Budget SUV sets out its stall
More than great value, is the new model simply a great SUV? We aim to find out
FIRST REPORT WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT Can new Duster offer a few little luxuries to overtake more expensive rivals while still being a practical workhorse?
Forgive me for being sceptical, but when the first-generation Dacia Duster arrived in the UK, I wasn’t sure. It seemed counter-intuitive that a SUV could be desirable when costing so little.
But then I drove it. I drove it from London to John O’groats and back. I drove it as part of a 4x4 mega-test against the off-roading old guard for Autocar’s Youtube channel – think Wranglers, Discoverys and Arctic Trucks Isuzus.
Sure, it had flaws: the steering was vague, the interior quality was visibly outdated, the ground clearance was lower than bigger dirt-displacing rivals. But the plucky Duster was more capable and comfortable across all terrains than I imagined it ever possibly could have been. And at every stage, you can’t help but remember just how bloody cheap it is. I was convinced.
Seemingly, I wasn’t the only one. These days, a Duster runs off the production line every 56 seconds.
Now there’s a new one. This latest model addresses many of the criticisms that could be levelled at the last one.
The infotainment touchscreen has been raised by 74mm, which is a huge amount. That means you have to look away from the road much less. It also gets electric power steering, vastly improving the accuracy with which you can place the car or position yourself on a motorway cruise.
So we’re running the Duster to see if these improvements help the car cope with a workhorse lifestyle while affording luxuries that seem almost unthinkable at the penny-pinching cost. That’s why it’s been given to me – the video bloke, a job for which you are carrying lots of gear and need something solid, dependable, yet not too parsimonious in how it feels. It’s also why we’ve specced it thus.
As many of its miles will be munching up motorways, we picked the diesel-powered Blue dci 115 engine for its frugal approach. On the WLTP cycle, the new Duster is claiming mpg in the mid-50s. Here’s hoping this two-wheel-drive variant will be as economical as the figures suggest.
Currently, the diesel powertrain represents just 25% of sales for the new Duster, despite much better fuel economy than its petrol counterpart. Clearly, that’s to do with the swell of public opinion away from the fuel type in general. In the first thousand or so miles of driving the Dacia, I’m already loving having a range of more than 500 miles.
Arguably another reason to pick the diesel is its partnership with a sixspeed gearbox. As you may have read in the Autocar road test (22 August 2018), the five-speed ’box paired with the petrol options perhaps leaves a little to be desired at the top
I’m already loving having a range of more than 500 miles in this diesel-powered Duster
of the range for motorway work. We’ll be sure to report on drivetrain comparisons throughout our tenure.
The next all-important option picked is the colour. Desert Orange paint costs £495 and is the most expensive extra on our car. Some call it brown, others gold, but either way this shimmering Saharan butterscotch hue has proved the most popular since launch. There are eight colours and all will cost you the same amount except for white.
Having been temporarily halted by a puncture in the far reaches of north-west Scotland in the previous Duster, the optional space-saving spare wheel also makes its way into the ticked boxes. That’s £150 worth spending, if you ask me.
Even in this specification, which includes Apple Carplay/android Auto, this bright brown bruiser only just knocks on the door of 16 grand.
Okay, it’s a lot more than the headline figure of £9999 that gets shouted about in the catchy Dacia marketing spiel, but it’s still cheaper than rivals.
What are these rivals? The direct ones are probably the Suzuki Vitara and MG GS. Realistically, the Duster undercuts anything with comparable performance and practicality by a four-figure sum.
Louise O’sullivan, head of Dacia UK and Ireland, meets us to hand over the keys and explains that they often find Nissan Qashqais in the basket of potential buyers. But that’s not the most premium badge mentioned.
The words Range and Rover seem to crop up in Louise’s vocabulary quite often too. Not that the Duster is aiming directly at the luxury marque – rather she tells of how Range Rover owners might purchase a Duster as the hack for their provincial pastures alongside the Vogue that’s perhaps used on less gruelling duties day to day. The other reason for mentioning the British brand in the same breath is that, in November, the Duster was the third-biggest-selling SUV in the UK, just 24 units behind the Evoque.
That’s where my original assumption on the first-gen Duster’s arrival to the UK was wrong. Making a shockingly affordable car is much more innovative than it first seems.
You see, outside of the walls of Autocar Towers, motoring is quite simply about mobility. The Duster offers more mobility to more people because it’s more affordable and more practical than anything that comes close to it. Being an SUV, it ought to carry around family members of all ages, as it’s easy for elder generations to climb in, while having space to fit all the clobber that comes with young ones.
Let’s press on and find out over the next six months if it can live up to such expectations.