What if I told you there was a car that would happily fit a family of four and all of its gear, could hold its own off-road, and looks as fresh as they come, all while costing less than $36,000 (when converted to USD and with every option)? Would you slap me in the face or burst into a big grin and shout: “Oh, a Dacia Duster!” I really hope it’s the latter. Because that’s what I’m telling you about.

Renault has owned the Romanian automaker Dacia since 1999. Its jam is, in marketing speak, ‘good value cars.’ To you and I, that means cheap. The good thing is, Dacia doesn’t shroud itself in fluffy marketing pretending its cars are hewn from a single piece of myrrh, or that owning one will make people want to drink your tears. Dacia knows its cars are keenly priced, sure, but it also knows they have to do everything its drivers need without needless trinkets.

If that all sounds a bit budget, that’s because it is. But there’s a difference between the sort of budget that makes peoples’ faces all contorted and the sort of budget that makes them rub their hands together. Dacia is the latter.

Now, the lineup isn’t a mash of similar cars doing similar things. There’s a small hatch, a wagon that carries lots of people, a tiny EV, and a small SUV. There’s a big SUV coming soon, too. It’ll be called the Bigster, which is an awesome name. But the standout of the Dacia lineup is its small SUV: The Duster.

Why? Because since forever the Duster has been an unpretentious box that gets you from A to B without fuss, faff, or worry. It’s high off the ground so you can put children in the back without bending over. Its trim isn’t made of materials mined from the foothills of Mount Olympus, so if someone runs a shopping cart into them at the store, you won’t have to pay the earth to replace them. You can have one with all-wheel drive, so it’ll get over mud, twigs, and those dastardly puddles on the way to school. It’s what a lot of people need from a car, and nothing more.

Photo by: Dacia

This year saw the launch of the third-generation Duster. It’s an important car for Dacia—over 2.2 million have been sold in Europe since 2010. Take a look around most towns and you’ll likely spot at least one Duster—if you find one in UN white with steel wheels, the more the better.

The new Duster comes with a mix of motors: A 1.0-liter bi-fuel, a 1.2-liter mild-hybrid, and even a 1.6-liter full hybrid. The first one isn’t a huge deal, but the other two will be where sales lie. You can spec front- or all-wheel drive, too, depending on your needs. The trunk, with all the seats folded down (and without a spare wheel), can fit up to 57.0 cubic feet of stuff in the front wheel drive car, you lose a bit if the rear wheels are driven.

Dacia’s kept the specs simple—there’s a basic Essential version that gets… a roof, and that’s pretty much it. Expression adds alloy wheels, a backup camera, a 10.1-inch infotainment screen, and more. Extreme gets the same as Expression as well as bigger wheels, Copper Brown details, and more things geared towards adventure. Journey is a parallel top spec, here geared towards comfort rather than fording rivers.

Photo by: Dacia

Pros: Cheap, Cheerful, Just Capable Enough

In order to keep the EU happy, cars need to come with active safety tech as standard. Dacia’s been a bit light on such things in the past—its customers didn’t want them, so why bother fitting them? A chunky touchscreen comes with web-linked navigation, satellite radio, screens to turn the various safety systems off, and compatibility with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can choose your own adventure.

The new car’s shape is pleasingly ‘concept-y,’ which means it’ll either age incredibly well a la BMW i8 or look like a Sci Fi version of ‘the future’ from a 1970s B-movie. Dacia’s keen to be as sustainable as possible; 20 percent of the plastic in the new Duster has been recycled, and even on some exterior trim.

Inside, you won’t find exotic materials or puffin hide, instead, there are nicely designed but hard plastics and comfy seats. Dacia’s customers don’t need puffin, nor do they need a throne that’ll massage their buttocks. They need something that children can kick, pointy things can grind against, and that won’t look like a bomb site after three days of moderate use.

Photo by: Dacia

Photo by: Dacia

Given it has some off-road cred, I was delighted to find out it isn’t all mouth and no trousers. It won’t best a Wrangler up a mountain, but you can take through deep puddles and up steepish slopes, letting its hill descent control guide you down the other side, Dacia’s fitted a number of switchable modes so you can let the car know what it’s going to face, too, which isn’t unusual for a car that looks a bit SUV-ish, but it’s still pretty cool to see it at this price point. If you’re up for adventure you can even spec a ‘sleep pack’ to turn the trunk and rear seats into a bed. There’s a suite of adventure—stuff you can pick up should the call of the wild take you.

On the road, I played in both the mild and full hybrids. The mild hybrid comes with 129 horsepower and a six-speed manual. No, it’s not the sort of power that’ll set your hair on fire. Hell, giving it the beans around some truly stunning country roads, the performance barely even gets an ember going. But it was sustainably quick—its stick shift is fun and easy to use, I could quickly flick it from ratio to ratio, getting a little tingle of joy each time. There’s no spine-compressing acceleration, and the numbers on its digital speedometer don’t go up very quickly at all. But it makes a parpy noise and makes you smile.

Despite sitting decently high off the ground, the Duster doesn’t wallow or roll too much. An Alpine A110 it is not, but it keeps occupants upright and happy on a cruise. If you decide to be a child and see how quickly you can go around corners, it’ll make lots of noise while going not very quickly. Thankfully, you don’t get the impression that it’ll fall over.

Photo by: Dacia

Cons: Oddly Noisy Hybrid, Not Quick At All

The full hybrid has a touch more power—139 horses—but there’s no manual there. Instead, you get a four-speed automatic and a read-out that shows you where power is going—to the battery, to the wheels, or anywhere else it fancies. The electric boost is welcome, and it glides neatly along until its ICE motor decides it wants to fire energy into the battery—here things get oddly noisy, and it can be a bit irksome. You can still cover all the ground you want in it without issue, though.

The new Duster has a tough job to do. Its predecessor did without many of the toys the new one comes with and is broadly adored by all who encounter it. Dacia’s goal of making cars that do what its customers need has been met here, and with a new look, some extra ability, and those extra tricks up its sleeve it’ll probably score huge points. Dacia UK says that 1,000 people have already ordered a new Duster without having even looked at a physical car.

Luckily, they’ll discover they’ve made a wise choice—the Duster is still excellent at what it does. Your SUV doesn’t need to be a rocket ship to be downright brilliant.

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