Dacia Duster SUV (2024 - ) review

The new Duster is inevitably a little more expensive than the previous one, and while the bottom-line price just about dips under £20,000 that soon rises if you want anything other than the most basic engine and trim combination. That does at least come with Dacia’s signature Bi-Fuel engine able to run on petrol and LPG, meaning nearly 900 miles between fills if you keep both tanks topped up. Availability of LPG can be patchy but is cheaper to buy while, if unavailable locally, you can just run on petrol as normal. With diesels no longer available the TCe 130 petrol is now the core engine, and available in two- or all-wheel drive versions with the benefit of a mild-hybrid boost for a claimed 10 per cent improvement in fuel consumption. The real news is, however, the addition of a full hybrid that, although it can’t be plugged in, runs for up to 80 per cent of the time on electric power alone in city driving by Dacia’s claims. It’s a version of that used in Jogger and various Renaults like the Clio we ran previously as a long-termer and basically offers diesel-like running costs but without the nasty emissions. True, it can’t claim the Benefit In Kind breaks for of a full plug-in system but for private buyers it delivers real-world savings in fuel and refinement of an automatic gearbox to offset its higher purchase price.

Dacia generally gains solid scores in the reliability rankings and owners clearly rate their cars highly. Given a lot of the underlying technologies are from parent brand Renault, the new Duster should be as robust as it looks. Dacia has recently launched the Dacia Zen programme, a service activated warranty extending your basic three-year cover by an extra year every time your car is serviced by Dacia. This applies until your car reaches seven years old and is similar to plans offered by Suzuki and Toyota. Even existing Dacia owners can benefit, provided their car is under six years old and has done less than 75,000 miles.

Dacia has a rather rocky relationship with safety testing body NCAP, and in the latest round of tests other Dacia models gained only one or two stars. However, the new Duster comes with much more safety kit than before so it will be interesting to see how it scores. Dacia says its policy is to provide essential protection for occupants whilst balancing affordability against driver assistance technology. As such the new Duster has six airbags as standard and complies with the latest European safety regulations. Safety features include traffic sign recognition with speed limit alerting, rear parking sensors, driver attention alerts, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assistance and emergency calling fitted as standard. These can be configured to your personal preferences allowing you to turn off features you find too intrusive via a shortcut button, which we applaud. The Duster also has a speed limiter and cruise control. Additional safety features such as blind spot monitoring and extra cameras can be added as options.

Moving from the current car into the new Duster there’s a noticeable difference in interior space, so you might think it’s a much larger car. However, while the new Duster is slightly wider, it has similar overall dimensions to the old one and is perhaps not quite as spacious as the chunky looks might suggest. The nod to SUV influences includes a taller dash that makes you feel more enclosed and secure but, with fat roof pillars, does limit visibility somewhat. It’s way more stylish than before, though, with repetitions of the Y-shaped styling motif on the vents and a squared-off steering wheel. A bouncy ride quality and squishy seats speak to the no-nonsense, value-focused build but we’d worry the latter would lack support for longer journeys and we also found the central armrest got in the way when shifting gear in cars with the manual gearbox. Family buyers and outdoorsy types tramping in and out with muddy boots will appreciate the toughness of the interior, though, the Extreme trim getting washable seat covers and rubber floor mats Dacia invited us to test by sending us off on our test drives with a bowl of tomato soup secured by only the flimsiest of lids. Thankfully we didn’t spill a drop, though if we had it would have been easy enough to wipe up any evidence! All good for the rough and tumble of family life, though those in the back don’t get a huge amount of legroom and piggy-in-the-middle will have to put their legs either side of the central binnacle. Raised external door handles at the rear may be a bit high off the ground for kids to use as well. The boot is meanwhile a bit shallow, though big enough to convert into a bed if you fancy your chances camping in the great outdoors with the optional Sleep Pack.

Dacia takes great pride in fit-for-purpose materials that put function before fanciness, which fits the Duster’s character. Extensive use of an unpainted and part-recycled plastic called Starkle for exterior trim in vulnerable areas is a good example, the pebbled effect actually reminiscent of the fancy ‘chopped’ carbon fibre seen on supercars like Lamborghinis. But much more resistant to car park scrapes and other battle scars! See also neat features like the YouClip accessory mounts scattered around the car to which you can attach tablet holders, storage pouches, extra cupholders or more. Trim levels go from the basic Essential with analogue instruments and a phone holder so you can use your handset for nav and infotainment via the Dacia app while Expression and up get a more up-to-date digital display and central screen with a reversing camera and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Built-in nav features on the higher grades, these also getting an improved speaker system. At the top of the tree are the (relatively) more luxurious Journey and unashamedly outdoorsy Extreme trim levels with the aforementioned rubber floor mats and neat modular roofbars that convert from rails to bars for racks to carry bikes, canoes or the like in a matter of minutes.

We haven’t tried the basic TCe 100 Bi-Fuel Duster yet but if you have the option of filling the LPG tank you can go a long way between stops, and save money in the process. Along with cheaper versions of the more powerful TCe 130 mild-hybrid these models are front-wheel drive only, or ‘4x2’ in Dacia’s designation and use a six-speed manual gearbox. We drove the TCe 130 in this form and, while a little crude in its power delivery, feels gutsy thanks to the low overall weight and is good on fuel in the process. The 4x4 version of the same rides a little higher off the ground and gets a selection of driving modes to cope with snow, mud or general off-road all selectable via a rotary dial by the gearshifter when needed. We got to test these out on suitably demanding test track around a quarry and, suffice to say, the Duster is more than capable if you live off the beaten track or need a car that can get you home in all weathers. In the default road modes it drives much like the regular 4x2. The hybrid meanwhile feels a good deal more refined and sophisticated, with a meaningful electric boost off the line and the greater refinement of the automatic gearbox. True, it can get a bit rowdy if you mash the accelerator but driven at a more restrained pace it is probably the easiest to get along with in town driving, where the improved efficiency of the part-electric power is best enjoyed and fact it’s only two-wheel drive won’t be a limitation.