Dacia Duster Preview I Return of the Duster!

Building a new car is difficult, but it's especially difficult when you're Dacia. Because while brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi and BMW can add lots of luxurious tech and shiny bits to their new cars, Dacia has a rugged, unpretentious image to uphold. And it's one that's served them very well over the last few years. So while you can add shiny bits, just don't make them too shiny or delicate because then, well, it's not a Dacia. Welcome, then, to the new Dacia Duster. Now in its third generation, Dacia has made over 2.2 million examples of a Duster over the last 13 years. And in that time, it's been awarded over 40 accolades, becoming the best-selling SUV across the European retail market in 2022. At the Petesti plant in Romania, they make roughly one Duster every minute. Sounds like a good formula. But that hasn't stopped Dacia ringing the changes for this latest version, starting with the platform. So, new car, new platform. The Duster now sits on the CFB blueprint, which is the same one that is used on the Sandero and the Jogger models. What that means is that for the first time, the Duster will be available with electrified powertrains. But more on that in a bit, because for now, I want to talk about the styling and sustainability, because there's a big focus on the latter. And you can see that with this. It's a material called Starkel. We first saw it on the Manifesto concept car. And as you can see, it's all over the car. And it's essentially reused polypropylene. And it's got these little flecks in it as well. So it shows that it's not been too processed. And it's also unpainted, which makes it even more environmentally friendly. It's very rugged. It's very tough. And it definitely works, I think, with the whole styling of the car. And they've used it everywhere. They've even used Starkel on the front and rear skid plates. But this time, the colour is dyed in the mass. So if, or rather when, you scrape the skid plates, the scratch is almost invisible because the colour goes all the way through them. It's a very neat idea. Furthermore, roughly 20% of the plastic in the new Dacia is recycled. And that's a lot more than average, and up 8% on the previous gen car. Dacia has also stopped using leather and decorative chrome. Plus, the user manual has been shrunken down to use less paper, with a more detailed version online. There's also been updates to the general look of the car because it's far more angular and taut looking this time around. You can see some interesting highlights in the design, such as this almost muscle car style bonnet, and also the kicked shoulder line at the back there, where it really stands out. And they've also incorporated lots of Y shapes into the design, like the Lamborghini Revuelto, of course. So you can see that in the headlamps, and also on the alloy wheels, and on the rear lamps as well. And if we go inside, you can see that that theme continues in there too. The surface of the air vents are Y-shaped, plus the Y also appears around the door panel armrests. It is comfortably the most luxurious Duster cabin yet, and features more screens than ever. The optional 10.1 inch central touchscreen, and 7 inch digital dashboard display taking centre stage. It's no surprise to see big screens have made their way into the Duster's interior. We've obviously got a digital dashboard display, and a large infotainment system. That's pretty common now, but the important thing is that the infotainment system is really easy to use. It's very responsive, it's got plenty of functions, and it's got wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capabilities. So if you don't like the native system, there's no reason why you wouldn't, but if you don't like it, you can have your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and it's just like any other car. So that's a big plus. You've also got wireless over-the-air firmware updates to keep the car nice and up-to-date, and there's going to be a My Dacia app, or there is a My Dacia app, which you can view vehicle functions on, and lots of key information. So that's another plus point. The general quality is pretty good, actually. I quite like it in here. It's obviously got plenty of harder plastics. I think we can understand why that is, but they've been used intelligently, so it doesn't feel too oppressive, and the major touch points, such as this gear lever, feel good. This gear lever here is actually covered in a rubber shroud, which makes it feel a bit different from the usual plastic that you get down there. I'm obviously also a big fan of the fact that there's physical climate control buttons, no going into touchscreen just because you want to bring the temperature down, so that's a big bonus. You can get different drive modes in the 4x4 version, so mud and sand and snow and off-road, and they're there to take advantage of this car's off-roading abilities, which should be pretty impressive. It's got a very good ground clearance, best in class. I think it's about 217 millimetres, which is impressive, but one thing that really does stand out in here, and I know a lot of people will be pleased to hear it, is that the new driver assistance systems, which this car needs to have because it's brand new, can be turned off very easily. Now, obviously, they're there to help you to potentially save your life, but sometimes they can be irritating, we know that, a lot of cars make you delve into the infotainment system to turn that off, not this one. There is literally one button where you can put it into a personalised mode and you can switch everything off super, super easily, so that is a massive plus point. There's also still huge amounts of space in the front and back, plus the boot is now 6% bigger at 472 litres, and it wasn't like it was small in the first place. We would, however, like to see a little more storage space in the interior, but one of Dacia's new features should help out with that. Another interesting point about the Duster's interior is the patented U-clip system, and that's something that, again, we first saw on the Manifesto concept car, and what it is, is various accessories that you can buy from your Dacia dealer or online, which mean that you can attach various items throughout places on the car where the U-clip base or peg is. So there's some in the boot, there's one up here, there's some in the back, and what you can attach to those are things like cup holders or tablet holders or pouches maybe for rubbish, or even like this, a phone holder. Now this probably isn't the most attractive piece of design if we're being honest, but it is functional, it holds your phone, and you can simply attach it here using the little mount and it stays in place quite firmly, and then it's there, and you can remove these and put them on as you see fit. So that's a nice idea, and I think the general idea is that hopefully it'll become open source so people can make their own accessories in time. And finally, speaking of accessories, you can also get the optional sleep pack with this car, which I haven't seen it, but I understand it's basically a box which fits a double bed and a tray table into it. So if you're going camping with this car or engaging in outdoor activities, then you've got your sleeping solution sorted. Can't wait to see that in the flesh. The Duster's trim structure has been kept fairly straightforward and includes the base Essential spec, then Essential, and then the top two trim levels split off depending on your preference. Extreme is for those who want to pursue outdoor activities and includes modular roof bars and washable upholstery, while Journey is a more traditional top spec with wireless phone charging, a 3D sound system, and 18-inch alloy wheels. Meanwhile, the powertrain selection ditches diesel entirely, which is a bit of a shame, but instead they offer a 3-cylinder 1.2-litre mild hybrid with 128bhp, a 138bhp full hybrid, or a 99bhp LPG-compatible version with a claimed range of up to 800 miles. Manual, auto, front-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive are all available depending on the version. So the Dacia Duster is set to be priced from under £17,500 and that is very, very good value, yet it's more than just a budget option now. Sure, there's more premium-feeling cars that you could spend your money on, but the Dacia looks set to do most of the fundamental things right, as well as adding the kind of character and durability that's hard to put a price on. If you're interested, reviews will be taking place in 2024, so make sure you subscribe to the Car Magazine channel and turn your notifications on so you don't miss our first adventures with the new Duster.