| Motors
– evidence of a lazy right hand drive
conversion, I feel.
On the road, the 109hp diesel engine pulls
decently, though you'll notice that gearing is
very short in first. This is to aid off-road work
and negates the need for an expensive low
ratio transfer box but it's unlikely that many
Dusters will see such work. Acceleration
becomes a breathless affair until you hit third
gear which picks up nicely. Unfortunately,
engine noise is intrusive at all speeds – more
sound deadening materials would help here
but would add to the weight of what is currently
quite a svelte vehicle.
The 6 speed manual is fine but you can also
opt for a dual-clutch unit if you prefer.
The 4x4 version provides three modes: front
drive, permanent four-wheel drive or ‘automatic’
that that switches between the two when
required. Though our Duster wasn't tested
properly off-road, the muddy tracks and fields
that we did venture into proved no problem.
58 | Farming Monthly | January 2018
Whilst not delivering the greatest efficiency
figures out there, they are still not bad with this
diesel engined variant delivering 60.1mpg with
123g/km CO2.
0-62 comes in 12.4 seconds – clearly this
isn't a rocket ship...but it's not supposed to be.
As far as road manners go, Duster has been
outfitted with a soft suspension set-up which
soaks up potholes and bumps in the road very
nicely. The drawback to this, however, is that it
does result in quite a bit of lean around corners
and some bumpy surfaces can upset the ride
quite a bit. Let's face it though, you're not going
to be ragging this 4x4 around at its limits and
driven sensibly, the Duster isn't offensive at all.
Seating position is high but a major issue for
me was the lack of any reach adjustment on the
steering wheel which can make attaining a
comfortable driving position difficult. A definite
black mark there Dacia.
Interior space is good, with decent amounts
of headroom. The boot is spacious without
being massive...until you drop the rear seats
when it becomes positively cavernous.
Whichever Duster model you might opt for,
there's no doubt that it offers an unparalleled
package in the marketplace. Of course, unless
you are exceptionally cash strapped, one of the
models higher up the range will offer the best
option in terms of equipment and comfort. And
being such a low price already, depreciation
should be very low.
At £18,395 OTR, the SE Summit doesn't
really have any rivals if you are prepared to live
with obvious cost saving measures and
understand the compromises that have been
made. With all the equipment on offer, it
provides a truly remarkable offer for the money.
Andrew Poulton, Editor
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk