two ISO-fix points for child seats in both outer rear seats.
The Euro NCAP safety rating is a little lower than some of the competition with a three-star result. I was disappointed that the car had no spare wheel, even though there is a large well space on the underside of the reasonable size boot.
Entry prices for the diesel versions of the Duster in 2WD start from €18,950 or £13,595 in Northern Ireland. That makes it the most price-competitive SUV in this segment of the market that includes models such as the new and much more expensive Skoda Karoq. Within the Duster range, the price jumps to move up the specification ladder are not too large. The 4WD adds just €2,000 to the list price and for rural drivers with memories of the snow of last March, that’s certainly worth a serious consideration.
Verdict
The new Dacia Duster remains good value, and it delivers reasonable fuel economy in a more modern style. The interior is not as spacious as you would expect and the Euro NCAP safety rating is relatively low for the entry models. This is not a SUV for the bigger size driver.
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