New Dacia Duster

[Bailes1992]

The green laning looks great there with the open spaces. With the manual trans you could probably try going up in tire diameter and gain 1/2" of GC and get some slight better tires for off roading without sacrificing much. Back when I did some trail exploring with small tires and low GC, I just ran on the edges of the trails because I didn't care about the paint at all, and the mirrors folded back if I brushed a tree...

Gearing wise, the 4WD Dusters have a very very low 1st gear. 2nd gear is your 1st and what you use to pull away the majority of the time. Actual 1st is just used for pulling off on steep inclines, off-roading, moving about at slow speeds etc. There would be no issues with the gearing if you did want to fit bigger tyres.

However, the tyre almost touches the internal arch at full lock as standard. The car has 215/60 R17's as standard. I'll be replacing them before winter and will probably fit 235/55 R17 Michelin Latitudes. So I'll be a little wider, but no bigger. The rolling radius of both sizes is almost identical.

I plan to daily drive the car until it turns 5 and then I think I'll keep it for off roading, camping, rubbish tip runs etc. So there's plenty of time to try a bigger tyre, especially after I've found a lift kit!

 

[Jetronic]

The fine for parking in a disabled bay is a few hundred euro's....

 

[Bailes1992]

The fine for parking in a disabled bay is a few hundred euro's....

Nice of you to assume we didn’t have a blue badge!

 

[IndyIan]

Gearing wise, the 4WD Dusters have a very very low 1st gear. 2nd gear is your 1st and what you use to pull away the majority of the time. Actual 1st is just used for pulling off on steep inclines, off-roading, moving about at slow speeds etc. There would be no issues with the gearing if you did want to fit bigger tyres.

However, the tyre almost touches the internal arch at full lock as standard. The car has 215/60 R17's as standard. I'll be replacing them before winter and will probably fit 235/55 R17 Michelin Latitudes. So I'll be a little wider, but no bigger. The rolling radius of both sizes is almost identical.

I plan to daily drive the car until it turns 5 and then I think I'll keep it for off roading, camping, rubbish tip runs etc. So there's plenty of time to try a bigger tyre, especially after I've found a lift kit!

Sounds like a great vehicle, I wish we could get something like that here. My wife likes the Outback and she hasn't got it stuck yet, but its big and she's put lots of branch marks down it, also a manual with a crawler gear would be great

 

[Jetronic]

Nice of you to assume we didn’t have a blue badge!

I was hoping you didn't need it!

 

[Bailes1992]

I was hoping you didn't need it!

Not for my Wife and I but a close friend who came with us.

 

[Bailes1992]

Managed to have a morning green-laning down in Devon last Friday. Nothing too strenuous but fun none the less!

Two short videos on the links below, both just a few seconds each showing the sort of things we were driving through.
MVI_3191.MP4

There's a point in the next video around 3 seconds in when I'm up on 3 wheels but you can't see it because of the bush!
MVI_3192.MP4

Green laning understandably left a lot of fine scratches from front to back. All which will polish out! I was expecting some damage, but other than the fine scratching, there's nothing. I can't feel any of these with my nails and they all disappear when the car is wet, so a good polish and they should all be gone.

Annoyingly, on my way back I stopped at a services and despite everything I put the car through that day, someone parked up next to me and slammed their door into the side of my car.

If you look at the reflection of the white line on the rear door, about half way along you can see a vertical line around 2" long caused by the door hitting my car. I'm claiming on the insurance of the guy who did it to get it fixed. My Wife thinks I'm insane and should just leave it be.

 

[svtrit]

If you don’t make the claim, the person who did it will continue their carelessness. I agree with you.

 

[Bailes1992]

I'd done some damage to my front tyres during green laning. Also, my rear tyres were on about 2.5mm so I decided I should just replace all four.

Following on from THIS thread. I now have some Toyo Open Country AT3's in standard size fitted yesterday. Little bit louder, a slight hum above 60mph. There's also a lot more feel through the steering, I'm assuming the side walls are a lot stiffer. Haven't driven it hard enough to make any comments on handling, and doubt I will. But drove 86 miles to work this morning on wet motorways and the car was perfectly happy and stable.

Also, the side that was damaged in my last post has also been repaired. The bodyshop did a fantastic job and I'm super happy with it.

 

[Bailes1992]

Another 5k on the clock and the Duster continues to be a very frugal and reliable little workhorse. Although a two issues have cropped up. The drivers seat has a bit of a rock to it all of a sudden, seems to be a common issue which requires a new drivers seat and my blower fan has also started clicking. Both issues should be rectified by the dealer under warranty, need to get it booked in!

Just had two weeks off work so done some green laning with the kids while they're on their summer holiday which is always a fantastic experience. There's things you'd never find until you get off the tarmac roads and the Duster always surprises people when they see how well it gets about!

I did try to have a look at the clicking blower motor myself as it can be accessed from under the scuttle panel, but there's a plastic grill stopping you getting to it. Pulling the blower motor seems to require removal of the steering column. But while I was under the scuttle panel I did do a deep clean as I was surprised how much mud had built up in there!

I had a bit of a fight getting the wipers off, requiring the use of my seldom used but always handy wiper puller! So I made sure to add some Lanoguaurd grease to the spindles on reassembly.

 

[Bailes1992]

The car was getting very close to the 40k mark yesterday, and knowing I have a 1000miles+ week ahead of me, I decided to get the oil change done last night.

Usual diesel blackness when the oil was dropped...

Goldplug looks to be doing something! Was surprised to see a very thin layer of ferrous sludge on the magnet. I was expecting it to be totally clean. Made me very happy about my purchase!

All cleaned. I thought at first that varnish had built up on the plug which I thought was odd but realised the glue applied around the magnet seems to have tarnished. Is this normal?

Wangled out the old oil filter from this horrendous location! Why would you put a oil filter directly above the anti-roll bar? Arghhh.

Went with a Bosch P7088 again. They always look the best when removed and often the cheapest filter to purchase.

Bit of a fraken-brew gone in this time. I had 2 litres of Fuchs Titan GT1 Flex 3 5w40 left, and had this Castrol Edge 5w30 LL on the shelf. So 4 litres of the Castrol and 2 litres of the Fuchs went in!

Officially have no engine oil at all. Need to think about stocking back up!

And the engine bay given it's usual scrub!

Another 500miles put on the car this morning. Usual 65mpg cruising at 70mph and arrived after 7 hours in total comfort!

 

[Bailes1992]

It's been a busy few months since the last OCI. 6,084miles since the last OCI and the car has been to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Huddersfield, London, Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea and I'm sure there's more cities I've missed.

I keep thinking about chopping it in and getting something a bit faster, a bit more refined, a bit more German etc. But, it's totally paid off and continues to be a reliable, comfortable and frugal mode of transport. My Son (who's currently 6) keeps going on about having it as his first car and I'm not sure he would forgive me for selling it.

The car is absolutely filthy inside and out. I don't think it's had a clean since the beginning of August. Life has just been way too busy. It really needs a deep thorough clean inside, outside and underneath.

Anyway, oil dropped as usual...

Goldplug had it's usual thin layer of ferrousy sludge on it.

Cleaned the plug and replaced the washer. The Renault washers have a rubber seal in them and I'm not convinced the old one had a lot of life left in it.

I was ordering some replacement hub nuts for the rear and while I was at it I ordered a genuine filter. I must admit the Purflux 'zig-zag' pleats makes the filter quite bouncy and much easier to install. The vertical pleats you get with other brands are far stiffer and make installation of the filter much harder as you have to put a lot more upward force on it while trying to thread it on. I think from now on I'll be using genuine oil filters.

I'd run out of oil and fancied trying something else for a change. But every time I look elsewhere I'm drawn back to Fuchs Titan GT1 Flex 3 5w40. It carries loads of approvals including VW 511 and costs £30 for 5 litres. Nothing else comes close in that price bracket.

Since it's been 12 months since I changed it out last, it was time to change the cabin filter. This time, no mold!

This time I thought I'd go for my tried and tested Mann Ferocious Plus.

Need to give the car some love before the year is out. So my to-do list before New Year looks something like this...

1. Thorough detail inside, exterior and underside.
2. Treat/Top Up 'high impact' underside areas with Lanogaurd.
3. Strip front brakes, inspect, clean, grease & paint callipers.
4. Strip rear brakes, inspect, clean, grease & paint drums.
5. Brake fluid change.

 

[Brons2]

Fuchs has some real nice specs there.

 

[Bailes1992]

Fuchs has some real nice specs there.

It's why I keep going back to it. I'd love to swap to M1 0w40 ESP X4 but it's over double the cost of the Fuchs for similar approvals.

 

[FCD]

After getting shot of my '21 Vauxhall Insignia because it was so problematic, it was time to shop for a new car.

I've always had a soft spot for Dacia. I like their simple no-nonsense approach to life. My Wife is on her 3rd one, and although she did have a bad one (which Renault gave us a full refund for without any arguments) the other two have been absolutely perfect.

I decided I wanted a Duster with 4WD. I don't see the point in compromising on fuel economy and handling to then only have FWD. If you've got the extra ground clearance, you might as well be able to use it.

I made a few phone calls... and a few more... then phoned Renault UK... then made a few more phone calls. After phoning what felt like every single dealer in the UK, it rapidly became apparent that there wasn't any 4WD models in the country. A factory order was an estimated 6-9 months, 6-9 months I just didn't have. What made the entire situation even more annoying was numerous brand new 4WD Dusters being advertised online as "Brand New - In Stock", but when you made the phone call they would tell you that's their 'offer price' only and the advert was for factory order only.

Just by sheer luck I had one more look on Autotrader and found one more advert for a cancelled order. I made phone call and very quickly worked out by the accents that it was in Northern Ireland. But it was the only chance I was going to have to get my hands on one any time soon!

So I placed a deposit, and Friday I made the trip!

It involved being dropped off at Bristol Airport at 6:30am, getting an 8am flight from Bristol to Belfast Airport which landed at 9:20am. Then I had to get a bus into Belfast city centre, jump on a train to Portadown and getting a taxi to the dealer.

This is when my trip got very stressful indeed. I had a ferry from Rosslare to Fishguard booked for 6:15pm and I had to be checked in by 5:45pm. Google maps advised the travel time to be 3 hours and 14 minutes. I figured as long as I left the dealer by 2pm, I'd be fine.

By 1:15pm we were all wrapped up in the dealer and I was ready to go! I took a short drive 5 minutes for the road to tank-up with diesel. After filling up, I put the port into Google maps and the ETA? 5:47pm. The ferry ticket was £200, it wasn't flexible in any way and the ferries only run every 12 hours or so.

I hadn't eaten since 5am, I needed a pee, I wasn't the most alert, but it quickly came apparent that I needed move quickly, very quickly.

After the most stressful 4 hours and 13 minutes driving that I have ever completed, fighting a full bladder and getting shouted at by the Garda for driving a bit too quickly, I made it to the port for 5:43pm.

The ferry crossing was rough, but I found somewhere low in the boat to lie down and managed to get a couple of hours sleep. After we landed, I was home and back in bed for Midnight.


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The car is great. The 1.5 diesel engine in this is far superior to the 1.5 3 cylinder that was in my Vauxhall Insignia. It's well spec'd, it has keyless entry & start, climate control, android auto, blind sport monitoring etc etc. Even after my stressful 200+ miles drive, I was comfortable with no aches or pains.

No sure what the long-term plan is. My Wifes Dacia Logan is getting on a little bit now (coming up to 6 years old with 110k on the clock) so I may give it to her in a year or two when (hopefully) the car market sorts itself out and I can buy something German again.

But for now, 2 Dacia household...

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Dacia has improved a lot over the years, when they first started coming into the EU market they felt rather cheap and poorly made but i got in a new Sandero a few months ago and the quality has improved radically, they don't look bad either.

 

[Bailes1992]

Dacia has improved a lot over the years, when they first started coming into the EU market they felt rather cheap and poorly made but i got in a new Sandero a few months ago and the quality has improved radically, they don't look bad either.

I often tell people that Dacias are engineered where it matters, MG's are engineered where you look.

I saw a quote on Facebook the other day that made me smile, it went something along the lines of "There's first generation Dusters rocking about the UK with 200k+ miles on them acting like they're Toyotas, and not budget Renaults".