New Dacia Duster driving impressions

It has been fourteen years since the Dacia Duster first appeared. Literally, because apart from it, only the Lada Niva from deep Soviet times was able to break the threshold of 300,000 crowns for a family SUV.

The starting price of the current Dacia starts just under 430,000, and that’s for the most popular LPG version in the Czech Republic. Compared to competing European brands, it’s still very good, but there are also cars from the Middle Kingdom that have been targeting Dacia for a long time.

However, the current Duster is not quite the car it used to be. While the first generation was not difficult to imagine in the backyard of a house with a tin roof, at the other end of which floats a cord with tesila pants, the new Duster is practically no different from modern European car production. It got simple lines without rustic decorations, got rid of all the chrome and, in addition, switched to recycled plastics, because its central theme is now ecology.

When all three generations stand side by side, it is impossible to overlook that the latest one is by far the most powerful. This is due not only to the high and consistently vertical nose, but also to the smaller side glass area, which is a trend that is mainly related to safety.

But what the Duster user will feel on his own skin every day is the modern door handle, which replaced the older recessed handle – it was not only uncomfortable to hold, but sometimes it could even painfully pinch a finger.

Some things in Duster, on the other hand, have survived since its beginnings. These include the two gas-liquid struts of the front hood, which usually represent more luxurious models in cars. Their presence in a budget car is a rarity, but it maintains a likeable continuity that very few care about in today’s automotive world.

However, the fact that the Duster is still a car, during the production of which every leu is turned over twice, is known at the latest after taking a look at the interior. The paneling of the dashboard and doors is exclusively made of hard plastics, the trunk and upholstery are made of ordinary-looking materials. The seats lack an adjustable lumbar support, they can only dream of electric control, which, by the way, also applies to the trunk lid.

However, this does not mean that the inside of the Duster looks unfashionable. Under the steering wheel we find a digital instrument panel, in the middle of the dashboard there is a ten-inch display. Although its reactions could be more nimble, the connection with the phone went smoothly and Apple Car Play or Android Auto are also available. There are two USB-C sockets and a wireless phone charger on the center console.

Thanks to the new chassis platform, the interior space has increased a bit, which is especially noticeable in the rear seats. However, its deployment is mainly related to the assistance systems that are newly required by European legislation: Duster reads traffic signs, warns by beeping when the speed limit is exceeded or returns the car to the lane when the driver forgets for a moment.

All assistants can be turned off at once with a single button – this is useful in case of annoying tinkling, but for example the assistant for keeping the car in the lane works surprisingly reliably in the Duster. It would be unwise to forego its services while driving at night on the highway, it can save a life in a moment of microsleep.

While other car manufacturers are abandoning the offer of direct-shift transmissions, Dacia is going against the trend. With the exception of the hybrid, it offers only a six-speed manual, the character of which has also completely changed in the 4×4 version. There is no longer a short first gear replacing the reduction gear, but the longer gear ratio mainly takes into account low consumption.

Consumption is surprisingly low for a square SUV. During a one-hundred-kilometer test drive, the front-wheel-drive gasoline 12-hundred-liter car claimed 6.1 liters of fuel per hundred kilometers. The version with all-wheel drive has a standard consumption of half a liter higher, but during the test drives, the Duster 4×4 was only available for a short off-road insert, so it was not important to measure its appetite.

However, when it comes to gasoline consumption, the biggest surprise was driving with the hybrid version, where the 16-liter gasoline engines are powered by two electric motors powered by a battery with a capacity of 800 watts. The hybrid is only available with maximum equipment and costs 622,900 crowns, so traditional Duster customers will probably avoid it to their detriment. According to Jitka Skaličková, spokeswoman for the Czech representative office of Renault, it is estimated that about seven percent of interested people will choose it, and they will be mainly those who come to buy a Dacia for the very first time.

And the measured consumption of the hybrid? Sensitive work with the gas brought a reward in the form of 3.5 liters per 100 kilometers. Two liters less than the standard.
At this point, it is good to note that under the hood of the third generation Duster, we will no longer find a diesel engine. Modern diesels are expensive to manufacture, and according to the automaker, their presence in Dacia does not give much chance of success. But the gasoline hybrid is an adequate replacement, the automatic transmission is an added bonus.

However, no one will probably tell Czech customers that the LPG version is the best version. In the long term, it accounts for almost half of Duster sales, and Dacia’s Czech representation has also made it the most affordable choice. Unfortunately, the propane-butane Duster did not arrive in Malaga, we will hopefully have experience with it later in the reaction test.