New Dacia Duster gains hybrid, starts at £18,745

The caller Dacia Duster volition get successful November from £18,745, meaning it keeps its presumption arsenic 1 of the UK’s cheapest SUVs and “best bargain connected the market”.

That terms secures the 99bhp four-cylinder Bi-Fuel (petrol/LPG) motor – its lone non-electrified powertrain – successful basal level Expression trim. With some brimmed, the Duster tin bash astir 800 miles without stopping for fuel, according to authoritative tests.

The outgoing car’s entry-level 88bhp three-cylinder turbo petrol, which started from £17,970, has been dropped, on with diesel offerings. “It’s dying successful Europe; clients don’t privation this immoderate more,” said engineering enforcement Julien Ferry.

In its place, the Duster offers for the archetypal clip hybrid powertrains which it’s capable to accommodate acknowledgment to its determination onto the CMF-B level (as utilized by the Nissan Juke).  Gone is the B0 level that has underpinned each Duster since the 2009 original.

The determination is said to importantly payment practicality, refinement and dynamics without compromising the Duster’s compact size. 

Two electrified powertrains are offered: the mild-hybrid set-up, priced from £21,245, comprises a 1.2-litre turbo petrol triple, a 48V electrical centrifugal and a 0.9kWh battery. This is the lone 1 disposable with a four-wheel thrust strategy (from £23,445), which functions likewise to the aged Duster’s.

In Auto mode, selected utilizing a elemental rotary dial, it is front-wheel thrust astir of the clip but diverts powerfulness to the rear axle erstwhile the beforehand loses traction. The 4x4 Lock mode, meanwhile, has been replaced with an Off-Road mounting that actively distributes the torque betwixt the beforehand and rear axles.

The Duster besides gains elevation descent control, which tin beryllium activated successful each gears and limits velocity to a maximum of 18mph.

The 4x4 has 8mm much crushed clearance (217mm successful total) than front-wheel-drive models, portion Dacia claims attack and departure angles of 31deg and 36deg.

Headlining the caller third-generation Duster scope is the Hybrid 140, priced from £24,245. It pairs a people aspirated 1.6-litre petrol motor with 2 electrical motors – arsenic besides disposable successful the Dacia Jogger – for a combined output of 138bhp. Its 1.2kWh artillery is topped up by regenerative braking and is said to let 80% of metropolis driving to beryllium completed connected energy alone.

As good arsenic a technological overhaul, the caller Duster brings the astir important styling alteration since the Mk1 was introduced. It’s fundamentally a smaller mentation of the 2021 Bigster concept, transposing the SUV’s wide haunches and Y-shaped lighting signatures onto a overmuch smaller silhouette.

These cues volition beryllium shared with the accumulation mentation of the Bigster, owed successful 2025.

The Duster’s underbody, wheel-arch and bumper claddings are made from a worldly called Starkle, a hardwearing integrative composed of up to 20% recycled material. It’s unpainted, revealing its achromatic and achromatic finish. 

Dacia claims that astir 20% of the plastics successful the caller Duster are recycled – an 8% betterment connected the aged one.

The caller Duster is 4.34m long, precisely the aforesaid arsenic before, but sits marginally lower, astatine 1.66m tall, and somewhat wider, astatine 1.81m.

The hard-edged plan connection continues into the Duster’s durability-focused interior, with a colour-contrasting dashboard sheet and a chunky steering instrumentality featuring carnal buttons.

The car’s bundle tin beryllium updated implicit the air, meaning it doesn’t person to beryllium taken to a trader to download bug fixes and caller functions.

Boot abstraction has accrued from 445 litres to 472 litres. That’s much than successful the rival Ford Puma (456 litres) and Skoda Kamiq (400 litres), though this is mostly down to the Duster’s accrued size, alternatively than instrumentality packaging.

With the Duster, Dacia is launching a caller accessory strategy called Youclip.

It comprises a bid of square-shaped mounts positioned passim the car that are each susceptible of withstanding astir 8kg of force.

Compatible accessories see a tablet stand, a cupholder, a container hook, an induction-charging telephone holder and a portable torch.

They volition beryllium sold initially done Dacia dealers, but the marque expects owners to rapidly statesman 3D-printing their ain kit.