• All-new dashboard looks much better
• Built to a cost, but not overly obvious
• Clever YouClip system for accessories

How’s the quality and the layout?

This point is one of the Duster’s biggest areas of improvement. While the old version felt useful and neatly laid out, it also felt very cheap inside despite regular improvements to the infotainment and technology offered. This time, the Duster’s interior still feels built down to a price, but it doesn’t look or feel as obvious. The layout is also much more contemporary, with plenty of neat design features that have carried across from the car’s exterior. Visibility out of the windscreen feels restricted – mainly due to the car’s design – with a very shallow view out in front of you.

Crucially, the new Duster still has a welcome number of physical buttons for details like the car’s climate control and safety systems. And that’s despite the increasing amount of digital details, including digital instruments in Expression trim and above and a large central touchscreen.

The interior layout itself is also filled with cubbies and places to store things, including a double-deck storage area in the lower part of the dashboard, two good-sized cupholders and even a pen holder.

The new Duster also benefits from the brand’s new YouClip system that allows you to purchase handy accessories anchored onto a universal clip point. There are a couple dotted around the interior, and options include additional cupholders and phone holders. Elsewhere, the Dacia brand’s range of InNature add-ons includes things like a properly tough-looking roof rack and a specific version of the brand’s Sleep Pack that fits inside the Duster’s boot.

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Infotainment and tech

If you choose the basic Essential trim, the dashboard features a holder for your smartphone rather than a central touchscreen. Go for Expression and above and you benefit from a large 10.1-inch display running Dacia’s own infotainment system.

Instead of using Renault’s Google-based OpenR system, the technology is all its own with very clear and simple graphics, reasonably quick responses and easy-to-read mapping from HERE. Like other cars from both Renault and Nissan, the Duster also has a one-button-press ‘Perso’ mode for tweaking the safety aids (including a deeply irritating speed warning system) on or off in an instant.

Comfort

Another area of improvement for this generation of Duster, as well as Dacias as a whole, is the increased comfort and level of adjustment for those inside. Previous Dacias have either lacked thigh support or good back support in the seats, or sub-optimal places to put your feet, but not here. There’s good adjustment in the driver’s seat to be found, and the seats can be upholstered in some soft yet hard-wearing materials.

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