New-gen Dacia Duster (Renault Duster) vs Suzuki Jimny

Renault Duster has been recently updated with a BS-6 engine, and would soon get a new 1.3L turbocharged petrol motor as well. It is sold in India in its 1st-gen avatar, but, in the international markets, the second-generation Duster is already on sale. Recently, the good folks at Top Gear uploaded a video on their YouTube channel, where they can be seen comparing the second-gen Dacia Duster with 4th-gen Suzuki Jimny. Since the Jimny is also a fairly new product and is attracting all the love from the world, this comparison was actually required. The video depicts the difference between the performance of a do-it-all AWD crossover and a no-nonsense compact 4WD SUV, on an offroad course.

In the video, the Duster starts first on the track to attempt the very first obstacle on the course, which is a steep downhill slope. Duster’s hill descent control wonderfully performs the job here. The next set of obstacles on the course is a dirt section followed by a small puddle and then a bigger water wading section. After that, the car goes via a section of ruts and then through a suspension torture test. The last obstacle of the course is a loose uphill incline, but the driver has to perform a handbrake turn before calling it a finish. The Duster was able to complete the course in just 3 minutes 16 seconds.

The Jimny being a much more capable offroader, it performed better on the track. The downhill was a bit of a task for its hill descent control, but the ruts, water puddles, and the suspension torture test were dealt with grace. However, in the end, Jimny failed at performing a hand brake turn but still managed to clock a lap time of 2 minutes 50 seconds.

Suzuki Jimny wins over the Dacia Duster by a margin of 26 seconds.

The Jimny turned out to be a faster car off the road in comparison to the Duster. It’s conventional ladder frame chassis and proper 4WD system with solid axles at both at the ends are to be credited. On the other hand, the Duster features a monocoque chassis with independent suspension all around and a fairly capable AWD system. Therefore, the Duster can outperform the Jimny on a fast paved or dirt road, but when the situation gets tricky, the Duster starts to bounce around a bit.