The Dacia Duster is a Nissan Qashqai alternative with a Nissan Micra price tag. It’s consistently one of our top-rated small SUVs.
The Dacia Duster is a compact SUV that costs the same as a supermini. The low pricing helps make it competitive enough to take on the best in the family hatchback and crossover SUV sectors. See it as a cut-price Nissan Qashqai that’s good enough to have buyers questioning whether they really need to spend more for the real thing.
The Dacia Duster range is simple and some models are very basic, but there’s no doubting the value for money on offer – it’s a genuinely cheap and cheerful model, particularly after the range was subtly enhanced for 2015 with a new grille and new top-line trim level.
It does have weaknesses, particularly in the areas of safety, the lack of features on some models and engines that aren’t quite as economical as more expensive alternatives. But the Duster compensates with superb interior flexibility, appealing looks and decent overall driving manners.
The Dacia Duster launched in Britain in 2012, offering bargain-hunting car buyers a unique proposition: a family-friendly Nissan Qashqai-style compact SUV for the price a supermini. It remains so today: remarkably, the cheapest Duster costs less than the cheapest Ford Fiesta!
Unlike many budget cars, though, the Duster has genuine appeal. Dacia is part of the huge Renault-Nissan Alliance, so the oily bits beneath the surface are up to date, and some of the bits inside can also be seen in Renaults and Nissans.
Offered in a single five-door bodystyle, The Duster is similar in size to a Nissan Qashqai, which means it has a roomy interior that’s big enough for a family of five. There are only two engines and the 1.6 petrol is only offered on the base car so most buyers get the 1.5-litre diesel. Dacia offers a 4x4 option, but not an automatic.
For 2015, Dacia gave the Duster a mild facelift. A revised grille, some fresh colours and new wheel choices were offered. A top-spec trim level was introduced too, called Laureate Prime. As a result, the Duster has never been more expensive but Laureate Prime is also probably the best value version in the range.
It all means there are now four trim lines for the Duster: Access, Ambience, Laureate and Laureate Prime (that will only be sold in 2015, says Dacia). The Access is almost unacceptably basic – you don’t even get a radio or body-colour bumpers, and the only colour you can have is white – which makes the effective entry-level car the Ambience. Do note, air con is only standard on Laureate models.
Prices are comparable to superminis but the Duster’s chief rivals are cars like the Ford Focus, Skoda Yeti and Suzuki S-Cross – and of course the Nissan Qashqai and new Renault Kadjar with which it shares showroom space.
The Dacia Duster is a simple, straightforward car and this is reflected in the way it drives. If you’re looking for something a bit more engaging, look to the Ford Focus: the approach here is focused on delivering a decent ride and safe, foolproof handling, rather than the ultimate in driver enjoyment.
Because it’s a bit higher off the ground than a regular hatch, the soft suspension means the Duster does lean a bit in corners. It doesn’t give much feedback either, but the benefit comes in ride quality around town. The Duster soaks up bumps well and is supple over rough roads. Just be mindful that the suspension can produce a sensation like a bobbing boat if you drive too fast down undulating roads.
Early UK-market Dusters didn’t have ESP as standard, a major safety omission. All 2015 cars now have it as standard though, and there’s a Nissan-derived three-mode 4WD system available across the range if you want the security of extra traction.
The high seats and raised stance mean the Duster is a confidence-inspiring drive in the city, although the budget car does still lag behind pricier rivals in its lack of safety assist tech – emergency auto-braking is unavailable, for example. Rear parking sensors are a dealer-fit option: front sensors are not offered by Dacia.
The engine choice is simple for the Duster range: a 103bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine, or a 108bhp 1.5-litre dCi turbodiesel. Indeed, Dacia makes it even simpler: the 1.6 is only offered on base Access trim – all other Dusters come with the sole diesel engine.
The diesel is easily preferable. The Renault-sourced unit can be a bit gruff under acceleration, but it’s a decent performer with lots of pull at the bottom of the rev range and ample strength to pull a family of five. You don’t have to keep changing gear to maintain progress, and the six-speed gearbox itself is light and easy; this helps keep engine noise under control when cruising.
The 1.6-litre engine is harder work. Despite being the fastest Duster on paper (0-62mph is quoted at 11.5 seconds, compared to 11.8 seconds for the diesel), it feels flat on the road because it has to be revved: it has 60% less pulling power than the diesel, and this torque is delivered 2,000rpm higher up the rev range.
Driving the 1.6 quickly is thus a noisy affair that you won’t enjoy. If it’s fully laden, you’ll have to work the gearbox – if you have to go petrol, choose the 4x4 variant as this has a six-speed gearbox that makes it a bit easier. Do note, Dacia doesn’t offer an automatic transmission on any Duster.
The two Renault-derived engines are both familiar units – and easily the best choice is the dCi diesel. Fuel economy isn’t exceptional by modern standards, but 56.5mpg for the front-wheel drive 4x2 version is still acceptable. CO2 emissions of 130g/km mean it just falls into the free first-year road tax category.
Impressively, the fuel economy penalty for choosing the 4x4 diesel is minimal: it still averages 53.3mpg and official consumption figures for urban driving are even more closely matched. Do note that stop-start or any other green assist features are unavailable on any Duster, though.
The petrol engine is much less competitive. It averages 39.8mpg, a figure we used to associate with 1.6 petrol cars of a decade ago. In town, official figures suggest less than 30mpg, which is worryingly thirsty. The 4x4 version officially averages just 35.3mpg overall, and emits a whopping 185g/km of CO2 – that’s a full four VED tax bands higher than the 4x4 diesel.
The Duster has an appealing, chunky SUV style on the outside, with bold wheelarches and a stylish front end. The latter has been enhanced for 2015, and the new colours now on offer also modernise the Duster. The black sheep is the Ambience which, with its white paint and unpainted trim, looks cheap.
Incidentally, the Laureate Prime only has one paint choice too – but it’s a very appealing Cosmos Blue metallic.
The appealing style isn’t quite carried through to the inside. The dashboard is neat enough, but a bit plain compared to other compact SUVs – and quality reflects its budget roots in being a bit plasticky and plain in places. It feels like a supermini-class car, rather than a more premium SUV.
The dials and switchgear will be familiar to Renault Clio drivers, and it’s all very simple to use. It lacks high-tech features, preferring good old fashioned knobs to more modern electronic displays. You don’t even get a trip computer until the top-spec Laureate, for example.
The only version that does feature advanced tech is the Laureate Prime: it comes with a standard MediaNav Evolution touchscreen infotainment system with sat-nav. This has live traffic info and Aha web radio; the regular Laureate is available with an older version of MediaNav sat-nav as an option.
Cloth trim in Ambience models feels cheap, but things do improve as you go up the range (every variant has a different type of seat trim). The Laureate Prime has special dark carbon upholstery with blue inserts; you can also choose leather on all versions above Ambience, but we’d stick with cloth.
The Dacia Duster had been sold for several years in Europe before arriving in the UK. This, combined with its simple nature and use of very well proven Renault and Nissan-sourced components means reliability and dependability are proving competitive.
There has been a surprising issue with rust appearing on early models, though. These were built in India and don’t seem to have had quite the same level of corrosion protection we’ve come to take for granted in the UK. The 2015 model is built in a different plant in Romania and Dacia assures us the issue has now been sorted.
What really lets the Duster down is its weak safety score. Euro NCAP has given it just three stars for overall crash safety. In a marketplace where five stars is the accepted norm and anything less than four stars is unacceptable, this is a real weakness.
The Duster suffers not because of any major failings in crash protection, but in its lack of safety assist features. ESP has only recently been standardised, for example, and electronic emergency braking isn’t available even as an option. Only front and side airbags are fitted as standard; curtain airbags are not available.
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