review
The Dacia Duster is a fairly compact model with a length of 4.31 meters. With a height of 1.69 meters including the roof racks and a width of 2.00 meters including mirrors, it is a car that also works well in an urban environment. The distances from the axle to both the front and the rear are 82 centimeters. This results in a wheelbase of 2.67 meters. These measures bode well for the space in the car.
Space in the Duster
In the Dacia Duster you sit spacious and high. In width, the car is slightly narrower than most other SUVs, but this difference is very small. In terms of legroom, the Duster is remarkably spacious and people with a body length of up to approximately 2 meters should not expect any problems with the head and the roof. The front seats feel very comfortable. With long distances, this feeling becomes a bit harder, but it still remains a fairly comfortable whole.
The interior of the Duster seems a bit cheap at first glance. However, the dashboard, which is largely made of hard plastic, has been very carefully finished and no noticeable deviations are visible. The most expensive version, the ” Prestige ”, even has a touchscreen display in the center console. However, this display is mounted somewhat low, which means that operation is not always user-friendly.
Most SUVs are not known for their large load capacity in the trunk. The Dacia Duster has a loading capacity of at least 443 liters behind the rear seat. When we compare this with the Volkswagen Golf (380 liters) and the Peugeot 2008 (365 liters), we see that you still have enough space in the Duster to take things with you. The height of the ” threshold ” of the trunk is 70 centimeters. This can be a bit high for some people when buying a crate of drink or a bag full of heavy groceries. When the rear seat is folded down, objects with a length of 1.76 meters can be easily loaded. The passenger seat cannot be folded down.
Refuel and drive
The combination of an SUV and approximately 110 HP does not immediately sound very attractive. The low weight of the Duster (1,135 kg) makes up for it a lot. Most competitors are at least 200 kilograms heavier. The car accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 12.6 seconds. Thanks to a torque of 240 Newton meters, the Duster pulls well from the low revs. The Duster also drives smoothly up to speeds of 150 km / h on the highway. Above this speed it becomes somewhat more difficult, but with a car with a top speed of +/- 170 km / h this can be forgiven.
The consumption of the Duster is 5.6 liters per 100 kilometers in accordance with the manufacturer’s data. In practice, these values are of course not realistic. At city kilometers, consumption is +/- 8.8 liters per 100 kilometers. Consumption that can be called acceptable. On average, the consumption for a combination of city and highway kilometers will be +/- 7.8 liters per 100 kilometers. However, if you were to drive very consciously and thus want to keep the consumption as low as possible, it is possible to come out around 6.0 liters.
Costs
With a starting price of 17,290 euros, the Dacia Duster is the cheapest SUV on the market (in 2016). For comparison, you can buy the Skoda Yeti from a price of 22,590 euros and the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross from 21,499 euros. The base model of the Dacia Duster is, however, also quite ” bare ” in terms of implementation and options. During the modification of the model in early 2014, ESP was added to the basic equipment of the Duster, which is of course a good thing for safety reasons.
What makes the Dacia Duster a very attractive car in the Netherlands is not only the purchase price, but also the curb weight of the car, which means that the road tax is significantly less than with comparable models from other brands. A Dacia Duster weighs +/- 1,135 kilograms and is therefore the same as an Opel Corsa and the Volkswagen Golf in terms of road tax.
Strong and weak points
Strong
- The purchase price
- The road tax
- The available space in the car
- The simple operation
Weak
- Simple materials used
- The basic equipment is very bare
- Limited top speed