Test-Driving The 2025 Dacia Duster Hybrid

Forbes

31-03-2025

2025 Dacia Duster tackling rough terrain
Dacia sold more than 100,000 first and second-generation Dusters in Britain, but the latest third-generation car is even more of a hit. It looks good, has a hybrid powertrain and is affordable, but what's the Dacia Duster like to live with? I spend a week with it to find out.
Almost everything. The new Duster sports chunkier off-road-like bodywork with its plastic trim (made from 20 percent recycled material) and boxy nose.
Like older Dusters, the new car, alongside the Dacia Jogger and Sandero, sits on a Renault-Nissan platform known as the CMF-B LS. Put simply, this means more space, better noise insulation and crash protection.
Dusters of old had spartan interiors, but these were affordable cars after all. This carries across to the new entry-level Duster; it's basic but usable. Mod cons are added from the 'Expression' trim onwards and buyers get 17-inch alloy wheels, a reverse camera, a 7-inch instrument cluster and an infotainment touchscreen.
Similarly, two or four-wheel drive becomes available and buyers can choose from a 130 bhp petrol or a 140 bhp hybrid, the latter is only available with two-wheel drive.
I spent a week with the old TCe 90 car, and while I wanted to enjoy it I just couldn't. It was glacial. The gearbox felt cumbrous and at the end of a trip, the economy meter would show three stars out of three for driving efficiency. A maddening thing, as planting the throttle was the only way it moved.
Luckily, this isn't the case with the latest car. The hybrid, paired to the four-speed automatic gearbox, is a delight. The electric motor provides enough shove at low revs for town driving although this depletes whenever the battery is low.
2025 Dacia Duster over rough terrain
0-to-62mph arrives in a smidge under 10 seconds and although the Duster hybrid doesn't feel particularly quick in gear, there's enough oomph to overtake slower traffic. Likewise, the gearbox swaps cogs smoothly and there's a neat brake regen function which can be enabled or disabled via the gear selector.
The Duster has an SUV-like seating position with plenty of driver seat and steering wheel adjustments. There's also a built-in distance meter, which measures the gap in seconds between you and the car ahead, and information is displayed on the instrument cluster. It comes with heaps of safety tech such as lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition and speed limit alert. The lane-keep assist and speed warning can be annoying, but this is easily turned off via a button.
At a steady 60mph cruise, the Duster hybrid showed a relatively hush 67db on my sound meter, but wind noise is apparent above 60mph.
Throughout the week, the Duster hybrid returned a 45mpg average through towns, on motorways and backroads with single trip data occasionally showing 54mpg. Dacia claims an official 55.3mpg figure and I believe that's more than achievable.
The shapes used throughout the cabin solidify the Duster's rugged character, but a quick knuckle tap on the various plastics quickly reminds you of its affordability factor. Quality isn't its strong suit and most of its rivals like the Renault Captur and Skoda Kamiq have plusher interiors.
The infotainment screen is easy to use and contains Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but it can be slow at times.
2025 Dacia Duster interior
Dacia has given the Duster lots of cubby storage: the front and rear door bins are large, and lifting the armrest reveals a deep area ideal for storing a flask. Passengers have generous room too. I'm just under 6ft, and a similarly tall passenger could sit comfortably behind me without any seat adjustment.
Pop the boot, and you'll find a large 430-litre area, complete with a false floor.
Opt for the two-wheel drive non-hybrid car and this increases to 517 litres. Fold the 60/40 seats flat and this rises to a mighty 1,696 litres.
It's good. Really good, and if you're not fussed about mod cons or hybrid tech, one can be sat on your driveway for just £18,850 ($24,388). There are four trims: Essential, Expression, Journey and Extreme. My Journey press car had everything I needed and more while tipping the scales at just £26,700.
Would I buy one? Yes, I would. It's a dog mobile, a people mover and an economy wagon rolled into one. It's the best Duster to date, and you can't get much for £18,850 nowadays, so what's not to love?
Although not direct Dacia Duster competitors, the Nissan Qashqai and Mazda CX-80 PHEV are great family alternatives.