Dacia Duster Review 2024

If you're more concerned about a car's ability than the badge on its snout, the Dacia Duster is probably already on your short list. It's comfortable drive, simple engine line-up, and ability to go further off the beaten track than most rivals give it a strong appeal.

With this latest generation of Dacia Duster, we'd also argue it now has an understated credibility and neatly detailed style to draw in a more hipster crowd.

Some buyers will choose the four-wheel drive version of the Dacia Duster based purely on their needs, and they will be getting a fine small SUV with goat-like abilities. For the rest of us, the front-wheel drive version that shares the same 1.2-litre TCe 130 engine and six-speed manual transmission is the sweet spot. Go for the Journey trim and you get the larger infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus larger digital cluster, automatic air conditioning, and 18-inch alloy wheels.

There's not much that is as rugged as the Dacia Duster in 4x4 spec, but it does have plenty of rivals with clear bias to on-road driving. Prime among these are the Volkswagen T-Roc, Skoda Kamiq, and Ford Puma, which are all excellent to drive and sit in.

The Suzuki Vitara comes close in the rugged stakes, but a Peugeot 2008 or Renault Captur are more likely alternatives. If you want an EV rather than petrol engine, there is the MG ZS EV or the Vauxhall Frontera.

How well you perceive the Dacia Duster's quality will depend on where you are coming to this car from. Anyone choosing this Duster and is stepping out of the previous generation model will feel a noticeable improvement in fit, finish and feel. If, however, you've been tempted over from something like a Skoda, you might be a little disappointed.

There's nothing to quibble about with the way the Duster's interior is put together. There are no creaks or rattles, or exposed screws or fixings. What you will sense when you touch them, or hear your fingers on them, are the plastics are hard and unyielding. Where a Volkswagen or Skoda offers plenty of soft-touch materials, the Dacia sticks with simple, tough and plain plastics. It's in keeping with the car's nature and the blend of finishes is good, but  it's an area where Dacia has room to do better.

If you want a decent infotainment set-up in the Dacia Duster, you will be looking past the base trim that does without the 10.1-inch colour touchscreen.

With the entry-point Essential model, you get a meagre 3.5-inch display set inside an analogue cluster. It does come with Bluetooth connection and a USB port, but it is very basic.

For anyone not reckoning on a Zombie apocalypse, the 10.1-inch infotainment set-up of the upper trims is far better. It has clear menus and icons, and set high in the centre of the dash. It can be paired to your smartphone with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and the two highest trims also come with sat-nav included.

The Journey model comes with six speakers instead of four plus an Arkamys 3D Sound System. Nice to have, but we'd trade that for a system that was a bit quicker to respond to our inputs when asked.

An often overlooked benefit of the raised ride height of SUVs like the Dacia Duster (rather than cars with SUV-like looks but hatch-like ride heights) is how easy it is to get in and out of the rear seats. Wide opening doors help here and the aperture is just big enough for adults to slot in without any contortions.

The higher than usual ride height also means it's less of an effort to fit a child seat into the Duster, and there are Isofix mounts in both outer rear seats.

The ride height offers 209mm of clearance, while the Duster sits at 4343mm long, 2069mm wide when measured from the tips of its mirrors, and has an overall height of 1616mm.

Lots of space for feet and a flat floor make it possible to fit three passengers across the rear bench. Dacia further helps out here thanks to the broad centre cushion, and everyone gets a three-point belt. Head room is good due to the high roof line, but elbow and shoulder space is limited when carrying three occupants back here.

Lift up the tailgate and the opening reveals a high load sill - a small downside of that higher than usual ride hieght. There's also a drop to the load floor from the sill, making it trickier when lugging bigger bags in and out of the boot. Still, the space is good with 474-litres on offer in the four-wheel drive TCe 130. The 4x4 model drops to 358-litres, while the Hybrid 140 makes do with 349-litres. Fold the 60-40 split and tip rear seat and you have up to 1609-litres of cargo volume.

One neat touch with the Dacia Duster's boot is the load liner that has a pattern moulded into it. This looks like the terrain markings on a map and underscore the Duster's go-anywhere attitude.

There are three engines on offer in the Dacia Duster. The least powerful is the 100PS 1.0-litre dual-fuel only offered in base Essential trim. It can run on petrol or LPG (liquid petroleum gas), though 0-62mphin 14.1 seconds will have most buyers looking further up the range. Frankly, unless you are a died-in-the-wool LPG fan, there's no point to choosing this engine.

Much, much better is the 1.2-litre three-cylinder TCe 130 engine. It offers up 130PS and drives through a six-speed manual gearbox whether you choose the front- or four-wheel drive model. We'd stick with the front-drive version as its 0-62mph of 9.9 seconds is a good bit perkier than the all-wheel drive's 11.0 seconds. However, both suffer from the same initial lag before the turbocharger wakes up and helps the Duster to surge forward. You get used this trait, but it means the engine is not as smooth and linear in its delivery as most rivals. Nor is it as quiet as Ford or Volkswagen's three-cylinder engines.

For off-road work, the Dacia Duster 4x4 comes with selectable drive modes for mud and sand, snow, and another that divides power equally between front and rear axles. There's also assistance to let the car creep at low speed over rocky outcrops and a front camera to help see over sharp crests.

If you want an automatic gearbox in the Dacia Duster, you will be looking at the Hybrid 140 model. It uses a combination of 1.6-litre petrol engine and electric motor to produce 140PS, giving 0-62mph in 10.1 seconds. It's at its best when driving in EV mode, which it can for reasonably long periods at lower speeds even though it's not a plug-in hybrid. However, when the petrol motor comes into action, it's noisy and often makes a droning sound that undermines the Duster's refinement.

The Dacia Duster in Hybrid 140 form is a car of two halves. When driving in the EV setting, which it will do for much of the time at lower speeds, it's pleasingly quiet. However, when the petrol motor is needed it does this with a very audible gurn that spoils this model in our view.

The 1.2-litre TCe 130 motor makes a typical three-cylinder burr when revved harder. It's a bit louder than a Volkswagen T-Roc's motor, but nothing to stop us choosing this as the best engine in the Duster range.

We've yet to try the 1.0-litre petrol-LPG engine, but what we can say is there's more wind noise to be heard inside the Dacia Duster than in a Skoda Kamiq or Nissan Qashqai. Countering this is not a lot of road noise in the cars we've driven.

It's disappointing to note the Dacia Duster only scored three stars from Euro NCAP when tested in mid-2024. It only managed middling scores for vulnerable road user and safety assist, but it did do well for child occupant safety.

All models come with two Isofix child seat mounts in the outer rear chairs, as well as front passenger airbag deactivation so you can fit a third child seat if needed.

There are twin front and side airbags, fatigue detection, lane keep assist, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking. You also get rear parking sensors, cruise control with speed limiter, traffic sign recognition, stability control, hill start assist. Handily, there is also a configurable driver assist system that lets you disable unwanted safety function at the touch of one button - ideal for turning off lane assist when driving on narrow country lanes.

The 1.0- and 1.2-litre engines in the Dacia Duster are the same as in the previous model, while the Hybrid's drivetrain is used in other Renault models. All have a solid reputation for working without fuss or hassle.

Dacia as a company scored a hugely impress second place in the most recent HonestJohn Satisfaction Survey, with only Lexus a slim margin ahead of it.

At the time of writing, we were waiting for insurance groups to be confirmed for the Dacia Duster. It's fair to expect the line-up will sit in the same range of group 9 to group 24 as the previous generation, with the most popular TCe 130 Journey model somewhere around group 15.

The first-year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), or road tax to give it the more familiar name, is rolled into the price you pay for the car. This sum will be between £210 and £70 depending on the engine you choose.

In the subsequent years, you'll pay road tax of £190 per year for the Dacia Duster. The Bi-Fuel version and Hybrid 140 both enjoy a £10 reduction as they are classed as alternative fuel vehicles.

The starting point for the Dacia Duster range the Essential trim, which is only offered with the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel engine. Due to what's under the bonnet and its pared down spec, this is a model you'll probably want to bypass on the way to something better equipped.

What you get with the Essential are 16-inch steel wheels, roof bars, heated and electrically adjusted door mirrors, and rear parking sensors. You also have black cloth upholstery, electric front windows, manual air conditioning, a 3.5-inch radio display and four speakers.

Next in line is the Expression that adds the 10.1-inch infotainment screen, rear parking camera, and electric rear windows. It also comes with Denim style upholstery, soft feel steering wheel, automatic lights and wipers, grey mirror caps, and 17-inch alloy wheels. It has a height and reach adjustable steering wheel, too.

One rung up from this is the Journey trim that has sat-nav included with the infotainment, a multi-view camera, and front parking sensors. You also benefit from automatic air conditioning, a split parcel shelf, rear privacy glass, and 18-inch alloys.

At the top of the pile sits the Extreme model with its hill descent control for better off-road driving ability. Those in the front have heated seats, and the driver has a heated steering wheel. All of the seats are covered in synthetic leather upholstery, while the centre console has a sliding armrest. Outside, there are 18-inch alloy wheels, copper-coloured door mirror covers, and modular roof bars that make it easier to fit accessories to them.