Styling
The car that this new Duster supersedes was, in itself, a rather
handsome machine in its own right, but the latest third-gen variant takes the aesthetic appeal to a whole new level. It helps, of course, that our test version was not only in top-rung Journey specification (and thus sporting an attractive set of 18-inch 'Tagasan' diamond-cut alloy wheels, plus the longitudinal roof bars too), but had been painted in gorgeous Sandstone metallic, a £650 option and the solitary cost-extra factory upgrade applied to 'our' Duster.
Nevertheless, the basic, contoured shape of the Duster's body and its super-sleek light clusters with their distinctive 'Y' motifs fore and aft give it plenty of presence, as does that new grille arrangement with the Romanian firm's corporate logo sitting centrally within. To our eyes, it looks like the Duster is proudly advertising that it prefers stories about Batman and Superman to anything from that despised rival publishing firm Marvel, but ignoring its superheroic leanings the Duster's front-end design is sharp and easy on the eye.
Oh, and talking of people with special powers, the Duster isn't clad in plastic, but Tony Stark... [pause] ah, sorry, wait, we mean *checks notes*
Starkle. All right, this
is still plastic, at the end of the day, but it's made of 20 per cent recycled polypropylene, and its composition is such that it includes white particles. As part of Dacia's corporate desire to be more sustainable and easier on the planet - even the owner's handbook for the Duster is a slimline tome, with the full user manual only available through the online MyDacia app - then the company decided to not paint the Starkle and just present it 'as is'. This means a reduced carbon footprint was created while producing it. A similar thought process is cited as the reason for Dacia junking any leather upholstery or decorative chrome trim in its products going forward, while even the front and rear skidplates on the Duster are dyed-in-the-mass; this means the plastic used here is coloured before it is injected into the mould, so not only is this further reducing carbon output but it means that should an owner scratch or scuff the plates, these marks won't show up as a different colour and therefore will be harder to spot.
Anyway, what with all the eco-concerns, and the Y-emblems, and the off-roading conceits for a 4x2 front-driven crossover, and the more sophisticated body panels, the overall effect is that the Duster Mk3 looks really, really good on the outside. It has a great stance, loads of kerb/showroom appeal and it gives off the impression it is an expensive machine, rather than a simple series of metal pressings that have been enlivened with one or two 'upmarket' details in the hope of tricking you into thinking the car in question is premium. No, this Dacia actually looks it.
Interior
This gentrification of the Dacia Duster hasn't just taken place on the outside but has occurred in this model's cabin too, which looks lovely at first glance. Thankfully, that initial impression isn't spoiled with longer exposure to the crossover's interior, because there's lots to like here. The front seats are good and comfortable, and they're mounted at the right height that both makes them feel low relative to the car's body, yet also high enough above the road surface to merit choosing a mini-SUV in the first place. Material quality has also markedly improved, with some swish switchgear to play with, while every derivative bar the very base-spec Essential, the lowest of four trim grades, all come with a 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment screen and a seven-inch digital instrument cluster. In the footwells of this Journey variant are rubberised floor mats with a topographical relief map pattern on them, and even the air vents look grand, with more of that Y emblem to behold. So while - yes - there are some plastics which are hard and unyielding to the touch, betraying the fact the Duster is at the cheaper end of the market, in the main this is an excellent passenger compartment for design, haptics, ergonomics and the integration of its technology.
Practicality
Another strong suit for the third-gen Dacia Duster. Passenger space in the back of the car is plentiful, with both leg- and headroom in adequate supply. There's also an almost completely flat floor through the rear of the passenger compartment, which makes the idea of genuinely carrying five people onboard, even if only for shorter journeys, look feasible rather than a fallacy. The boot's a healthy size too, measuring 430 litres with all seats and the retractable luggage cover in use, but if you need more cargo capacity then other models of this Mk3 Duster have up to 517 litres on offer here, whereas the Hybrid is restricted in the cargo department as a result of its petrol-electric running gear. Another minor black against this specific version's practicality is that the 140 Hybrid can only tow half what the TCe 130 can lug, no matter if the latter vehicle is in two- or four-wheel-drive format (1,500kg), and it is even significantly less than the 100hp BiFuel's hauling capability of 1,200kg (all data for a braked trailer). But, broadly speaking, the Duster is more than practical enough by the standards of this class of car.
Performance
The drivetrain fitted to the Duster 140 Hybrid is a well-known one. It's the 1.6-litre nat-asp four-pot petrol engine mated to a 1.2kWh lithium-ion battery, powering a couple of electric motors - one's a high-voltage starter-generator, the other is a 49hp propulsion unit to back up the ICE portion of the Dacia's motive power. This petrol-electric system channels its grunt to the front wheels of the crossover-SUV alone through that weird 'dog 'box' set-up the Renault-Nissan Alliance loves so much. Once upon a time, this was called a six-speed transmission, as it had four gears for the engine and then two ratios controlling the e-motors, but in official documentation now Dacia refers to it as a 'four-speed automatic gearbox'.
This hybrid system has been equipped on vehicles including the
Renault Clio E-Tech and the first Dacia HEV, the
Jogger Hybrid too, and is therefore not one of the newer, more advanced systems from within Dacia's parent organisation. Such as the 1.2-litre-derived system seen in the
Renault Rafale. Or indeed, and perhaps more pertinently, the 1.8-litre 155hp powertrain that the Duster's own, newer big brother, the Bigster, deploys.
That said, it's still the most advanced drivetrain that's ever been fitted to a Duster, and it takes the old
Mk2 BiFuel's crown as the 'greenest' derivative in the range. Oddly enough, the BiFuel continues in the Mk3 line-up, as does a 48-volt mild-hybrid-enhanced derivative of a new 1.2-litre, three-cylinder turbo petrol in the 130 TCe, this being the only third-gen Duster than can be specified as a 4x4 if you want it.
Anyway, we like the way the Hybrid drives, with the caveat that we reckon this powertrain would be immeasurably improved if only Dacia (and, by extension, Renault and Nissan too) had the balls to drop the needlessly convoluted 'dog box from proceedings and simply replaced it with a conventional dual-clutch unit. Granted, the clutchless cog-swapper has been refined from its jerkiest applications (i.e., when we first experienced it a few years back), but it's still nowhere near as slick nor as swift to respond to throttle inputs as a well-polished automatic should be.
If you don't work it too hard, though, it doesn't so often show up its glaring weaknesses, and then the Duster 140 Hybrid is a pleasure to drive. Treated to a more sedate road pace, you don't hear the coarse thrashings of the 1.6-litre four-pot engine at higher revs and the Dacia manages to surf along on its meaty midrange torque in a perfectly acceptable fashion. It's also economical too, achieving a commendable 43.3mpg on a long 200-mile run down to Southampton to drive the
Omoda 9 SHS, about the only car in the world with a gearbox that's even more unnecessarily and stupidly complex than the one in the Duster 140 Hybrid. The Dacia then bettered that fuel consumption figure on the return journey home with a 46.9mpg readout, recording a very useful 51.3mpg overall from the remaining, slower-roads mileage during our 443-mile week with it on test.
Ride & Handling
The Duster sits on CMF-B, the platform which allows for its extensive hybridisation this time around. A thoroughly modern chassis, it should further result in the 140 Hybrid being more comfortable and quieter than its predecessors, while simultaneously enhancing the handling attributes of this crossover. Good news, then, as this switch of underpinnings has worked like a dream.
The old Mk1 Duster was OK at motorway speeds, for what it was and the cash you'd outlaid on it, but there were elevated levels of both tyre and wind noise, and more than merely a nagging doubt that Dacia had only afforded the most token nod towards fitting sound-deadening materials into its form. The Mk2 notably improved on this, but it was still not quite as elegant, dignified and refined at higher pace as many of its contemporary rivals were.
The Mk3, though, is as good as anything else in this class nowadays at a steady and prolonged 70mph cruise. Up and down the combined long-haul drudgery of the A46, M1, A43, A34 and M27, the Duster 140 Hybrid was plushly suspended, riding lumps and bumps with a grace not afforded to any other Dacia product we've tried before, while the suppression of all of wind, tyre, suspension and even engine noise was kept to a thoroughly acceptable minimum. You didn't get out of it at the end of 400 mainly motorway miles at its 'DC'-branded wheel and damn it with faint internal praise; y'know, idly musing 'well, that wasn't too uncomfortable and rowdy for something so cheap'. Instead, you just thought to yourself 'blimey, that was a
very comfortable and easy trip home, in something which felt massively refined at all times'.
Even the handling is decent. It's not game-changing, of course, but at less than 1.4 tonnes the Duster 140 Hybrid is fairly agile and capable in the corners, blessed as it is with body control that allows for a tolerable level of roll without getting all ragged during weight transfer. It also has loads of grip, no major traction issues and steering that's accurate and consistent, even if it's not very weighty nor informative. The brakes aren't half-bad either, so when you whip the Duster up on your favourite back roads, it puts on a surprisingly adept performance in the corners, without ever going down as a dynamic storm.
Value
The Duster is still true to Dacia's values, but it's not quite the conspicuous bargain that it once was. Only five years ago, we were driving a 130hp/240Nm Mk2 Duster TCe 130 in upper Comfort spec that was only £15,640 with options, and a fiver less than 15 grand without. Now, the
entire Duster range starts from more than £19,000 and a top-spec Journey with the most advanced Hybrid drivetrain like this - with metallic paint on top - comes in at £26,700. That's not exorbitant by the standards of the B-segment crossover landscape of today, but as it's £11,060 more than that Dacia we drove back in 2020, you're talking about a 71 per cent price increase in the elapsed period. We dunno, but that seems way ahead of what inflation and all the craziness that Covid wrought upon the world's economy, and so while the Duster is relatively inexpensive in 2025, it's not the sort of astonishing bargain that might have you starting a conversation with your mates down the pub about how phenomenally cheap your SUV is.
Despite this, and working as some form of mitigation for the 27-grand asking price as tested, the standard equipment list on the Duster 140 Hybrid Journey is extensive. Not only is there the heavily digitised interface in the cabin complete with its connected navigation, and those 18-inch rims on the outside as well, but the car is also fitted with keyless entry and go, climate control, a six-speaker Arkamys 3D sound system, wireless smartphone charging, front and rear parking sensors with multiview cameras, cruise control, and a robust array of advanced driver assist safety systems, among more.
Verdict
There's no doubt the Mk3 Dacia Duster has improved significantly from its predecessors, and there's also no doubt that - despite this considerable upswing in its all-round talents - it still has a few niggles. Such as the fact it is no longer a clear-cut, super-bargain any longer. Or the continued use of that flawed 'dog box in this particular hybrid drivetrain, which leads to a couple of refinement issues that slightly mar the 140 Hybrid's otherwise-poised kinematic showing. But with its smart exterior styling, enticing and bounteously equipped passenger compartment, and the likeable way (in the main) the Dacia drives, this petrol-electric Duster is a seriously talented contender in a very congested and competitive area of the automotive market. In fact, it's easily the best and nicest Dacia we've driven to date.
