MARRAKECH – Why not anticipate the Dakar and organize a nice pre-Christmas test drive in the desert? Those of Dacia, aware of the strength and potential of their Duster, have created something that every tour operator does: an off-road tour. But which? Yes: desert, desert, which is the most beautiful in the realm? Morocco offers two, his majesty the Sahara but also the Agafay, an expanse of plateaus with a rocky view and a sort of (fascinating) lunar landscape.
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The choice fell on the latter, closer to Marrakech (from where we started): a path that is not boring at all. First, because driving a Duster 4×4 requires attention, and then because with Agafay – a desert/plateau of arid land, stone and rocks with white dunes that sometimes recall the Saharan ones of Erg Chebbi in terms of shapes and colors – one cannot joke with its sudden crevasses, the descents with roller coaster slopes, and certain hairpin bends that did not seem such before approaching them.
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But, in all this hubbub, Duster gets away with it. She doesn’t eat dust, on the contrary. She rides great, even more: shock absorbers and clutch, put to the test for over two hours non-stop, don’t give an inch in the face of the jolts and macroscopic natural holes. «And it only costs 24,000 euros», she is heard shouting in the off-road caravan, imagining how tourists – or enthusiasts – choose (or have) a wallet / budget with higher figures for their excursions.
Instead there is the alternative. And effective. Duster, the Dacia phenomenon, moreover with the objectively more captivating new logo. In reality, the air vents are also different inside, but they are few things waiting for the new Duster which will arrive in 2024. But the current model makes its own, as mentioned: then it is a diesel that consumes very little, considering that at the End of the day the fuel tank gauge never seemed to budge from when it started.
It is no coincidence that the Renault group brand has sold more than two million units, and that Duster has become a pop icon in the most popular sense of the term (since 2018 it has been the best-selling SUV in Europe to private individuals). Do you remember the initial idea? It was that of a robust, spacious and economical vehicle. Winning idea. Then there was the evolution, and even from the (perhaps physiological) decline in the two-year period 2011-2013 those of Dacia were able to draw the right lesson, revolutionizing it and bringing it to its current high performance, whether it’s road asphalt or desert.
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For this reason, the arrival of the test in the Moroccan Roches Noires plain, at the Scarabeo Camp, is seen as the right relief and reward after a crossing during which – in addition to the gymkhanas that nature forced us to – we also had to avoid caravans of quads in search of sparkling leaps, and of sprinting indigenous motorcyclists without disregard of danger, not forgetting the “cammelized” tourists looking for selfies and posts for social media with the obvious caption “I was there too”.
Seriously, the moral of this test drive is that Dacia is technically the winner. Thanks to its simple, light and proven 4×4 mechanics, therefore essential in off-road situations. Furthermore, still in the 4×4 version, the car is equipped with a Media display (or Media Nav), in order to provide more information on the central display, from the lateral inclinometer to the pitch angle, up to the compass and altimeter. All at an objectively accessible price and, if you think about it, Christmas is just around the corner…
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