Land Rover Defender vs. Dacia Duster on ice

While everyone else was faffing around on the frozen lake*, there was real man’s work to be done in Sweden. Less of the mindless hooning about for the Land Rover Defender and Dacia Duster: these two have a more rugged brief, which means they need to go exploring.

And despite the mini-expedition miles from anywhere in a Swedish forest with a worrying lack of survival kit, it’s almost reassuring doing it with these two cars. There’s a solidity and capability to them that makes it relaxing. Well, almost, but more on that in a tick.

Words: Piers Ward

This feature originally appeared in the March 2012 issue of Top Gear magazine

* For ‘research purposes’, we also did some faffing about on the lake in the Dacia and the Defender. The Dacia’s natural balance and switchable 4x4 made it a revelation in the extended drift; the Defender… less so. We’re not sure why this is relevant. But there are videos to prove the extent of our consumer research. Sorry.

For now, it’s worth explaining properly why we’ve got the Dacia and the Defender together. The Defender is so much more expensive that the two don’t really compete – the gap is a chasm-like £17,000. But this is about a philosophy. They share a thought process – workhorses, capable off-road and with a basic interior that simply washes down. No one buys a Defender or Duster to be cool in the traditional sense, but these two seem to have a kind of über-utility chic that makes sense out here where the difference between looking good and getting home isn’t even worth considering. Glamour is not high on the list of priorities; minimal fuss is. And when the going gets tough, tricksy performance-orientated four-wheel-drive systems just seem a bit… frivolous. 

So, Dacia is about to launch into the UK, and the Renault-owned company will offer great value for money. The Duster will start from under £10,000 in two-wheel-drive form, rising to our car’s top spec and four-wheel drive for just under £15,000. It’s an awful lot of car for the cash, even if you’re only aware of the marque because of James May’s brand obsession.

Saying that, it’s probably not worth digging too hard for covert ‘surprise and delight’ touches in the Duster, because there isn’t much hidden depth here. It is a box. And inside that box is everything that is required to classify this as a car – engine, steering wheel, four wheels, radio, heater – but with absolutely nothing surplus. Want a fancy luggage cover in the boot? Or even a low-range gearbox? Nope – you won’t find any of that. Dacia has been rigorous in designing the Duster to the last penny. If it doesn’t earn its practical place, it’s been omitted. Which is somewhat refreshing.

Take the lack of a low-range gearbox. A proper low-cog ’box would be expensive and heavy, so Dacia hasn’t bothered. But the Duster does get a super-low first gear, which achieves nearly the same thing – off-roading on the cheap. The Duster has three settings – two-wheel drive, auto, and four-wheel-drive lock – and, in the latter two, an electro-magnetic coupling in the centre diff decides where the drive should be sent. And it gets about, over and through pretty much anything you would normally throw at it.  If you’re looking for a properly useful little SUV for covering a lot of bases for not much cash, this should be in the running. 

Mind you, it does have a slight weakness: the central diff doesn’t completely lock. So when we decided to hit some sizeable snow banks, it got comprehensively stuck. 

Turns out if you really head into the wilds and go further off the beaten track, then you’ll need a hardcore 4x4. And that car still has a Land Rover badge. The Defender didn’t find it easy, but, because of a mechanical centre diff, every wheel can be locked together, and no torque is wasted by letting wheels spin. If just a single Defender wheel has grip, all four wheels will rotate at that speed. The Duster, in comparison, will happily spin the wheel with least grip.

The Defender, driven properly, centre diff locked and in low range (accessed with a satisfyingly primitive set of actual levers), will pretty much go anywhere. Grindingly slowly, noisily – the 2.2-litre turbodiesel still sounds like a tractor – but it’ll get there. 

Form rarely gets a look-in where these two are concerned. It’s all about function – doing what is required when it is required, with no added bonuses. They are application-based cars – you need a job doing, you buy one of these – and the Dacia is a genuinely exciting development at the budget end. It’s this generation’s Fiat Panda 4x4 – until the actual Panda 4x4 arrives, at least – light, no-frills, cheap. But this generation also occasionally needs to get to extreme places. And for that, you’ll just have to save up for a Defender.