Dacia Duster Access 1.6 4x2 5dr Car Review - November 2012

Under the bonnet, the Duster comes with a 1.6-litre Renault-derived petrol engine. Developing 103bhp and 109lb-ft of torque, you really have to work the engine hard to get any sort of performance out of it. Despite this, 62mph arrives in a respectable 11.5 seconds and the Duster will keep on accelerating up to 104mph.

Don't expect any excitement behind the wheel -- the Duster is no driver's car. The steering feels vague and lifeless and if you try to corner with any panache or verve all you'll get in return is understeer and body roll. However, the ride quality is surprisingly good for this type of car.

Because the engine needs to be worked hard, it can get noisy at motorway speeds, and there is a significant amount of road and wind noise at higher speeds too.

Call us crazy, but we think that the Duster is quite a good-looking car. Granted, it's no Ferrari 458, but it has a rugged, chunky charm about it and is certainly better-looking than, say, a Nissan Juke.

As you'd expect from a car this cheap, the Duster is basic. Really basic. You get central locking, electric front windows and power steering as standard... and that's about it. You don't get a stereo, air-conditioning is not available even as an option, and the only colour you can spec the car in is white.

You get an awful lot of practicality for your money in the Duster. There is plenty of space in the cabin for four six-footers and the boot is a good size at 475-litres with the rear seats up and 1636-litres with the rear seats folded down.

Driver, passenger and side airbags are all fitted as standard and although the Duster has not been subjected to the Euro NCAP crash tests, we expect it to do fairly well.

As Dacia is a new brand, we can't comment on reliability. On the plus side, it all feels well screwed together, it has a proven engine and, because of the lack of standard kit, there is very little to actually go wrong. On the downside, Dacia's owners, Renault, do not have the best track record when it comes to reliability. All Dusters get a 3 year/60,000 mile warranty as standard.

At just £8,995, you get an awful lot for your money with the Dacia Duster Access 1.6 4x2; however, you do have to sacrifice a lot of the creature comforts of modern motoring in order to take advantage of the low price.

It's too early to comment on depreciation, but because the Duster is so cheap in the first place, it's unlikely to be too much of a concern.

This Duster isn't the most economical model in the range, returning a combined 39.8mpg and emitting 165g/km of CO2 (VED band G); however, to get into one of the more efficient diesels, you'll need to fork out another £2,500.