Dacia Duster Journey TCe 150 Auto 4x2 EDC
What is it?
To start with it’s the outgoing model. Amusingly, midweek during my loan, Dacia announced to the world their latest Duster, which made me smile. However, that isn’t released until later this year, so this model - Dacia Duster Journey TCe 150 Auto 4x2 EDC - is still quite relevant.
Originally born in 1968, then relaunched by Renault Group from 2004, Dacia has always tried to offer the best value for money cars by borrowing a lot of the underpinnings from older Renaults, which may sound dodgy, but it actually works out well.
Duster is a proven success story. In its 13-year-long career, it has been awarded more than 40 accolades, production stands at 2.2 million units and counting. It continues to increase in popularity, ranking as Europe’s best-selling SUV across all segments in the retail market in 2022. Around 1,000 Duster SUVs roll off the production lines at Dacia’s plant in Pitesti, Romania, every day – about one every minute!
On the road
It’s really quite nippy, the 150bhp 1.3ltr petrol engine gives you quite a lot of confidence when executing daring overtaking manoeuvres on country lanes. But be aware, all that oomph causes a fair bit of torque steer, so be careful when roads are a bit damp and slippery. Remember though, this is a front-wheel drive version and the 4WD model with its more sophisticated rear suspension design handles a lot better.
The electric steering is very light which means spirited cornering is a bit non-feely, add the aforementioned torque steer and things can get lively, and not in a good way.
There are better handling SUVs out there, but let’s not forget that this Duster is a £22k car using previous generation Renault gubbins. That said, driving around town the Duster was comfortable, the suspension was soft, helped in part by 17” wheels and proper size tyres.
Using either the limiter or cruise control, long and boring motorway journeys are a breeze with road, wind and tyre noise kept to a minimum. Of course, on some surfaces you’ll hear a bit of noise entering the cabin, but overall it was a relaxed affair, especially as the Duster also has an acoustic windscreen that helps to keep the noise down.
This particular version was quite a hoot, and after a week of mixed driving the computer showed that I had achieved a reasonable 40.4mpg.
Interior
As I’ve written previously, the Duster has pretty much everything you need in a car; 4 electric windows, cruise control, speed limiter, air conditioning and plenty of passenger and luggage space. Yes, the majority of the interior is made of cheap plastic, but as I’ve always said, I’ve never felt the need to caress a leather dashboard whilst sat at the lights.
You do get some fabric on the front door armrests, and the steering wheel is made of soft leather, which is rather nice.
Everything is made to be easily wiped down, including the seats. Speaking of the seats, it took me a while to locate the heated seat switches which are actually on the seats - quite difficult to spot, especially when you’re sat on the them.
Sat comfortably behind the steering wheel you will find that it has proper heater controls, a 12v socket and two USB ports up front, and a further two USBs in the rear.
The 8” media display isn’t in your face and features Apple Car-Play, Android, a DAB radio and the whole unit is wi-fi and Bluetooth compatible.
The only real issue we had was that the sweep of the passenger side windscreen wiper is too low and the seat is fixed fairly high, therefore when it rains your passenger has no forward vision - Muddy Madam was not impressed.
Boot space is 445 litres, but be prepared to lose some of that if you opt for the £300 full size spare wheel option, which in my opinion is a no-brainer.
Opt for the the entry-level Essential trim and you get rear parking sensors, but you need to upgrade to Expression trim for a rear-view camera. To this, Journey adds four ‘multiview’ cameras, although the resolution isn’t that brilliant.
Conclusion
The Duster has quite the fan-base, and for good reasons. In fact during one 15 minutes trip to the shops I counted eight of ‘em, either on the road or parked up on people’s drives.
As I mentioned, the ride and handling are set up more for comfort rather than high speed cornering, and there is an element of wallowing through tighter corners, and of course the torque steer, but it shouldn’t put you off having a bit of fun, when the mood arises.
Overall the Duster is a very good SUV that overdelivers at its relatively cheap cost. Yes, it may use an older Clio platform and recycles a lot of obsolete Renault parts, but if it’s not broke, and it still works, why the heck not?
Price - £22,145 (incl. spare wheel & metallic paint options)
more at » https://www.dacia.co.uk