New Dacia Duster goes on sale from under £19,000
Our Small SUV of the Year is available with four-wheel drive and hybrid power, and the first examples will arrive in November
Order books are open for the new Mk3 Dacia Duster, with prices for our Small SUV of the Year starting from £18,745 – only slightly more than the outgoing model, and still significantly undercuts rivals in the hugely popular segment.
Buyers have a choice of four trim levels: Essential, Expression, Journey and Extreme. The most basic models are equipped with analogue dials with a 3.5-inch TFT display, plus air conditioning, a height and reach-adjustable steering wheel and manually-adjustable door mirrors. Instead of a touchscreen, there’s a smartphone holder on the dashboard.
A lot of safety features are standard fit though, including cruise control with a speed limiter, traffic-sign recognition, rear parking sensors, driver attention warning, lane-keeping assist, advanced emergency braking and E-Call, plus others.
Upgrading to Expression trim costs from £21,245 and adds a more powerful engine (more below), plus a 10.1-inch central screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a seven-inch digital driver’s display. There’s automatic wipers, a central armrest with console storage, and 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, too. Cars in this spec with four-wheel drive also get adaptive hill-descent control.
Journey (from £22,945) builds on that kit list with larger 18-inch rims, keyless entry, a rear-view camera, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot warning, an upgraded six-speaker sound system, wireless smartphone charger, and heated and electrically-adjustable door mirrors.
Finally, range-topping Extreme models (from £23,745) feature modular roof bars, synthetic leather upholstery, heated seats and a driver’s seat lumbar support, plus brown copper door mirrors and air-vent inserts.
The entry-level Essential model is available exclusively with a TCe 100 Bi-Fuel engine and a six-speed manual gearbox. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder motor can run on petrol or LPG, but because it only produces 99bhp; 0-62mph takes 14.1 seconds.
The rest of the range come as standard with a more potent TCe 130 mild-hybrid petrol engine. This 1.2-litre three-cylinder delivers 128bhp, which cuts down the 0-62mph time to 9.9 seconds. It’s capable of returning 51.4mpg, according to Dacia. Adding four-wheel drive to this engine costs an extra £2,200.
The new Duster is also available with a full-hybrid powertrain. The Hybrid 140 setup uses a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine and one electric motor driving the front wheels. It offers combined power output of 138bhp, and allegedly allows the Duster to spend up 80 per cent of time driving around town on pure-electric power. Thanks to this, Dacia says the first-ever Duster Hybrid can return up to 55.4mpg.
Orders for the new Dacia Duster are open now, and the first cars are expected to arrive at dealers in November.
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