Geneva 2009: Dacia introduces its first concept, the 44.4 mpg Duster
by Sam Abuelsamid on Mar 2nd 2009 at 10:09AM 
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Dacia Duster concept
Renault's low-cost Romanian-based brand Dacia is unveiling its first concept vehicle here at the Geneva Motor Show this week. The Duster is a 14-foot long crossover with some seriously aggressive looks. Like most concept vehicles, the rear doors are also rear hinged allowing unimpeded visual access to the interior. For a crossover, the Duster has an unusually low drag coefficient of just 0.30 and a weight of under 2,900 lbs. Tractive effort comes courtesy of Renault's 1.5L dCi four-cylinder diesel engine putting out 105 hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to push the Duster to 62 mph in 9.6 seconds and average 44.4 mpg (U.S.) with CO2 emissions of just 139 g/km. Now, if only Carlos Ghosn would be so kind as to send this machine stateside as the next generation Nissan Rogue, we'd have something to cheer about.
Gallery: Dacia Duster Concept
[Source: Renault]
PRESS INFORMATION:
March 2, 2009
DUSTER: THE CONCEPT CROSSOVER FROM
DACIA UNVEILED AT GENEVA MOTORSHOW
• Dacia is breaking fresh ground and springs yet another surprise with the unveiling in Geneva of Duster, a futuristic, image-building crossover that promotes the same values for which the brand has stood from the beginning.
• Duster is Dacia's first concept car and the fruit of close collaboration between Renault Design Central Europe in Bucharest, Romania, and Renault Design Technocentre in Guyancourt, France.
• Duster's athletic stance adds an undeniable sporty feel to the brand's hallmark robustness.
• Inside, the use of colour, generous cabin space and an original modular layout ensure a particularly convivial ambience for occupants.
ROBUST AND SPORTY
Duster – Dacia's first concept crossover – is proud to be different. Seen from the driver's side, it is visibly a sporting coupé, yet passengers entering from the other side will see it as an MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) with a traditionally opening front door and rear-hinged rear door which suggest plush travelling refinement.
Duster's height of 1.49 metres, short front and rear overhangs (65cm and 80cm respectively), generous wheelbase (2.80m) and compact volumes (4.25m long, 1.64m wide) exude an overriding sense of robustness and sports appeal.
The front end features a broad bumper with two horizontal air-intake slits that suggest power. The grille features evident Dacia styling cues and is flanked by headlamps which wrap over the front wings to form a tapering line of light that stretches rearward towards the doors. Viewed from the side, the clear-cut lines of the wheel arches and tall doors reinforce the impression that Duster sits squarely on the road. The Anthracite Grey bodywork and extensive one-piece glazed sweep – made possible by the absence of a central pillar – highlights the styling of the sides which are unmistakably reminiscent of Duster's graphic identity. At the rear, the engraved Dacia logo further emphasizes the concept car's robust, dependable credentials.
Like Logan, Duster is just 4.25 metres long, and its inherent agility ensures that it is perfectly at home in the urban jungle. Meanwhile, its 21-inch, five-spoke aluminium alloy wheels, exterior mirrors positioned on the window surround and trapezoidal aluminium exhaust tailpipes are telltale signs of its sporting pedigree.
Special care has gone into Duster's aerodynamic efficiency (Cd: 0.30) and the fluid lines of the body sides enable air to flow freely along the vehicle's flanks before being jettisoned through the rear lights. The aerodynamic, wing-like forms of the roof-mounted direction indicators also channel airflow towards the rear. The sum of all this work has naturally been beneficial to fuel consumption, and Duster stands out as a particularly environmentally-respectful crossover. Despite its performance potential, the particulate filter- equipped 1.5 dCi 105hp engine (77kW) emits just 139g of CO2/km, equivalent to fuel consumption of 5.3 litres/100km.
A CROSSOVER WITH DACIA HALLMARKS
This futuristic crossover showcases the brand's core values – namely simplicity, robustness and authenticity – in a surprising form, yet Dacia's hallmark ingenuity and generosity are immediately apparent in the way designers have approached Duster's cabin.
The concept car's two-tone chocolate and blue interior exudes a sense of well-being and conviviality. The fully glazed roof floods the cabin with light, while the enveloping forms of the staggered slim-line front seats provide first class comfort and support. The driver's seat is incorporated in a structure which extends all the way from the sill to the centre console, forming a sculptural, one-piece ensemble that echoes the exterior's sporty appeal.
The user-friendly dashboard features fluid, expressive lines while employing simple materials. The driver's side front airbag is housed in the lower part of the steeringwheel which has made it possible to position the screen centrally and free up appreciable stowage space on the dashboard. The latter's receding lines also provide record kneeroom of 280mm for the front passenger who benefits from an exceptionally comfortable seating position. The bellows-like form of the original two-tone dashboard incorporates a 20-litre glovebox, while the door inserts each include eight-litre stowage bins. Another bin has been cleverly concealed in the back of the rear right-hand seat. A simple push causes a box to slide forward from the boot which itself is in total keeping with the Dacia spirit, with the upright tailgate providing a carrying capacity of 470dm3 (VDA), a remarkable achievement for a vehicle of Duster's compact overall dimensions .
Duster is an adaptable, modular concept car. The four-seat 'daily driver' layout can be swiftly converted into a leisure configuration in a matter of seconds. The passenger seat slides underneath the driver's seat on rails concealed in the floor to leave just one front seat and consequently free up a total carrying volume of two cubic metres. Thanks to a recess in the floor and a strap located under the dashboard, this space can be used to carry a trials mountain bike.
Dimensions
Length (mm) 4,250
Width (mm) 1,640
Height (mm) 1,495
Overall width, doors open (mm) 4,285
Wheelbase (mm) 2,804
Front track (mm) 1,637
Rear track (mm) 1,640
Unladen weight (kg) 1,300
Boot volume (dm3 VDA) 470
Technical data
Engine type dCi 105
Maximum power hp (kW) 105 (77)
Maximum torque (Nm) 240 at 2,000rpm
Acceleration from standstill to 100kph (s) 9.6
CO2 emissions
Combined cycle fuel consumption
139g/km,
equivalent to 5.3 litres/100km
Transmission Manual six-speed gearbox
Tyres 245/35 ZR21
Wheels 21-inch diameter wheels
Partners
ProtoStyle Body styling
Michelin Tyres
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kaveman 10:15AM (3/02/2009)
Hmm, looks more like the DuMPster to me. And a Cd of 0.30? Audi beat that in the 80s with the 500 iirc.
I dunno, the French have the ability to produce far better looking IMO.
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paulwesterberg 1:43PM (3/02/2009)
Like Peugeot for example.
gorr 1:33PM (3/02/2009)
This is just an old faschion car with the same inneficient, old, polluting, costly diesel ice connecting with an old, inneficient transmission that you have to stop each week at big oil to pollute and give money to goverment related and protected dangerous and toxic business courtesy of the french goverment that act under the renauld brand of consumer products.
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you 2:15PM (3/02/2009)
If you call 139g CO2/km polluting, what kind of cars do you drive? Do they run on water or hydrogen? And by the way, how much gas do they consume? Some people simply won't understand that oil is running out on us!
gorr 4:54PM (3/02/2009)
I know that oil is running out on us, with the world trade center explosion, the hinderburg story, the extermination of jewishs in autswitch, the false oil crisis of 1973, the mandated tar sands, mandated oil supply from saudi arabia to arm the arabs against subsidized israel to provoke the 3rd world war, zone 51 experiment on human bodies peoples, hydrogen and batteries researchs to kill the inventors then bury the protected patents, virus spys in all internet computers, epa legislation to protect gasoline and diesel, impeding of green algae farming, arms deals in africa and middle east, invasion of irak to protect the toxic gas business for 3 trillions dollars, chinese corruption to adopt petrol, platinum financing for terrorists and cia paid by car consumers since 1973, endoctrination by carny to hate the arabs, killing of jfk and his brother, killing of a bum in the streets in 1969 in california at at rolling stone concert by paid and subsidized lsd given by fbi and cia agents, etc.
This is not a reason to not put a used car converted to run by a water electrolyser put on sale near where i live and call me to take a look at it.
you 10:51PM (3/05/2009)
If you live in US, you have no right to call this low-cost European car 'same inneficient, old, polluting, costly diesel ice connecting with an old, inneficient transmission'.
The American cars are the epitome of your description, and the American auto industry should better be left to die before it waste more of the global resources.
As for the hidrogen/water cars - the technology is simply not available. Unless you want to 'tweak' your car every hundred miles.
gorr 11:38AM (3/04/2009)
The water powered car exist in some few version. The basis is in mechanical invention from 100 years ago with the invention of ice engine where gas quantity expanding pressure done at the precise moment of ignition by a spark plug trigger an expantion of pressure on a piston put in a cylinder. So the water powered engine do the same, you change electricity for and increase of volume at the right time at the right place, into the combustion chamber of the f&cking ice at 2 degree past top dead center. Is that clear. This give free unlimited fuel without any pollution except some metal wear after 400 000 miles and some lubricating oil combustion and meltdown at speed and temperature and friction and contamination and temperature change cycle but stay useful 2x-3x more longer then in a conventionnal gasoline/diesel/carny/ethanol/methanol/chris m/natural gas conventional fueled engines that amount to 4 billions engines spurtting fumes, dust, toxins, soots, heated co2, carbon monoxide, sox , etc.
me 2:08PM (3/02/2009)
Yeah, like an Audi, only at 1/4 of the price. or like a peugeot at 1/2 price. As for the pollution, you better get rid of the gas cars from 5-6 years ago, which are more polluting than the modern diesels.
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LaTazman 10:59PM (3/11/2009)
Bring it on as a Nissan. I'll be in line for mine. And for the low IQ bunch that wrote before me 1) modern diesels emit less CO2 than gasolines engines, 2) diesels give you almost twice the torque for equivilent size of gas engine 3) diesels will get you 15-30% better MPG than similar size gas engines. Gee, with this bain trust I wonder why we don't have diesels here?
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