FIRST DRIVE: New Dacia Duster: Still The Ultimate Budget Hero?

The Dacia Duster is a car we love, because it’s designed for real life and honest about where the money has been saved to get the price down.

But there’s now a new, third-generation Duster – and might it have ideas above its station? It’s been styled, for a start, can be had with a hybrid powertrain, and comes with a bunch of electronic safety kit the brand previously eschewed.

To put it to the test, we took one to Morocco. In part because Dacia has a healthy share of Moroccan new-car sales, due to its French ownership and the country’s former colonial status. But also in part because, just as the new Duster is a somewhat different from what went before, so is the Dacia brand. It’s even getting into motorsport, the Dakar Rally no less, and with amazing coincidence, testing in the Moroccan desert during our visit was Dacia’s new Sandrider racer.

Over to Top Gear Magazine’s Associate Editor, Jason Barlow, for a road trip to the middle of nowhere…

WATCH MORE TOP GEAR:

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:38 Walkaround
02:54 Interior
06:13 Driving
09:54 Dacia Sandrider
12:54 Conclusion

MORE ABOUT TOP GEAR:

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[TopGear]

Still the ultimate budget hero, or has the new Duster got ideas above its station?

[sayyedameerarkhisro]

The fact that it looks better than a BMW XM and at the same time more practical plus way more affordable.

[robhaddock]

The design team knocked it out the park.

[stephsoltesz]

Such a Terrible shame it will never be seen in North America, we NEED these here and many would love to have one !

[farmoboy]

dacia is the way fiat should have kept. Small affordable reliable simple cars for the average joe

[stevodfn]

Good to see Jason back, I remember him from the Top Gear reboot from the early 2000s

[moogle]

This was the best video I've seen from Top Gear in a long while. Awesome cinematography from start to finish, informative review of an appealing/affordable vehicle, all topped off with awesome bonus footage of the company's race car doing race car type things in a gorgeous setting.

My only complaint is with something that is not Top Gear's fault at all, and it is that this vehicle and the brand itself are completely unavailable in the US, because we desperately need a _good_ affordable new vehicle like this Stateside, ASAP.

[MyDan]

That Dakar Dacia is some cyberpunk type sh.t...

[lucascooley]

That slomo dust swirl at 12:29 is such a great capture! Would make a neat poster. Nice job, camera guys!

[vishnoyv]

Such a great value, wish we got these in the States!

[TheRealSimeon]

Some of the shots in this video are just incredible! I'd love to take photo's that look like that!

[oskar]

Definitely wish we had some companies with that approach in the U.S. I'm not that old, but I can't stand modern cars - despite having the budget to buy almost anything, I am still driving an older manual car with 200K on it, because I have less-than-zero interest in modern tech/screens/automatic systems, etc.

Hope that a counter-culture appears in the future where companies start making cars that just...do car stuff, again.

As a car guy it's so weird to live in a timeframe where I don't 'want' cars anymore.

[devindersingh]

Proud owner here, been driving one since 2015. Waiting eagerly for launch of the 7-seater Bigster

[emo]

James: "Sad news! The Dacia Sandero. It's delayed."
Clarkson: "Oh no! Anyway."

Me anytime Dacia is heard/read.

[georgemiu]

30 years ago, Dacia cars were terrible. Now, they're sold in dozens of countries, they're selling a lot of cars, they look good and they're really reliable. Well done Renault and Dacia!

[PRIdark]

In Romania there is so much hate to this car for no reason just for people to buy third+ hand audi or bmw. Nice to see a clear view on this car by such great channel.

[Murphy]

Refreshing from Dacia and great to have this presenter back, props from county Derry mucker

[danielclark]

I got a Dacia extreme, absolutely brilliant car. Its not luxurious but it looks good, comfortable, drives well, never had any issues with it from new, now 2 years old with 24k miles. I get servicing included for an extra £10 a month which is a no brainer for me. I literally can't complain, it undercuts competition while beating it. It might have a cheaper looking interior but that's about it really. The new one seems to have improved on all the little things that would have made it pretty perfect too. It's dependable, it's a great worker. I had a 2018 fiesta st before that and it went wrong on average once a month, I loved it even with all the issues. But I had over 30 warranty fixes in the few years I had it and that's not only ridiculous but pretty unheard of. Not all are like that, I was very unlucky in terms of it's reliability

[izhkwwi]

Dacia Sandero was Europe's best selling model in July 24 with 22 398 units sold. Dacia Duster was Europe 4th best selling model with 15 884 models sold in July 24. They are clearly doing something right.

[stevencampbell]

Have to admit the mention of the old Viva was hilarious!