Dacia’s new Duster goes distinctly upmarket – has it lost its value-for-money appeal?

When the Dacia Duster first burst onto the UK market in 2013, its sub-£10,000 starting price grabbed headlines.

Launched as a no-frills compact family car, it provided a tempting choice for motorists who cared more about the reserves in their bank balance than they did for modern luxuries, the latest technology, or the upmost refinement from a vehicle. 

Fast-forward a decade and the Romanian car maker – owned by Renault – has unveiled its third-generation Duster. And for 2024, there is a distinct move upmarket.

But has Dacia now put at risk Duster’s unique selling point of offering the absolute minimum requirements from a car to guarantee a market-busting low price?

We’ve been driving it in Spain to find out…

Just how popular is Dacia’s Duster? 

Dacia’s break-out into the UK market was spearheaded by cars that were cobbled together from Renault’s extensive parts bin, which was very much the case for the first-generation Duster. 

It used tried and tested – though somewhat dated – components from French models from generations gone by to create a family-size vehicle that nailed fundamentals without a sniff of fanciness.

The second-generation Duster emerged in 2017 and extended the SUV’s huge success by mastering the perfect compromise between feeling cheap and guaranteeing a bargain-basement price tag, while being a genuinely good car to drive.

Today, Duster remains the brand’s most popular model and represents almost two in five (38 per cent) of all Dacias sold in the UK.

Quite incredibly, the vast majority of buyers are regular driving folk rather than fleets and businesses purchasing in bulk. In fact, the brand claims that 90 per cent of Duster orders in Britain are placed by ‘retail customers’ – people like you and me who walk into car showrooms looking for a new set of wheels.

Over the course of more than a decade, Duster has accrued more than 40 awards and 100,000 registrations in the UK alone.

It’s fair to say that Britain has a love affair with this back-to-basics motor.

Third-generation Dacia Duster – what’s new?

The big news for the third-generation Duster is the transition to Renault’s ‘CMF-B’ platform that underpins the French firm’s latest models.

It means the Duster now shares the same architecture as the latest Clio and Nissan Juke – and follows in the tyre tracks of its smaller siblings, the Sandero and Jogger estate, by switching to Renault’s current setup.

So, instead of being made-up of cast-off components from older cars, the new Duster is as bang-up-to-date as it can be. And this is true of the powertrain options available to customers.

There’s three engine choices: a 1.0-litre three-cylinder ‘bi-fuel’ unit that runs on petrol and LPG; a 1.2-litre, triple TCe130 petrol with mild-hybrid support; and a 1.6-litre conventional hybrid powerplant (called ‘140 Hybrid’) that’s shared with the seven-seat Jogger.

Limited availability of LPG filling stations in the UK means the bi-fuel model is unlikely to be a volume seller – despite being exceptionally frugal – so Britons will largely be choosing between the other two.

The mild-hybrid engine has a six-speed manual gearbox and is sold either with two or four-wheel-drive, while the full hybrid can only send power to the front wheels, via a four-speed automatic transmission.

And bosses confirmed that Dacia has ditched diesel powertrains entirely in Europe, though an oil-burning Duster will be produced for the Moroccan and North African market – where the SUV is immensely popular.

The move to the new platform also brings with it a fresh look. 

A boxier silhouette, the use of fashionable sweeping window frames and incorporation of the brand’s new design language – namely the Y-shaped light clusters – give it more presence. 

We doubt many will argue that the third inception of Duster is the most handsome yet, though we think it will blend into the background of a busy car park rather than standing out as it has done before.

The overall chunkier look to the third-gen Duster does a good job of playing tricks on the naked eye – while it appears much larger in proportion than before, this isn’t the case.

It is just 9mm longer and 2mm wider than the car it replaces, though the ergonomics of the CMF-B platform means there’s noticeably more interior space. 

Dacia claims there’s a slight increase in rear legroom and boot capacity has been upped from 445 litres to a capacious 474 litres (if you choose a front-wheel-drive model). 

The new Dacia Duster is a plusher place to be 

Arguably, the biggest upgrade brought on by Duster’s shift to Renault’s latest architecture is cabin quality.

Dacia was kind enough to loan me a second-generation Duster the same week as the Malaga launch of its replacement, so I drove them pretty much back-to-back (with a flight to Spain in the middle). The difference in interior is stark to say the least.

Out goes the dated four-spoked steering wheel and in comes a squared-off rim that feels far sportier to behold and touch.

Behind it is a new digital instrument cluster – a first for Duster. 

It feels more basic than displays you’ll find in rivals and certainly lacks the panache of the TV-like units in pricey Mercedes’ and Audis, but it’s a major step up in tech against the analogue clocks of the car in showrooms now.

As is par of the course, models offered up to journalists at the launch event were all high-specification trim levels that came with the top-of-the-range 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen with satellite navigation.

Again, it’s not as flashy or multi-functional as the units in other 2024 motors, but it fulfils the principal needs of such a system – though certainly feels laggy compared to the software used in Renaults and Nissans.

That said, those not looking to stretch their car-spending budgets too far can opt for the entry ‘Essential’ trim without a touchscreen – instead, it requires customers to use their smartphone (with a downloadable Dacia app) as their source of infotainment control.

A bank of function switches sit below the central display and a pair of Y-shaped air vents (mimicking the headlight design).

These control primary functions like temperature adjustment, fan speed and front and rear screen demisters and feel more robust than those in the outgoing Duster. As do the stalks behind the steering wheel, which have rivetted tips for rotating through settings for the headlights and wipers.

You get the feeling that Dacia’s design team has really concentrated on making the main touchpoints of the cockpit as pleasant as possible. 

The rest of the cabin is still largely made up of low-budget hard plastics, but rather than being bland have a few fun design elements to freshen things up. 

For instance, the dashboard section stretching across the top of the glovebox now features large ‘DUSTER’ letters stamped into it like a footprint in the sand. It’s not groundbreaking by any means but feels cheekier than a simple slab of cheap material.

A new seat design also provides more cushion and lumbar support than the driver’s chair in the previous-generation Duster, which on return from Spain felt like a washboard backrest in comparison. 

How does it drive?

Dacia UK believes the 140 Hybrid will be the most popular engine among UK customers, predicting it will take a 50 per cent share of orders.

The 94hp 1.6-litre petrol unit is supplemented by a pair of 49hp electric motors – but still isn’t what you’d call brisk under acceleration. 

That said, it is certainly the more refined of the two powertrains. 

Combined with the new Duster’s additional use of sound deadening (which is said to reduce the decibel level by 2dB on average), it’s a relatively relaxed and hushed driving experience at medium speeds.

However, that’s only if you don’t get too forceful with the throttle pedal; make this mistake and the clumsy auto gearbox sends the revs into overdrive and can feel erratic and spoil how subdued it feels on the inside.

Interior noise does creep up at motorway speeds, which we put down to a combination of the Duster’s steeply-raked windscreen, fat wing mirrors and Southern Spain’s particularly gusty conditions during our test drive. 

Dacia says the Hybrid 140’s combination of regenerative braking, the 1.2 kWh (230V) battery’s high energy recovery capacity, and the gearbox’s efficiency means it can be driven in all-electric mode for up to 80 per cent of the time in cities. 

But driving out of town, we don’t think the average UK customer (who owns a car for three years) will pay off the premium price difference via fuel savings alone. 

So, instead, we think the 1.2-litre mild hybrid is the better match for the Duster – especially if you want to ensure it’s cheap to buy and run (it’s claimed to return 51mpg).

Dacia UK reckons the 4×2 will make up around 40 per cent of sales, while the remaining 10 per cent will be swept up by the 4×4 option. 

Like any small capacity three-cylinder powerplant, it has plenty of punch at the lower end of the rev range but needs to be worked hard at higher speeds.

Preparing an overtake of slower-moving vehicles on a B-road almost needs the submission of a long-winded planning proposal to get the pass done – and you’ll definitely need to drop down a couple of gears when entering a motorway via an uphill slip road.

The triple engine does have the characteristic thrum at higher speeds but feels far more clattery when driving around town than rival three-cylinder units, such as the VW Group powerplant. 

The manual gear change is somewhat numb and lacking mechanical engagement, too, though that’s largely what we expected for a car of this ilk and price point. 

One of the major boasts by the Romanian brand is that the switch to the new platform has stiffened up the ride quality and eradicated a lot of the top-heavy lurching caused by body roll in bends.

While it definitely feels more precise in the corners, there’s still some body pitch when darting from one direction to the other.

Ride comfort is relatively impressive, though, which is partially thanks to Duster’s small wheels and fat tyres with chunky sidewalls to soak up the clatter of potholes.

We did take a 4×4 TCE130 out for a brief spin on a pre-prepared off-road course designed to showcase its wealth of capabilities. 

While it won’t be a match for a Land Rover Defender, it will scramble up a wet hillside and extract itself from a ditch with consummate ease.

Will it still be affordable?

Dacia’s big wigs won’t confirm the exact pricing until the summer but have said Duster will ring in between £17,000 and £20,000.

The cheapest – from around £17,500 – will be the bi-fuel LPG version, though that isn’t hugely relevant to the UK market.

Therefore, the most affordable model of note will be the entry mild hybrid, likely to cost in the region of £19,500. 

While this sounds like a hefty mark-up on the sub-£10,000 first-generation car, it’s not as inflationary as you might think.

That’s because there is no longer an ultra-basic ‘Access’ specification, which in 2013 came without height adjustment for the steering wheel, remote locking or even a radio!

Instead, the entry point for the third-generation Duster is the slightly higher Essential specification – though, based on sales in the last decade, Dacia UK very much expects the majority of customers to choose a higher grade trim (mid-spec Expression with 17-inch wheels or top-of-the-line Extreme or Journey specs with 18-inch rims), which ultimately means most will be paying over £20k.

Dacia residual values are – historically – incredibly strong, too, so finance deals should remain affordable.

What about Dacia’s sketchy Euro NCAP crash test ratings of late?

Dacia says its philosophy when it comes to equipping its cars with the latest in safety features is to provide only what customers really want – and need.

Having previously been accused by safety body Euro NCAP of prioritising price over protective technology, Dacia’s had its hand forced by mandated requirements to fit features such as lane keeping assistance. 

As such, the Duster – which is currently awaiting its star rating from Euro NCAP – is expected to receive a higher safety score than Sandero and Jogger have managed in recent years. 

2024 Dacia Duster: Cars & motoring verdict 

Without any question of doubt, this is the most advanced, comfortable and competent Duster yet.

From the range of drivetrains on offer to its improved handing dynamics, interior quality, quietness and styling, Dacia’s family SUV has made a significant leap for 2024.

So, that’s surely better, right? In essence, yes. That’s because the Duster has gone from being good value to simply a good car.

But during our test drive there remained a niggling sensation that Duster’s move up in the world is something of a departure from its winning formula.

Dacia’s almost agricultural focus on selling ultra-basic cars to keep prices low is lost in this third-generation model. And with this has gone some of its inherent coolness.

Over the last 11 years, it has been the car for those who don’t want or need a flash motor – and most of its customers are people who give two hoots about being judged on the vehicle they drive, which is partly why it has generated such a cult following. 

Could the Romanian outfit have cut a few more corners to push the price of the new Duster even lower to retain its budget-busting identity? We think so (many drivers still want analogue clocks, hate touchscreens and aren’t fussed by elaborate trinketry), and for that reason it feels like there’s been an opportunity missed. 

However, the Duster should still offer great value despite being a more upmarket product – given it is aggressively positioned against a backdrop of rising new car prices, that is.

Its nearest rivals, like the MG ZS (which starts from £18,335), are no match in terms of all-round appeal. And Duster should – theoretically – retain its moniker of Britain’s cheapest B-segment SUV… for the time-being, at least.

That alone should be more than enough to extend its success on these shores.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk