The Duster is cheap because it’s stripped back to the basics... but that includes its safety features
THE first problem you have to get out of the way is how to say ‘Dacia’. Is it ‘daysha’, ‘dasha’, ‘datcha’ or ‘datchia’? In fact, it’s none of the above. A Romanian word, it’s correctly pronounced ‘day-shee-a’. The ‘Duster’ bit, by contrast, is as straightforward as it gets, though naming a car after a household cleaning cloth still seems completely on the opposite end of the spectrum to wise.
One presumes it’s because the crossover has proper off-road 4x4 credentials. A few days ago, it might have thrown up a lot of dust in Ireland after three weeks of drought; now that the rain is back, the Dacia Mud might seem more appropriate.
The Duster, like its sister model, the Sandero, is built in Romania. The company was founded there in the late Sixties to build rebadged Renaults for sale behind the Iron Curtain.
After the collapse of communism, Renault bought the company in 1999 and while the cars have been available internationally for some time, the revitalised brand made it to Ireland just last year. It is aimed squarely at those on a budget.
In marketing speak, the company says it has ‘made an enemy of the unnecessary’, a polite way of saying that you get only what you pay for. The upside of this is that you pay relatively little, because getting your mitts on a Duster for less than 16 grand (the two-wheel-drive model) is pretty astonishing and well below the entry-level prices of rivals such as the Nissan Qashqai (€23,745) or KIA Sportage (€26,590).
Certainly, from the outside, the Duster looks the part. It’s rugged and chunky, and while it may lack some of the styling finesse of other crossovers, it’s not ugly. It sits high in the driveway, and the chrome detailing on the grille and the roof rails add presence. Put it this way — no one is going to look at it and immediately think it cost only a tenner short of 16 grand. Things are a little different inside, where the cabin is fairly spartan.
Yes, there are a few piano black inlays to liven up the dashboard and centre console, but it’s all rather utilitarian, and the grey plastics look brittle and a bit chilly.
That said, in the Signature spec model I drove (one of two levels available — the other is Alternative), the car came with air-conditioning, USB charger and Bluetooth. No cruise control, though, so you do have to spend a lot of time looking at the dials to avoid penalty points. The unnecessary stuff Dacia talks about includes a spare wheel; instead, there’s a tyre-repair kit.
With no wheel to carry, however, the boot is deep and the space is generous, opening up to almost 1,500 litres with the rear seats folded. There’s good leg-room for those in the rear seats and a high driving position up front. Storage areas are limited — let’s just say that the shallow cup holders aren’t the best place in the world for an open 50cl bottle of Coke when you decide to take a sharp corner.
The 1.5-litre diesel engine is a Renault staple and while it has a lot of torque, it’s not sparkling or particularly lively, as the 0-100kmh of 12.5 seconds shows. It’s relatively quiet, though, so cabin noise is not an issue.
The model I drove was the 4x4 Signature spec, costing €19,990. I had no chance to test if off road, but it does handle back roads with ridges and potholes with ease (in fact, on European test drives over the years, I’ve been on off-road courses that were better than some Irish roads).
The main problem with the car is a significant one. The two-wheel-drive model does not come with electronic stability control and while the Signature 4x4 does, there still are issues with the number of airbags. There are airbags for the driver and front-seat passenger, but no driver knee protection and no curtain airbags for those in the rear. Pedestrian impact mitigation is very low and, overall, the car comes with a Euro NCAP safety rating of just three stars, almost unheard of nowadays for a car designed and built in Europe.
So while the idea of stripping everything back to produce an affordable car is admirable, and there are many who will fancy getting their hands on a sturdy crossover for such an attractive price, you have to decide if making an enemy of the unnecessary should include safety features you’d expect on other cars.