News: Renault's Captur wants to box the Juke

They may be part of the same group, and even share a chassis, but the new Renault Captur is most definitely muscling in on the Nissan Juke's compact SUV territory.

Teased earlier this week and now revealed here in full, the Captur takes both chassis and styling cues from the just-launched new Clio but bulks everything up into a much more muscular shape. Is it just us or are there hints of the old Avantime in the overall shape and stance? Maybe just us. Whatever, it's a handsome beast and that is just as true on the inside, where again Clio elements have been taken, put on a bit of muscle and are looking pretty darned good.

Renault is claiming best in class fuel economy and the two key engines will be the TCe three-cylinder petrol turbo and the long serving 1.5 dCi diesel, an engine which should see the Captur's emissions fall as low as 96g/km.

The Clio has already been much praised for its dynamic performance, so we can hope that the Captur will prove as invigorating to drive. Will the fact that it's shorter (slightly) the the Juke compromise interior space too much though? We'll find out when the Captur makes its public debut at the Geneva motor show.

Between this the and Peugeot 2008, it's looking like a good year for compact French SUVs...

Road Test: Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort

Price as tested: €36,995
+  Style, comfort, dynamics, engine, quality, price, equipment
–  Some cheap cabin bits, 3rd row seats very small
=  Could genuinely take the game to the premium brands



The first thing that strikes you when you climb aboard the new Hyundai Santa Fe is that you’d be very happy to do a very long journey in one. The seats are comfy, the quality of the cabin excellent and the steering wheel, in spite of some oddly slippery leather wrapping (was someone a bit too enthusiastic with the old Son-Of-A-Gun?) feels good in your hand. As a driving environment, it’s a hard one to beat.

That’s a confirmation confirmed when you twist the key and fire up the upgraded 2.2-litre diesel engine. Aside from a brief burst of diesely-clatter on a cold start, it’s a remarkably refined engine, something that becomes even more remarkable when you realise that our test car had just 94km on its odometer. If it’s this good now, it could potentially be even better with a few loosening-up miles on the clock.

Select first and nudge out of the gate and do all those positive first impressions survive a meeting with the road?

Well, we’ll get to that in a minute, but for a moment, let’s consider the Santa Fe’s place in Hyundai’s firmament. I have to confess that I despised the original 2000 Santa Fe. Rugged and reliable it may have been, but it was lumpy to look at, lumpy to drive and had some of the most uncomfortable seats I’ve ever sat on. The 2007 replacement then, was as much relief as revelation, and a precursor to the recent product revolution at Hyundai, arriving as it did just ahead of the first generation of Hyundai’s i-models. Now, the Santa Fe could boast pleasant styling, a useful seven-seat cabin (even if the third row of seats was suitable only for small children) and competent on-road dynamics. And decent seats, thank the lords of motoring.

Since when, Hyundai has been on a major roll, with cars like the i30, i10, ix35, i40 and Veloster coupe proving that it can now make cars that are not only good, but good enough that the company can effectively abandon its old pricing policy. Whereas Hyundais of old would always be priced around €1,000 or so cheaper than the likes of a rival Ford or Toyota, now the prices are comparable, even if Hyundai continues to offer better value for money in terms of equipment and its impressive five-year warranty.

Certainly, you would have to say that the new Santa Fe requires no financial incentive if you were to judge it on looks alone. The photos simply don’t do it justice, as it looks classier, chunkier and more substantial by far in the ‘flesh’ than it does on the screen. There is a genuine sense of style to the Santa Fe now; the slightly upright, plain and simple look of the old one gone  and replaced by a thrusting look, quite American (not surprising considering Hyundai’s stateside success) and verging on the brash, but in a nice way. Love the big, chrome-y grille.

Inside, the seven seat layout is retained (and once again, it’s kids, and small ones at that, only in the third row) and the cabin is spacious and comfortable in the third row. A genuine surprise was to find that our test car was the most basic Comfort specification (albeit with optional leather seats) because quite frankly, it was rather hard to find any equipment lacking. Standard toys include a multifunction steering wheel, electric lumbar support, Bluetooth and USB connections for phones and media players, air conditioning, a built-in music hard-drive, a bevvy of airbags, ESP, a Land-Rover-style hill descent control (even though our car was front-wheel-drive) and more. One pleasant, practical touch; the bottom of the doors now wraps under the sill, meaning that you can get in and out without dragging the backs of your trousers or tights on muddy door bottoms. Nice.

Under the bonnet, the 2.2-litre diesel engine is familiar in size but its performance and economy have both been improved. With 197bhp and 420Nm of torque, it’s certainly sprightly, and while the Santa Fe clocks in with a kerb weight of 1,961kg, it can still spin its front wheels up pretty easily, and there’s never a sense that you don’t have more than enough power to get about. Best of all though is the already-mentioned refinement. It’s genuinely quiet and relaxed in the cabin. It’ll make a great long-haul cruiser. Co2 emissions are pretty impressive too, at 147g/km for the 2WD version (149g/km for the 4wd) and Hyundai claims you’ll burn just 5.6-litres for every 100km traveled. That’s well into 50mpg territory, which sounds like a bit of a stretch to us. On the basis of our (admittedly brief) first test drive, we’d say mid-sixes, around 40-45mpg would be more realistic, and still pretty impressive.

The driving experience is pretty good too. Now, we’ve criticised Hyundai’s three-setting Flex Steer system before. It allows you to toggle between Comfort, Normal and Sport modes for the steering, and theoretically offers you lighter or heftier settings depending on your mood or need. In reality, there’s not much difference between the three modes and you can’t help but feel that the development budget would have been better spent on one setting that did everything well. Aside from that, the Santa Fe is very pleasant to drive, well balanced and rides with a BMW-esque firm pliancy, only being upset by truly viscious, sharp-edged potholes.

In fact, the BMW comparison is apt, as Hyundai is reckoning on tempting premium German SUV buyers with the new Santa Fe, and there’s a range-topping automatic Premium version that costs the guts of €50k. Ambitious, overly so for a Hyundai? Possibly, but you know what? This is a very impressive car, handsome to look at, pleasant to drive, with an excellent engine and terrific build quality. I personally can’t see why someone considering a BMW or Audi wouldn’t, if they put aside badge snobbery for a moment, seriously consider a Santa Fe now. It really is that good.

Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 2WD Comfort
Price as tested: €36,995
Price range: €36,995 to €48,995
Capacity: 2,199cc
Power: 197bhp
Torque: 420Nm
Top speed: 190kmh
0-100kmh: 9.8sec
Economy: 5.6l-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 147g/km
Road Tax Band: C €330
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

News: New Subaru Forester caught undisguised

Subaru's all-new Forester has been caught by spy photographers undisguised and out in the open.

Featured on US site Carscoop, the new Forester looks largely familiar, but gains a new front end with a bolder, more chrome-filled grille and lights that wrap further around the corners than the current model, taking clear inspiration from the new XV crossover, launched earlier this year.

The new Forester grows a little, being 35mm longer and 20mm wider, while the boot expands to a whopping 505-litres. It's expected that the existing 2.0-litre flat-four Boxer Diesel with 150bhp will be carried over more or less unchanged. It's unclear yet though whether or not Subaru will offer a fornt-drive Forester to gain a lower Co2 rating. All-wheel-drive and serious off-road ability have always been a central part of the Forester's DNA, but with a front-drive version of the XV available, Subaru may well consider the lower Co2 rating and tax band a worthwhile trade-off.

The new Forester goes on sale in November in Japan and will arrive in Europe in the middle of next year.

News: Suzuki refreshes Jimny 4x4, but not for us. :-(

It's not on sale in Ireland any more (shame) but Suzuki is not only keeping the little Jimny off-roader in production, it's actually updating it.



It was the high emissions of the standard 1.3 petrol engine that killed off Irish sales (still no diesel after all these years) but elsewhere in Europe and the world, buyers will now be able to get a Jimny with a new bonnet, grille and bumper, some new cabin trim, new colours and the option of heated seats for the first time.

The Jimny may have been a bit crude on the road but it was a properly good off-roader with astonishing mud-plugging ability. We kinda miss it...

Road Test: Subaru XV 2.0 TDS SE Premium

Price as tested: €34,995

+ Cracking engine, chunky good looks, good to drive, solid build, foul-weather ability, space
– Too-firm ride, pricey, some cheap cabin fittings
= Best new Subaru in ages, but price means it’ll struggle against rivals

You could have forgiven the average car buyer if Subaru had fallen off their radar in the past couple of years. Ever since its rally team, once equally feared and fearless, was pensioned off at the end of 2008, a little of the magic that once haloed the iconoclastic Japanese company had disappeared. Without those iconic blue-and-gold Imprezas bursting through forests with a McRae, a Burns or a Solberg at the wheel, Subaru’s sense of purpose seemed to be gone.

Sequential launches of two rather underwhelming cars didn’t help. The current Impreza hatch and Legacy saloon and estate are fine, or at least fine enough, but too obviously tilted towards Subaru’s largest market in the USA to be of particular interest over here. A shame; the previous generation Legacy had one of the most sympathetically-set-up chassis for Irish conditions that we’d ever experienced.

All that being the case though, Subaru us still capable of turning out a fine car. The Forester SUV is still providing rugged, practical transport to those who have discovered its charms and much of the Toyota GT86 coupe’s dynamic brilliance is down to Subaru, now part-owned by Toyota, being responsible for much of the engineering, being as the GT86 is paired with its own BRZ coupe.

Now, there’s this, the XV; a car that seeks to distill Subaru’s traditional combinations of rugged build, four wheel drive and driver appeal into a package designed to appeal to the Qashqai and yeti buying set.

Right off the bat, it’s off to a better start than either the Impreza (with which it shares most of its underpinnings) or the Legacy because it actually looks good. In fact, it’s the first truly handsome Subaru for a generation or more; chunky, appealing and distinctive, even in the rather washy baby blue paintwork of our test car.

Inside, things are not quite so good. The cabin can best be described as functional, and it lacks many of the soft-touch surfaces or design flourished of its rivals. A Yeti instantly leaves it in the shade for interior ambience, although it’s about on a par with the equally dour Qashqai, and at least both quality of assembly and space are there in abundance. There are also plenty of toys on this range-topping version, with a reversing camera, rain sensing wipers and Blutetooth wireless connection for both phone and music.

Twist the slightly-old-fashioned looking key and the familiar flat-four Boxer Diesel fires into life with a throaty whirr. Its 147bhp and 350Nm of torque seem fine, rather than exceptional figures these days, and its 146g/km Co2 emissions actually beats the Yeti when fitted with four wheel drive, but is trounced by the larger Mazda CX-5. Still, the Boxer is one of the few diesel engines with a true sense of character. It soon shrugs off a low-rpm diesel clatter for a more traditional Subaru woofle, underlaid with all manner of chirps, whistles and cheeps. Different, for sure, if not necessarily to all tastes. It’s easy, accessible performance should please though, as will a decent 6.4-litre per 100km fuel consumption.

Subaru does seem to have forgotten its old magic touch when setting up a car for Irish tarmac, though. The steering is the high point, dynamically speaking. A little numb around the straight-ahead, but becoming ever more garrulous as you apply lock. The XV certainly feels more up-and-at-’em than most of its rivals, and it’s a reasonably entertaining  car to drive. Combine that with Subaru’s traditional all-wheel-drive that gives you a smug feeling of security even as rain-mageddon breaks out all around you, and you have a car seemingly ideal for Ireland and Irish drivers. A pity then that the ride is just too stiff, too ready to jiggle and bobble over rough surfaces. Surely with all that extra ride height a little more suppleness could have been found?

But the XV faces one final, possibly insurmountable, hurdle. Its price. OK, so our test car was the range-topping version and perhaps its €34,995 price tag can be explained purely from that point of view. But to place it just €1,000 cheaper than the entry-level (larger, more practical) Forester seems silly and the fact that an entry-level XV costs €28,495, and with a petrol engine at that, seems closer to daft. In fairness to Subaru Ireland, it’s struggling with an unfavourable exchange rate with the Yen, but the unpalatable truth is that the Yeti or Qashqai beat it for value, as do larger rivals like the Mazda CX-5 and Ford Kuga.

Which is a shame. The XV is engaging to drive and has a personality that’s both distinct and charming. Given Subaru’s reputation for reliability and shrugging off even the very worst weather that the winter (or spring, or summer) can through at you, it would be a tempting prospect. But at that price level, it’s giving itself an uphill struggle for even committed Subaru fans, never mind more casual buyers.


Subaru XV 2.0 TDS Premium
Price: €34,995
Range price: €28,495 to €34,995
Capacity: 1,998cc
Power: 147bhp
Torque: 350Nm
Top speed: 198kmh
0-100kmh: 9.3sec
Economy: 5.6-100km (50.4mpg)
CO2 emissions: 146g/km
Tax Band: C. €330 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: 5-star; 86% adult, 90% child, 64% pedestrian, 86% safety assist

Features: Discovering Iceland

By Neil Briscoe

Photos By Nick Dimblebly

It’s four in the morning and I’ve just crawled out from the frost-bound interior of my tent. The temperature gauge has hit –15 Celsius and I’ve lost most of the sensation in my nose and fingers, the only bits of skin that were protruding from the enveloping warmth of my sleeping bag.


My deep-frozen bladder has woken me and informed that unless I stagger across to the only slightly warmer toilet, there’s going to be a and icicle accident in the tent. Outside, the quiet is all-pervading, the kind of silence you just don’t get in our crowded island.  Above, the night sky is filled with stars, all far brighter and more intense, thanks to the fact that the nearest electric light is about 90km away. There are faint traces of the Aurora Borealis tinting narrow swathes of the sky a pale green and the air smells faintly of sulphur. I have never felt as remote or lonely in the universe as I have at that moment, camped out under the glories of the cosmos in one of the most astonishing landscapes this planet possesses; Iceland.

Stumbling across the small campsite, the line-up of Discoveries, all in silver, catches my tired, freezing eyes and the lonliness evaporates. It’s impossible to feel desolate when memories of river crossings, snow climbing and steep descents in the big, bluff Disco come flooding back. It’s rather like spotting your faithful horse, sleeping quietly next to the tent, preparing for the next adventure tomorrow.

And an adventure it most certainly was. The normal sequence of events for a media motoring event is fly in, drive the car, have a press conference, have a sleep and fly home again. Land Rover generally does things a little differently, but never before this different. Over the course of two days, we covered about 500km in the Discos, and a great deal of that was vertical. To illustrate the effort required, it took about 12 hours of hard driving to cover the first 250km. Iceland only has one proper, paved road; Highway 1, and once you’re off that it’s lava sand and river fords a-go-go.

This was not a new model launch. We drove the Discovery 3 last year and the car hasn’t changed since. This was more of a demonstration, a challenge. Just how far can you push a car on some of the most demanding terrain in the world before it squeaks and begs for mercy?  Further than you would ever imagine is the answer.

Iceland’s an interesting place. Despite the fact that there are areas of solid rock that are younger than me, it has some of the oldest culture going. In fact, Icelandic explorers set foot on North American soil some 400 years before Columbus was even thought of, and the first non-native child born on what would become American soil was Icelandic. The population is about twice that of Cork city but the country is home to the largest glacier in Europe, and is technically the furthest west point in Europe, although the residents of Dingle get rather miffed if you point that out to them.

More importantly for the purposes of this trip, that small population is mostly strung out along Iceland’s coast, leaving the centre of the country free for glaciers, mountains, lava fields and the kind of terrain that is a pure playground for Land Rovers.

The landscape ahead looks like a set from Lord Of The Rings and it’s sometimes hard to believe that you’re not some kind of CGI special effect, kicking up computer-created dust and snow plumes as you charge across the land. The mountains aren’t spectacularly massive, but they look foreboding and craggy, especially when the low winter sun lights up the rising curls of geothermal steam and it looks like the mountains are burning.

We’re high enough to be beyond the dusty gravel tracks now and are onto snow and ice-bound trails. River crossings are plentiful, about one every five minutes at one point, and one snow slope is so steep that the entire convoy has to be winched up. Getting the first car up was a real struggle, only achieved by one of the Land Rover experts taking a fast run and letting the momentum do the work that grip was shirking. Black lava dust was splattered liberally down the sides of all the cars and would by morning have become frozen solidly in place.  It took a solid hour of effort to get fifteen cars up a 100-metre slope. Now that is adventure driving as it should be…

Off roading is normally conducted at a gentle, almost walking, pace, the better to judge the ground and to avoid damaging the vehicle. Not this little expedition. We kept up speeds on stretches of gravel and snow that would boggle the mind of someone who hasn’t experienced the awesome capability of the Discovery. Bumps and jolts that would rip the suspension off a normal family car were soaked up and dealt with, with only a thump and a judder to warn the occupants of what was happening at the tyre tread. In fact, it became very surreal to be gently nudging the Discovery’s nose into three feet of icy cold water while inside the cabin, the temperature was a comfy 23 Celsius and Pink Floyd blared from the iPod. To be able to cope with terrain like this is one thing, to be able to cope and make the occupants feel cosseted is something else again.

And it 4am, things really snapped into focus. Before dinner the next day we would scale the 750-metre Myrdalsjokull glacier and drive in frenetic convoy across a black lava sand beached garnished with the photogenic wreck of a US Navy Douglas C-47, but it was that moonlit bathroom call that did it for me. To be in a place as beautifully bleak, as perishingly cold and as stunningly remote as that was incredible enough. But to look across at the Discovery corral and realise that those vehicles that had effortlessly hauled us up here would effortlessly haul us home again, well, that was just magical...

Road Test: Dacia Duuster 1.5 dCi 4x2 Alternative

Price as tested: €14,990

+ Almost stupidly affordable, surprisingly refined, spacious, comfy
– Feels a generation back, dynamically, lack of standard safety kit
= Refreshing and refreshingly affordable


Yup. €14,990. For a brand new car, that’s not a supermini (as most if not all cars priced around the €14k mark are) but a big(ish) compact SUV with space in the back for the kids (for the adults, come to that) and a big boot. It looks nice (I think so at any rate), drives tolerably well (see below) and, thanks to Dacia Ireland’s headline-grabbing introductory finance offer, will cost you buttons on the monthly repayments. At a stroke, it will bring many hundreds of cash-strapped car buyers back into the new car market, buyers who need the space and the size but, because of tightened finances, would otherwise be shopping in the second hand car market.

It’s called Duster, and it’s not the first car to wear that badge. Back in the eighties and early nineties, when Dacia was still just emerging from Communist overlordship, there was another Duster, a car so bad that the legendary Car magazine pithily summed it up with the phrase “Duster to dust, ashes to ashes, please someone, pass us the matches.” Presumably, things could not be so bad this time around...

Needless to say, as with all deals that look too good to be true, it is, in some ways. But the essential fact of the price, and of Dacia Ireland’s introductory offer that will allow you to finance one for €149 a month (including a €4k deposit and a €6k final ‘bubble’ payment), is undoubtedly true.

So, how is Dacia able to do it for the money? A little history first off. Dacia was for many years the Romanian national car company, producing vehicles under the rule of the much-reviled Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu. In that period, Dacia struck up a relationship with Renault, building a version of the old 12 saloon under licence – many of which can still be seen circulating the streets of Bucharest – a relationship that would eventually lead to Renault buying a majority stake in Dacia. The idea was, and is, that Dacia uses older Renault components whose investment has already been paid for, builds cars out of them in a low-cost environment behind the former Iron Curtain and flogs them to you and I at bargain prices, giving Renault a bulwark against the ever-encroaching Korean brands and the constant danger of the massed ranks of Chinese cheap car makers.

It’s a recipe that has worked rather wonderfully. Dacia and its various models have been well received in Europe and it’s currently the fourth best-selling brand in France. Its launch here has been somewhat delayed (the Duster itself has been on sale in Europe for two years already) but with that price tag, it could prove to be a canny move for Renault Ireland, catching buyers whose car purchasing power has been eroded by recession and cutbacks. Next year, once the Duster is properly on sale (you can test drive and order one right now but Irish-build right-hand-drive cars don’t arrive until January), there will be other Dacias, including the already-beloved Sandero hatchback (thank Top Gear’s James May for that one) and the Lodgy mini MPV. Presumably all at genre-defying prices too but that’s getting ahead of ourselves somewhat. We have the just the Duster to deal with for now.

For your supermini money, you do genuinely get a large family car. Not so tall and wide as to be intimidating in tight car parks and urban manouvres, but large enough to allow one six-footer to sit comfortably behind another and with a spacious 475-litre boot (as long as you stick to the front wheel drive models).

Those expecting a poverty spec cabin will be surprised. The left-hand-drive version we tried had a perfectly pleasant interior, and the good news is that by the time Irish right-hand-drive production reaches these shores in January, the cabin will have been given an upgrade to make its touchy-feely quality even more appealing. You still get electric front windows, fingertip stereo controls (familiar for anyone who’s ever driven a mid-nineties Clio) and Bluetooth connection for your phone, with an aux-in socket for your iPod. All surprisingly sybaritic.

What you don’t get are electric side mirrors (you need to upgrade to the €16,990 Signature model for those, which will set you back roughly an extra €20 a month on the finance plan), alloy wheels, seatbelt pretensioners, air conditioning, a trip computer, rear electric windows or map lights (ditto). More worryingly, Electronic stability control doesn’t even appear as an option, and is only fitted to the range-topping €18,990 Signature 4WD model. Irish buyers tend to be pretty immune to a lack of safety options. Back when ABS brakes were still considered an option, we tended to spend the same cash on sunroofs or nicer alloys. Presumably so, few will notice or miss the inclusion of ESP, at least until they get into difficulties on a wet road, but such has always been the spec-blindness of the Irish car buyer. Quite what we should make of Dacia being happy to chuck in Bluetooth, electric windows and fingertip stereo controls, while leaving such vital safety kit on the pricey shelf is not clear yet. Buyers of course have the choice and the option to upgrade is there, but what price safety?

That range-topping 4WD model comes with, obviously all-wheel-drive, switchable from a simple rotary controller on the dash, and which gives the Duster a decent bit of rough ground, dirt track and ploughed field ability, and it this form it starts to feel a touch like a Land Rover Defender. Not in terms of ultimate off-road capability, of course, but the plain, unadorned cabin, upright driving position and sense of ruggedness are similar. The Duster’s a damn sight more refined on the road though...

Behind the bluff nose of the Duster sits Renault’s tried and tested 1.5 dCi diesel engine in 110bhp form. Fitted to a 2WD Duster, it returns a claimed 5.0-litres per 100km on the combined fuel economy cycle (better than 55mpg, which we got nowhere near on our brief test drive, but then it was in a car with barely-run-in mileage) and emits 130g/km, so will cost you just €225 to tax for the moment. Impressively, the 4WD model’s figures are only slightly poorer, and it’s still in Band B. It comes as standard with a three-year warranty, but you can upgrade to five-year cover.

Surprisingly, it won’t rattle your ears off. The first casualty of cheap car design is usually refinement, but the Duster idles quietly, is only mildly noisy on the motorway and shouts excessively only if you give it the beans in the rather short-geared first or second ratios. On other than main roads, the Duster does its best work shunting between third and fourth in the six-speed gearbox, although its rubbery shift mechanism will discourage you from getting too enthusiastic.

Dynamically, the Duster is hardly what you’d call sharp, but neither does it display the dreadful manners that its bargain bucket price would have you suspect. The steering is light, over-assisted and entirely fake feeling, but the nose does follow its instructions with reasonable faithfulness. There’s lots of body roll, but the trade off for that is a pleasingly pliant ride, and the Duster is quite happy being hustled along country roads, as long as you don’t get too optimistic with the cornering speeds. Mind you, overcook things and the reassuringly firm brakes mean you pull up smart and straight in an emergency stop. Basically, the Duster is happiest when loping along, and it feels entirely pleasant in that role.

So, the ultimate question beckons. Should you buy one? Well, given the fact that it’s around €10,000 less than its direct competitors, you’d be a bit mad not to at least consider it, and it certainly doesn’t feel like it’s packing €10k less when it comes to quality, dynamics or practicality. Yes, the likes of the Skoda Yeti and Nissan Qashqai have a much deeper varnish of sophistication, and come with things like air conditioning and electronic stability control as standard. If you’re happy doing without such things (or you’re equally happy to upgrade to a more expensive Duster that has them, which is still significantly cheaper than its rivals) then it’s a car well worthy of your consideration. It feels not cheap and cheerless but rather rugged and utilitarian, a significant distinction. It’s a simple, practical device, a car ideally suited to the rigours of family use and abuse (that lack of standard ESP notwithstanding) and you certainly won’t care if the kids spill, the dog sheds or the ice cream leaks.

Introducing the Duster at such a startling price is a remarkable calling card for Dacia’s debut. If the Duster proves popular, then Dacia’s more established rivals will have to do some serious pruning of their price lists.



Dacia Duster 1.5 dCI 4x2 Alternative
Price as tested: €14,990
Price range: €14,990 to €18,990
Capacity: 1,461cc
Power: 107bhp
Torque: 240Nm
Top speed: 171kmh
0-100kmh: 11.8sec
Economy: 5.0l-100km (56mpg)
CO2 emissions: 130g/km
Road Tax Band: B €225
Euro NCAP rating: 3-star; 74% adult, 78% child, 28% pedestrian, 29% safety assist

Road Test: Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited

Price as tested: €38,000 (approx)

+ Fabulously rugged, more practical and refined than you’d think, so cool
– Boot’s a bit small. emissions a bit high
= Quite simply, the coolest car we’ve driven all year

If I tell you that the Jeep Wrangler turns out to be a bit of a surprise, would you be surprised? You might be, especially if you’re expecting some thundering, lumbering heap of Detroit iron, bludgeoning all in its path with a war-mongering “Yeee-haw!” and a distinct lack of Euro-style refinement.

Because while the Wrangler can trace its lineage directly back to the original 1941 Willys-Overland General Purpose 1/4 Ton Truck (GP, or Jeep for short), the reality is that the resemblance lies mostly in the styling and marketing departments.

So, while there is a seven-bar grille, round headlights and a pervading sense of squareness, there are also sophisticated Panhard linkages and coil springs in the suspension, there are comfy, heated leather seats in the cabin and there is even a Bluetooth phone connection. Disappointed that there’s not hand-cranked Bakelite phone in the back to put you in touch with brigade HQ? Yes, a little but that’s the way of the modern world.

The Wrangler’s only real rival, in both the heritage and off-road stakes, is the Land Rover Defender. But while you would, happily, make excuses for the Defender’s crudity, discomfort and rampant thirst, all because it looks so cool, the rather nice thing is that the Jeep simply doesn’t ask that much of you.

Haul yourself up into the cabin and you’re presented with a simple, workmanlike cabin. There are no soft-touch plastics, and more consideration seems to have been given to making its hose-out-proof than slush-moulded, but there’s a sense of purpose, a sense of rightness and, just as importantly, a sense of decent build quality. The seats, as we’ve mention, are comfy (and they warm your bum, in Sahara spec) and the steering wheel adjusts to help you find a comfy driving position.

Fire up the 2.8-litre CRD diesel engine and, yes, it’s noisy and grumbly, but once it warms through it’s not too bad. It’ll propel the Wrangler to 100kmh in an entirely reasonable 11.1secs, return a claimed (and believable in our experience) 7.4-litres per 100km on the  combined cycle and emits, in four-door unlimited guise, 194g/km of Co2. You can drop that to 187g/km (and get a €630 road tax bill) if you downsize to the less practical three-door Wrangler Sport.

The long, wand-like gear lever makes you think that it’ll have the shift accuracy of a drunk teenager on Valentine’s night, but actually, as long as you don’t rush it, there’s quite a pleasant gearshift to be had, in a moving-big-bits-of-metal-around steampunk kind of way.

Rolling refinement in the Wrangler is surprisingly good. Clearly, with a (removable, if you have a hoist or enough tall friends) plastic roof, big wheels and a very upright shape, wind and tyre noise are prevalent, but the engine shuts up quite nicely in a sixth gear cruise, and the standard fit stereo is man enough for the job.

Long motorway runs? Just fine actually. Your ears will ring a little at the end, but other than that, the Wrangler takes long hauls in its stride. Actually, in town is its Achilles Heel. It’s a big car, bigger than you think at first, with a broad turning circle, so tight car parks are a bit of a nightmare. With practice, it’s fine, but some parking sensors would be helpful.

While we’re criticising, the boot’s too small. 498-litres sound big, but it’s oddly shaped to cover the fuel tank hump, and there’s no luggage cover, so everything’s on show through the vulnerable, lift up flap that makes up the rear window. Don’t plan on leaving valuables in your Wrangler.

Honestly though, who cares? Get out on the open road and the Wrangler handles with surprising (there’s that word again) aplomb. Yes, there’s slack in the steering and apparently wood in the suspension, but it’s fundamentally well behaved and won’t do anything bad.

Get off the open road and into open country and, well, this vehicle is Trail Rated, meaning it will climb up Jeep’s fearsome Rubicon Trail in Utah, a mountain pass littered with trees, escarpments, dust, dirt, boulders and the occasional bear. Yank the hefty lever back to select four wheel drive, low range (the Wrangler’s best left in two wheel drive on tarmac to avoid transmission wind up) and there is probably no decently solid surface that you cannot traverse. And whether this winter brings snow, floods or both, prepare to be called on by stranded friends.

If you haven’t already guessed it, we loved the Wrangler. Compared in saloon car terms to its SUV rivals, it’s nowhere. But there is such a thing as fitness for purpose, and the Wrangler is not only the origin of the species, but it could pummel any SUV into the dirt when the going gets tough, and isn’t so far behind them in terms of everyday driving that they could relax. It’s the anti-Evoque, and for that, and for being four-square and dependable in a world slowly but surely going mad, we salute it.


Facts & Figures

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sahara
Price as tested: €38,000 (approx)
Range price: TBC
Capacity: 2,776cc
Power: 200bhp
Torque: 410Nm
Top speed: 172kmh
0-100kmh: 11.1sec
Economy: 7.4l-100km (38.1mpg)
CO2 emissions: 194g/km
VRT Band: F. €1,050 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested