First impressions

With her new Duster, Dacia did not want to take a risk and therefore does not significantly evolve her SUV.Small ergonomics defects in the previous version are therefore not corrected, but the price remains very attractive.

Since 2010, Dacia Duster has changed over a restyling in 2013, a new generation in 2017, and a new restyling this year.But if the developments were notable for the 2017 Duster, this new version is rather shy.It must be said that with almost 2 million sales worldwide (450,000 in France), the manufacturer did not want to take the slightest risk with his SUV.Consequently, very clever who will notice the new rims, the new grille and the 100 % LED optical blocks (except for the headlights). Des « changements » qui, selon le constructeur, auraient pourtant permis de gagner jusqu’à 6 g d’émission de CO₂ aux 100 km.Inside, you will also have to be an observer to discern developments.

Quality of life on board

Changing to change is not really Dacia's credo.As proof, the interior of the new duster is almost identical to that of the old generation.The manufacturer has indeed carried out changes only where it was necessary and expected by its customers.Note the displacement of all controls of the regulator/speed limiter in the steering wheel, the new headrests and the sliding central console with a storage tank.Rather a good idea, since the glove box remains limited in terms of size and is always so unsappointed.Likewise, we regretted that, once completed, the seat belt passes right in front of the lever adjustment of the seat inclination.Therefore, it is not easy to correctly adjust your driving position once attached.

Another disappointment, the commands of the window lift placed a little too far back on the armrest of the driver's door.Thus, it is frequent to make the wrong button and act on the one who commands one of the rear windows rather than the one who manages the front window.In addition, the GPS screen always a little too low forces the driver to turn his head to look at the navigation indications.An improvement is however appreciable in terms of the reversing camera which now incorporates the guide lines.The reverse is facilitated because it is easier to be in space.

The multimedia system also incorporates a new function on the 4 -wheel drive versions.It is now possible to display the information related to all-terrain: tilt of the vehicle, pitch angle, compass and altimeter.For the rest, no notable change, the interior is identical to that of the previous version.

Driving

Security question is not the big upheaval either.The Duster 2021 does not in any way and resumes all the elements of the old version.No surprise either on the motorization side: they are all known.However, the manufacturer has simplified the range and again offers an automatic transmission (abandoned a few months only after the marketing of the old generation).This is a double clutch version that can be coupled with the TCE 150 petrol engine.In total, the Duster can receive three petrol engines (Eco G-100, TCE 130 and TCE 150) and a diesel (Blue DCI 115).The latter is the only one who can have 4 × 4 transmission, unlike the old version where some petrol were also entitled to it.

We have taken the wheel of the eco G-100 version, a bicarburation engine that works with LPG (liquefied oil gas) or unleaded.The first advantage of this architecture is its cost of use contained.Indeed, the price of the liter of gas is almost half lower than that of unleaded 95 E10: 0.88 € against € 1.567.Admittedly, we always consume a little more by driving on gas (about 20 %), but this remains very advantageous.

During our course, we noted a consumption of 10.3 l/100 km in LPG mode while in classic mode, we go down to 8.5 l/100 km.So, browse 100 km in GPL mode will cost just over € 9, against € 13.30 in petrol.Finally, this double carburetor makes it possible to have a very interesting autonomy of almost 1,100 km (according to our, consumption values) thanks to the two tanks of 50 liters each (48.8 liters exactly for that of gas).Note that the manufacturer has now installed the LPG control button on the driver's left, which makes it very accessible.

In use, the engine has proven to be very silent and very pleasant to drive.Only small grievance: a lack of low -speed pep, under the 2,000 rpm.It will therefore be necessary to be vigilant at the time of the reminders and not to hesitate to demote to have a good acceleration.

For the rest, the new Duster offers nothing new in terms of suspensions and rolling trains.It remains quite comfortable, with good handling.The faults of the road are well filtered and the passengers will travel in very good conditions.

Security

As usual, Dacia offers the right necessary in terms of security elements and, again, there is no revolution compared to the old model.Dacia still does not equip its dusting of active safety elements such as the surveillance of involuntary line crossing, adaptive cruise control or automatic emergency braking.This "lack" of driving aid limited the scoring of the Euro NCAP craft duster, where he only won 3 stars (see box).

The Dacia Duster in summary

You might think that Duster's prices, available from € 14,490, were revised upwards.In fact, this is not the case.Indeed, Dacia has purified its range and removed the basic finish (Access) from the catalog.It is therefore the essential finish that opens the ball, with a price lower of € 1,010 compared to the previous generation.But beware, it is without air conditioning, now billed € 900!Dacia provides 80 % of sales on the Prestige high -end finish, which is displayed from € 18,100 for the LPG version.It is almost 4,000 € less than a Renault Captur that offers the same engine, but from € 21,950.However, for this price, we will have to ignore the driving aids present at many competitors.

The +

The -

One duster but two results in crash tests

The new Duster, based on the platform of the old generation, benefits from the same results as the latter in terms of crash test.The Dacia Duster 2021 will therefore have a score of 3 stars (1).It's average, but much better than the version marketed in South America, rebadged Renault Duster.The latter has indeed obtained 0 star at local crash tests.And for good reason, the vehicle saw its tank unravel following the frontal shock and turned after the lateral impact, damaging the amount that holds the rear door and causing the opening of a door.An all the more strange result since the previous version had received 4 "local" stars in 2019.In addition, although manufactured in Brazil, this vehicle is completely identical to the version dedicated to the European market, out of Romania channels.Renault explains the first defect by a manufacturing concern coming from the tank supplier.According to the diamond manufacturer, some copies were equipped in the factory with a defective tank and, no luck, one was used for crash tests.Regarding the second problem, for the time being, no technical explanation is advanced by Renault.But the introduction of a new, more severe test protocol, was also able to play against the vehicle disadvantage.

(1) Results at the Euro NCAP Tests of Dacia Duster

Yves Martin