TESTED 18.4.24, SEVILLE, SPAIN ON SALE NOVEMBER PRICE £23,000 (EST)
How much car do you really need? It's a question Dacia has been answering quite expertly for the past decade by nailing the fundamentals and saving on the stuff that's largely immaterial (soft-touch interior mirror, anyone?). It has resulted in cars that are almost uniquely fit for purpose.
The outgoing Duster was a bit of a breakthrough in this respect, just tipping over the edge from 'feels cheap, but at least it is cheap' to being a genuinely good car at an unbeatable price. Dacia UK sent me one for a few days before the launch event of the new, third-generation Duster, and actually they could have given the old one a facelift with a more modern-looking interior and it would still be eminently recommendable. It's a genuinely pleasant car to drive: it's spacious enough, comfortable and easy to get on with.
But Dacia hasn't just given the second generation a facelift. This is a very substantially new car. As usual, the technical rundown reads like a greatest hits album of semi-recent Renault products. It moves to the CMF-B platform employed by the Renault Clio, the Nissan Juke and the Dacia Sandero and Jogger but adds the 1.2-litre mild-hybrid three-cylinder engine from the European-market Austral. The 1.0-litre bi-fuel triple, which runs on petrol and LPG, is carried over from the outgoing Duster as the entry point to the range, and the 1.6-litre full hybrid from the Jogger and various Renaults provides the only automatic option. Diesels are out, but you can still have your Duster with four-wheel drive.
If the new Duster looks far bigger than the old one, it isn't - not by much anyway. It's only 9mm wider and 2mm longer than before. But it is quite a bit lower and, in combination with the more squinty headlights and almost Jeepish grille, it certainly looks meaner.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 24, 2024 من Autocar UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 24, 2024 من Autocar UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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