On the road
Just because the Duster is a cheap car doesn’t mean that it translates into a woeful ride - far from it. Obviously it isn’t a performance car with trendy low profile tyres, but it’s really quite fun to throw around corners, and once in the correct gear, the 115bhp 1.5ltr diesel can leave you with a dirty great grin on your face. Overall, ride and handling are set up more for comfort than high speed cornering and there is an element of wallowing through tighter corners, but not as much as you’d expect for an SUV of its type, and certainly not enough to put you off having a bit of fun. Around town negotiating our potholed strewn streets, the Duster was comfortable, the suspension was soft, helped in part by 17” wheels and proper size tyres. On some roads you’ll hear a bit of noise entering the cabin, but overall it was a relaxed affair, and motorway cruising was a joy, especially with the option of both cruise control and speed limiter. The new Duster also has an acoustic windscreen that helps to keep the noise down. When it comes to the 4x4 version, 1st gear is incredibly low, only suitable for towing and off-road work, and for the majority of the week I got used to setting off in second gear. After a week of mixed driving the computer showed that I had achieved 52.4mpg, which I was more than satisfied with. THEMUDLIFE.CO.UK
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