Parked on a street in Sant Agnello Italy Oct 2023
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New Dacia Duster
- Thread starter Bailes1992
- Start date
Parked on a street in Sant Agnello Italy Oct 2023
These are only Ford Focus sized at best. Not a big car at all!
I'd say 1 in every 50 I see on the roads here is four wheel drive. I don't understand why anyone would want a FWD SUV? You're compromising on handling, fuel economy, emissions and comfort for extra height and are totally unable to use it?
The same thing in the USA. One lady I worked with long before I retired had a 2WD Chevrolet Blazer. She bought it THINKING it was 4WD! Didn't even think to look or check.
They're just the 'in thing' unfortunately.
I'd have been quite happy with a similarly sized hatchback with four wheel drive. In fact I'd have preferred it, but my only options at the time were the VW Golf Alltrack or BMW 120d XDrive. Both of which were in excess of £40,000 compared to £23,000 for the Duster.
People say they like the high driving position, which is fine. But an MPV will give you that high driving position, provide better road holding characteristics because they are lower to the ground and minimise the effects on emissions and fuel economy PLUS you have a more spacious interior.
Here it seems (to me) the decent compromise is the Honda CR-V. Wife has the 2017 AWD Touring w/1.5L Turbo. It goes out of the hole fast, decent off road, near 40MPG (US) hwy and seems very reliable, plus hauls a LOT of gear with seats down or up. That said, near full three weeks in Southern Italy (mostly just south of Napoli) and I saw one (1) Honda the entire trip! Are Honda not marketed there? What about UK?They're just the 'in thing' unfortunately.
I'd have been quite happy with a similarly sized hatchback with four wheel drive. In fact I'd have preferred it, but my only options at the time were the VW Golf Alltrack or BMW 120d XDrive. Both of which were in excess of £40,000 compared to £23,000 for the Duster.
People say they like the high driving position, which is fine. But an MPV will give you that high driving position, provide better road holding characteristics because they are lower to the ground and minimise the effects on emissions and fuel economy PLUS you have a more spacious interior.
We have Hondas, usually driven by old-folks. Except for the odd Type R you see around (are they called Tyre R's over there? Or are they Si's?)
OK I'm out. Hahahhahaa
Interesting though. Maybe a bit the same over here. Honda could maybe improve their stodgy marketing in the UK
OK I'm out. Hahahhahaa
Interesting though. Maybe a bit the same over here. Honda could maybe improve their stodgy marketing in the UK
I actually really like the current Civic. But the towing capacity is woeful at 750kg even for the most powerful models.
Compare that to the current Golf at 1800kg, the BMW 1 Series at 1500kg, Ford Focus at 1500kg etc.
But yes, mainly Honda Jazz's (think they're called the Fit over there?) driven by 80+ year olds with CVT gearboxes.
They're not uncommon, but they're certainly far from popular.
Yeah those are tiny. No CR-Vs?I actually really like the current Civic. But the towing capacity is woeful at 750kg even for the most powerful models.
Compare that to the current Golf at 1800kg, the BMW 1 Series at 1500kg, Ford Focus at 1500kg etc.
But yes, mainly Honda Jazz's (think they're called the Fit over there?) driven by 80+ year olds with CVT gearboxes.
Honda dropped the Fit over here a couple of years ago. I always thought it would be fun to have a Fit with SI drivetrain and suspension. We have both the SI and the Type R still.
It's something I think about often, but have been cleaning engine bays like this since I passed my test nearly 14 years ago without issue.
I was considering spending a few hours going through each connector in the engine bay and applying Stabilant. I might still, but my Wife already thinks I'm a bit mad after the work I've put into a 1 year old car this winter.
When I rinse the engine bay down, it's on a low pressure and I move the lance quite quickly to ensure I'm never spraying any particular part for any length of time. In addition, I spray all major connections and earth points with Bilt Hamber Ferrosol afterwards to drive out any moisture.
You said in the OP that your previous car had lots of troubles, could your practice cause some of that? I think there is a very good chance it may have.
I checked the product you used, it has Sodium Hydroxide, which is corrosive and you let it dwell too. Sodium Hydroxide mostly reacts with organic matter, but it can react with other materials too I bet.
We are not good at connecting things long term. If something doesn't cause an immediate or very near term issue, we tend to dismiss it. It's something to think about IMO.
Have you done any research on Bilt Hamber? Their entire product range is aimed at anti-corrosion. They're experts at it!
I spray Bilt Hamber Auto Foam at a mere 2% ratio with water, leave it dwell for a few minutes and flush out with fresh soft water. I then liberally apply a 4% mix of Bilt Hamber Atom Mac all over the engine bay. Atom Mac is an anti-corrosion product that is able to migrate in vapour form as it dries that helps it get everywhere and treat anywhere you miss.
I can assure you my wash method is not going to encourage corrosion any more than letting the engine bay get dirty and salty and leaving it there to build up for years to come.
The majority of issues I had with my last car were fit and finish related, few electrical gremlins that required software updates (i.e. one was the speed limit recognition software kept getting stuck in KMH and wouldn't change to MPH etc) and a heat shield that was rattling and took the dealer 4 or 5 visits and the best part of 6 weeks to track down and repair. My colleague had the same car as me and didn't look after it at all and had the same rattling heat shield. Lucky for him it was after they sorted mine so managed to fix it in a matter of minutes.
Like I said, I've been using Bilt Hamber products to clean my cars and keep corrosion at bay for nearly 14 years with no issues at all.
I found my paint was looking a bit tired and wanted to add a bit extra for the winter months. Prewashed the car in BH Autofoam, washed with BH Autowash, clayed in BH soft clay and given a coat of BH Autobalm. Left it looking wet and glossy (which is hard to do on silver paint).
I have rented one of those in Brazil, but they are sold as Renaults in that market. Other than the Renault badging, they look exactly the same as yours. I would have enjoyed it much more if the one I rented had a manual with a turbodiesel.
The one we rented was a 1.6 gasser with auto and it was a new low definition of absolutely gutless, I mean seriously could not get out of it's own way. It didn't seem to matter if we filled it with pump regular (E27 in Brazil) or Etanol which is sold neat in Brazil - E100, just dog arse slow. And we drove it to the mountains - Campos Do Jordao, which is the highest city in Brazil at 5300 feet, around 1300 and something meters. Foot to the floor with 2 adults and 1 small child plus bags on the way up the mountain, 80 something km/h tops. The most I could get it up to on the flats on the Ayrton Senna expressway was about 130 km/h, 82mph.
Keep in mind for context that we have expressways in Central Texas where I live that have a speed limit of 85MPH, so a vehicle that won't go over 82 even on flat ground was really a wow moment for me.
Other than being remarkably slow, it did have good driving dynamics and was reasonably comfortable. We did get some dirt road driving in ours also as we tried to find a out of the way winery on the way back from the mountains, it did pretty well. I thought it was going to hit the underside on the ground in a few spots but it made it through ok.
As to why people buy FWD SUVs, you'll never need 4x4 in the southern US, and if you really have off-roading pretensions here, you'd buy a real offroader like a Jeep or a 4x4 pickup. Nobody takes vehicles like the Duster offroad here. So if you don't live somewhere it snows then 4x4 is an unnecessary extra expense. As to why this sort of vehicle instead of a car, well, people basically don't buy cars here in the US anymore. Chevy, Ford and Stellantis/Chrysler don't even sell them any more. I even heard Nissan is discontinuing the Altima, their medium sized sedan. The number of cars you can buy is dwindling every year here.
The one we rented was a 1.6 gasser with auto and it was a new low definition of absolutely gutless, I mean seriously could not get out of it's own way. It didn't seem to matter if we filled it with pump regular (E27 in Brazil) or Etanol which is sold neat in Brazil - E100, just dog arse slow. And we drove it to the mountains - Campos Do Jordao, which is the highest city in Brazil at 5300 feet, around 1300 and something meters. Foot to the floor with 2 adults and 1 small child plus bags on the way up the mountain, 80 something km/h tops. The most I could get it up to on the flats on the Ayrton Senna expressway was about 130 km/h, 82mph.
Keep in mind for context that we have expressways in Central Texas where I live that have a speed limit of 85MPH, so a vehicle that won't go over 82 even on flat ground was really a wow moment for me.
Other than being remarkably slow, it did have good driving dynamics and was reasonably comfortable. We did get some dirt road driving in ours also as we tried to find a out of the way winery on the way back from the mountains, it did pretty well. I thought it was going to hit the underside on the ground in a few spots but it made it through ok.
As to why people buy FWD SUVs, you'll never need 4x4 in the southern US, and if you really have off-roading pretensions here, you'd buy a real offroader like a Jeep or a 4x4 pickup. Nobody takes vehicles like the Duster offroad here. So if you don't live somewhere it snows then 4x4 is an unnecessary extra expense. As to why this sort of vehicle instead of a car, well, people basically don't buy cars here in the US anymore. Chevy, Ford and Stellantis/Chrysler don't even sell them any more. I even heard Nissan is discontinuing the Altima, their medium sized sedan. The number of cars you can buy is dwindling every year here.
Started a new small project on the Duster.
The car takes a good while in the mornings to get hot air out of the vents, this means on frosty mornings I either sit in the car for 15 minutes or have to get my fingers cold and scrape the windows. Nearly all my previous cars had additional heating elements in the heater matrix or pipework to help assist with warming the car in cold weather, but the Duster being a budget vehicle does not. My previous cars have nearly all had 'Quickclear' front windscreens too with the built in heating element, but again, the Duster does not.
I looked into getting a windscreen custom made with heating elements in it, I was quoted a reasonable £275, but needed to order a minimum of 5. I tried a group buy on one of the facebook groups with little interest.
So I came up with a plan B. I seen people fitting what is referred to as "Chinese Diesel Heaters" in campervans and caravans etc. I looked at the dimensions of them and noticed one would fit quite nicely under my boot floor. Conveniently, they are the same 11cm height as polystyrene false boot floor.
These units burn diesel in very small quantities, they're available in 2kw, 5kw & 8kw generally and simply blow hot air. Most of them have controllers with timers and remote controls. They're very frugal with electricity too, they take 15A for a second or two to preheat and then 1A to run.
These seemed ideal for what I wanted. I could get up in the morning, press a button on a key fob and by the time I've gotten ready for work and get to the car it is warm and defrosted.
I purchased the cheapest 2kw unit on Amazon and it was delivered a few days ago, so I started the install today.
I spent a little bit of time working out where to mount the unit and came up with this...
The area under the heater was nice, clean and flat...
I marked out the holes required and drilled 2mm pilots...
This also gave me a chance to have a little peak underneath and make sure my measurements were correct.
Holes were drilled, filled and treated with some cold zinc which was a surprisingly good colour match...
Once the paint was dry I bolted the unit down...
I then trimmed the original polystyrene false floor to accommodate the heater...
The plan is to run the heater duct up the inside of the boot on the left with a grille on top of the left hand side shelf. I may even cover the duct in some black acoustic cloth for even more 'hidden-ness'...
Left to do...
Install heater grille & duct.
Install intake & exhaust under car.
Install drop pipe into fuel tank, fuel line, filter & injector/pump.
Install secondary battery, wiring and charger.
Hopefully I'll get all this done over Christmas
The car takes a good while in the mornings to get hot air out of the vents, this means on frosty mornings I either sit in the car for 15 minutes or have to get my fingers cold and scrape the windows. Nearly all my previous cars had additional heating elements in the heater matrix or pipework to help assist with warming the car in cold weather, but the Duster being a budget vehicle does not. My previous cars have nearly all had 'Quickclear' front windscreens too with the built in heating element, but again, the Duster does not.
I looked into getting a windscreen custom made with heating elements in it, I was quoted a reasonable £275, but needed to order a minimum of 5. I tried a group buy on one of the facebook groups with little interest.
So I came up with a plan B. I seen people fitting what is referred to as "Chinese Diesel Heaters" in campervans and caravans etc. I looked at the dimensions of them and noticed one would fit quite nicely under my boot floor. Conveniently, they are the same 11cm height as polystyrene false boot floor.
These units burn diesel in very small quantities, they're available in 2kw, 5kw & 8kw generally and simply blow hot air. Most of them have controllers with timers and remote controls. They're very frugal with electricity too, they take 15A for a second or two to preheat and then 1A to run.
These seemed ideal for what I wanted. I could get up in the morning, press a button on a key fob and by the time I've gotten ready for work and get to the car it is warm and defrosted.
I purchased the cheapest 2kw unit on Amazon and it was delivered a few days ago, so I started the install today.
I spent a little bit of time working out where to mount the unit and came up with this...
The area under the heater was nice, clean and flat...
I marked out the holes required and drilled 2mm pilots...
This also gave me a chance to have a little peak underneath and make sure my measurements were correct.
Holes were drilled, filled and treated with some cold zinc which was a surprisingly good colour match...
Once the paint was dry I bolted the unit down...
I then trimmed the original polystyrene false floor to accommodate the heater...
The plan is to run the heater duct up the inside of the boot on the left with a grille on top of the left hand side shelf. I may even cover the duct in some black acoustic cloth for even more 'hidden-ness'...
Left to do...
Install heater grille & duct.
Install intake & exhaust under car.
Install drop pipe into fuel tank, fuel line, filter & injector/pump.
Install secondary battery, wiring and charger.
Hopefully I'll get all this done over Christmas
It appears you're having great fun. I am thoroughly enjoying reading about your vehicle, its travels and modifications.
Your pictures are illustrative, your commentary rich.
It's like having a great meal and watching your tablemate enjoy his too.
CAUTION: The above might not become a commonly used metaphor.
As others have said, I so wish the simpler vehicles were available on our side. Car makers here say car buyers want bling and leather and toys in their vehicles and so equip their products.
Everybody knows a loaded vehicle reaps more profits. I bet they make fewer basic examples.
I have no data to support that claim so don't repeat it.
Re the "Chinese Diesel Heater": It's amusing that the heat outlet is opposite the driver's position. I'm sure it puts out enough hot air to clear the glazing.
It'd be interesting to see how much faster the larger sizes perform.
Q 1: I see the intake & exhaust fittings in the 5th picture up. What's left to install there are weather and spray guards (for lack of better words), yes?
Q 2: Installing a drop pipe into the tank will require drilling a hole in your filler pipe, I assume. Did the unit come with instructions/parts for sealing the hole? It sure could become a leak in the EVAP system.
Q 3: The filter and injector pump will be mounted where?
Q 4: How large is the secondary battery and is the charger a plug-in (not connected to the vehicle's charging system)?
Thanks for posting and I trust my Q's haven't crossed any politeness boundary.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and.....can you do my car next?
Your pictures are illustrative, your commentary rich.
It's like having a great meal and watching your tablemate enjoy his too.
CAUTION: The above might not become a commonly used metaphor.
As others have said, I so wish the simpler vehicles were available on our side. Car makers here say car buyers want bling and leather and toys in their vehicles and so equip their products.
Everybody knows a loaded vehicle reaps more profits. I bet they make fewer basic examples.
I have no data to support that claim so don't repeat it.
Re the "Chinese Diesel Heater": It's amusing that the heat outlet is opposite the driver's position. I'm sure it puts out enough hot air to clear the glazing.
It'd be interesting to see how much faster the larger sizes perform.
Q 1: I see the intake & exhaust fittings in the 5th picture up. What's left to install there are weather and spray guards (for lack of better words), yes?
Q 2: Installing a drop pipe into the tank will require drilling a hole in your filler pipe, I assume. Did the unit come with instructions/parts for sealing the hole? It sure could become a leak in the EVAP system.
Q 3: The filter and injector pump will be mounted where?
Q 4: How large is the secondary battery and is the charger a plug-in (not connected to the vehicle's charging system)?
Thanks for posting and I trust my Q's haven't crossed any politeness boundary.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and.....can you do my car next?
They're easy to disassemble, but you might rip one of the gaskets if you do take it apart.
I'm glad you're enjoying! I often update this wondering if it's just me waffling on about a European car nobody really cares about. But I like having a diary and this is a great way to do it.
I did a fair amount of reading on a few groups on Facebook and people were saying even the 2kw units on the lowest setting were warming up their LWB Mercedes Sprinter vans in short spaces of time so I'm confident this should have the guts to defrost my car in 10-15minutes or so. But we'll see! It will be nice to be able to use it for heat also and keep the main heaters off until the engine starts to warm up.
Q1 - There is an intake pipe & filter to install along with an exhaust and fuel line. If you look at the picture again, the closest one is the exhaust and the furthest one away is the intake. If you look to the top left of the intake you'll also see the 5mm nipple for the fuel pipe.
Q2 - The kit came with a 10 litre slimline fuel tank. I did consider fitting this as I could use Kerosene which is cleaner burning and around half the price. But it means loosing valuable boot space and when there's a tank full of fuel it can use anyway, it seems a bit silly not to. Apparently these things only burn ~100ml per hour too so hardly going to notice it. The drop pipe will be installed into the sender unit so there's an extra spout on the sender unit to pick up fuel from.
Q3 - Filter & injection pump will be installed under the car. Need to order some 4mm diesel hose, appropriate clips and a better fuel filter because I don't like what's in the kit.
Q4 - I've purchased a small 8Ah 12v AGM battery. I need to work out how much current it's going to draw when it's fully discharged to decide if I can just link it up to the main battery with an ignition switched relay or if I need a battery to battery charger.
Some seem to have massive issues with carbon and other burn squeeky clean. Very strange!
I run premium diesel or I add Archoil 6900D-Max to all my fuel so I'm quietly confident. I'll keep a spare set of gaskets on hand regardless I think, they're cheap enough!
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