• Generous amount of passenger space
• More boot space than a Mk2 Qashqai
• Disappointing Euro NCAP score

How much space is there?

For families, the Duster offers practicality at the bargain basement end of the market. There’s a generous amount of interior space in the car’s cabin – enough, in fact to carry five passengers. The middle seat on the rear bench is actually well sized and could accommodate an adult of average size and build. Head- and leg-room is plentiful, too.

Boot space and storage

With the seats in place, the Dacia Duster has 475 litres of luggage space, although this fall to 408 litres in on 4x4 models with spare wheels. Fold the rear seats flat and that figure expands to 1,636 litres. That means the front-wheel drive Duster has the Mk2 Nissan Qashqai well and truly top-trumped in the practicality stakes. It only has a 430 litre boot.

If you compare the Dacia to the Hyundai ix35, the Duster comes out on top when the seats are folded flat. The ix35 has 591 litres with the seats in place while it has 1,436 when flat. The Mk1 MINI Countryman is another rival that trails in the space race when compared against the Duster. The Countryman has a load space of 350 litres and 1,170 litres.

Safety

Euro NCAP last tested the Mk1 Duster in 2011. The car only scored three stars due to its lack of driver assistance technology. However, it’s worth noting the car performed reasonably well in its impact tests considering its price. The child dummies were reasonably well protected in their front and side impact tests.

Still, considering Dacia is owned by Renault (who is renowned for making safe cars), it was a disappointing result.

Watch the Dacia Duster Euro NCAP crash test