It’s been just over a week since I went to the capital of our northern neighbor to enjoy the hugely popular The Weeknd on stage at the Tallinn Song Festival. It was an incomparably great concert, which will also be associated in memory to some extent with the unbeatable Dacia Duster Extreme in terms of availability.
I remember how, at the beginning of the millennium, Renault announced that its recently acquired Romanian car manufacturer Dacia would release a car that would cost 5,000 euros fully equipped. It was not possible to keep the promise regarding the price, but the motorists’ public vote with their wallets confirmed that no one is worried about it – the new Logan model also provided all the necessary transportation functions, and besides, it cost much less than other new cars. It is a recipe for success, according to which all subsequent Dacia models are designed and manufactured, including the compact SUV Duster, released in 2010. In its second generation, after the second update, it has acquired new facial features, new equipment options, but still fully complies with Dacia’s philosophy of creating reasonable cars at a reasonable price. Even in the Extreme version, Dacia Duster is available for 19 thousand euros, which, you will agree, is not much in today’s conditions for a car with Apple CarPlay, clearance worthy of a land cruiser and a range of about a thousand kilometers after a full fill-up.
Photo: Ingars Tenis
The original concept in a new interpretation
Duster’s first generation change took place in 2017, and as a result, the model got a thoroughly modernized exterior. It was refreshed in 2021, but last year, along with the introduction of the new brand logo, it underwent another, very light so-called facelift. In this appearance, with white and Dacia logos neatly integrated into the overall shape of the car, the Duster has remained until today. The Extreme version, which, contrary to the message inscribed in the name, is not so extreme at all, comes with a series of stylistic accents reserved only for it. These include bronze mirror bezels, matching bezels around the air vents on the front fascia, small badges behind the front wheel arches, black wheel rims, as well as center roof pillars and rubber floor mats with topographic map motifs. Also, the green color of the demo car in the pictures is only available on the Duster Extreme and is complemented by black alloy wheels.
Otherwise, the Duster Extreme is very similar to the rest of the Dusters, with a new logo embedded in the radiator grille, which is visually continued by the LED daytime running light lines in the headlights, high ground clearance, short body overhangs and a dynamic overall silhouette, achieved with a gently rising center line and a slightly rearward passenger space. By the way, it is quite roomy, if you take into account the compact dimensions. We won’t talk about the two lucky ones sitting in front here, because there are plenty of places in all directions. Regarding the possibilities to expand in the back, it can be mentioned separately that getting in through the wide-opening doors is comfortable and the seat has a good backrest angle. There is also plenty of legroom so that no one (unless they are a basketball player who can reach the hoop without jumping) will feel cramped. And finally, the luggage compartment – since the car has simple, straight shapes and not a part of the trunk cut off in the X6 style, you can put a lot in the trunk itself, as well as on its cover.
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Generous equipment at an affordable price
Speaking about Duster and Dacia in general, it must be said that the appeal lies in simplicity, and simplicity in turn means very democratic numbers on the price sheet. For example, the basic Duster is already available for 15,990 euros, and for this money you get a car with an unusually high ground clearance (210 mm) and large approach and departure angles, which make it much easier to go to the best mushroom spots in the thick of the forest. In order to get out of the forest, four-wheel drive can be useful, but it is only available in combination with the most powerful gasoline engine and diesel engine in the Duster engine range.
For a small digression – yes, Dacia is one of the few passenger car manufacturers that has kept a diesel engine in its offer, while the industry as a whole has been showing a tendency to switch to small-volume gasoline turbo engines and electrify in various ways.
It is clear that the all-wheel drive car is more expensive, but the Duster 4WD is still the most democratic offer on the market. If you look around, the only car that can compete with the Duster in terms of price is the Niva, but if you have to choose between the two cars, there is no doubt in which direction the scales will tip. In addition, it is not so easy to get Niva in civilized Europe – if AvtoVAZ is to be believed, the only Lada representative office in the European Union is located in Prague, and it itself operates in very uncertain conditions, because the company’s website basically does not have any useful information. But what is there to talk about, whose time has long passed. It is necessary to look in the direction of Western and Western mobility, and, for example, Duster.
Photo: Ingars Tenis
One may wonder what the buyer gets if he has decided to buy a new car with indications encoded in the external shape about the ability to drive not only on a smooth highway, but also to push light off-road. The answer is quite a lot. It cannot be denied that Duster, including the tested Duster Extreme, has a series of obvious compromises. It won’t suit people who need soft dash pads, adjustable ambient lighting and Bang & Olufsen, and the seat could have been a tad more comfortable, but the car is still generously equipped from the factory.
Duster Extreme The package includes the most important driving and safety support systems, LED daytime running lights, dipped and rear lights, a MultiView camera system with four cameras in front, back and sides, climate control, a multimedia system with a bright touch screen and, which is not unimportant these days, the ability to use Apple CarPlay and Android Auto wirelessly. The tried-and-tested Duster trim, on the other hand, uses fabric, the properties of which perfectly correlate with the additional name of the model, Extreme. In other words, if you ever happen to accidentally get into the car with muddy pants, it’s not a big deal, because this type of stain and even chocolate stains can be quickly wiped off with wet wipes or simply a wet cloth.
Photo: Ingars Tenis
With one filling up to Western Europe
When driving a Dacia Duster Extreme, which is equipped with a 1-liter dual-fuel (gasoline and LPG) 100-horsepower ECO-G turbo engine, you can expect that both tanks will need to be filled only after about 1000 kilometers or even more, because depending on the driving style, Duster with gasoline you can drive around 700-800 km, but with liquefied petroleum gas another 300. In principle, an economically minded person can get by just fine with LPG resources and only keep the amount of gasoline in the second tank that is necessary to warm up the engine in the first kilometers of each trip and to get to the next LPG station.
In other words, when the engine has reached a certain temperature, the motorist can turn off the gasoline and connect the gas supply with a button on the left side of the steering column. No additional steps are required and there are no noticeable changes in the car’s behavior – apart from small changes in the numbers on paper, it is just as dynamic and just as fast, just uses cheaper fuel and drives with lower CO2 emissions. Basically, the only side of the ECO-G engine can be found under the trunk floor, and it is the LPG tank, which basically eliminates the possibility of carrying a spare wheel. In principle, you can already drive, only then there will be less usable space in the trunk. By the way, the trunk of the ECO-G model has as much as Duster with a classic gasoline engine – at least 445 liters.
Photo: Ingars Tenis
The most important data
Engine: 1.0 ECO-G 100 hp
Maximum power: 100 hp
Torque: 160 Nm
0-100 km/h (LPG/petrol): 13.8/15.1 s
Vmax (LPG/petrol): 166/168 km/h
WLTP combined consumption (LPG/petrol): 7.8/6.4 l/100 km
CO2 (LPG/petrol): 127/145 g/km
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
Photo: Ingars Tenis
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2023-10-17 04:00:01
#impressions #Dacia #Duster #Extreme
