Dacia Duster vs Suzuki Vitara: which budget-friendly SUV is best?

SUVs are expensive, right? Well not necessarily. There are a few budget-friendly options out there, including the Dacia Duster and Suzuki Vitara. Both offer great value for money, but which should you buy? We’re going to compare the two to find out.

Design – Which SUV Looks Better?

The latest Dacia Duster is a fabulous-looking thing. It has a rugged and robust look thanks to the upright front end and chunky black cladding, and the slim LED headlights make it look much more upmarket than the price tag suggests.

The Vitara on the other hand has been around for the best part of a decade now, and it’s starting to show its age. It’s not an ugly car by any means, but the design is a bit more plain than the Duster’s.

Price and specs: which is the best value?

The Dacia Duster starts from just under £19,000, making it almost £5,500 cheaper than the Vitara. Before you rush to conclusions though, a basic Duster is quite sparsely equipped. You get steel wheels and no touchscreen for example, whereas the Suzuki comes fully loaded.

Your £25,500 gets you a 9.0-inch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, keyless entry, adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring. To get a similar level of kit on the Duster you’ll have to upgrade to the mid-spec Journey model, although it’s worth noting that adaptive cruise control isn’t available on any trim level.

However, even a range-topping Dacia Duster comes in at a couple of thousand pounds less than a basic Vitara, so for the best value this is the car to go for.

Engines and driving: which is best on the road?

Out on the road there isn’t much to separate these cars. Both are reasonably comfortable and easy to drive in town, although the Suzuki feels less refined when you’re at motorway speeds.

That said, the Vitara’s standard-fit adaptive cruise control does take some of the strain out of long-distance drives. It has quite comfortable seats as well, despite their rather thin appearance.

Engine-wise these two cars both have straight-forward lineups. Both have a choice of petrol or hybrid engines, and neither offers a diesel.

The Duster is available with either a 1.2-litre petrol with a six-speed manual gearbox, or there’s a 1.6-litre self-charging hybrid which can manage short stints in traffic on electric power alone. There’s not much difference between the two in terms of fuel economy – the hybrid manages 55mpg compared to the petrol’s 51mpg.

The hybrid Vitara is best avoided because it’s sluggish and has a clunky gearbox, and you only gain 3mpg over the peppy 1.4-litre petrol. As with the Duster, you have to go for the hybrid to get an automatic gearbox. If you have to have an auto, the Dacia is a much better bet.

Both of these cars offer all-wheel drive as well, and both are actually quite capable off-road provided you don’t try to tackle anything too extreme. All-in-all, the Dacia Duster is the better all-rounder when it comes to driving.

Interior and practicality

Both the Dacia Duster and the Suzuki Vitara are built down to a price, but the Duster does a much better job of hiding its budget roots. The interior is much more stylish, and it all feels quite solidly built. The materials used are all pretty hard and scratchy, but this is easily forgiven at this price.

Step into the Vitara and you can tell straight away that this is a 10-year-old design, and it feels quite a lot more flimsy than the Duster. It’s not offensive, but you certainly know you’re sitting in a budget car.

The Duster has a much larger boot as well – 472 litres compared to 375 litres in the Suzuki. Both offer decent rear passenger space, but the Vitara does feel a bit roomier in the back.

Conclusion – Which Is the Better Budget SUV?

If you’re looking to get the most car for the least money, the Dacia Duster is the clear winner here. It’s cheaper than the Vitara, better to drive and has more boot space, and it does a much better job of hiding the fact it’s a cheap car.

The Suzuki Vitara isn’t a bad car by any stretch, but at £5,500 more than the Duster it was always on the back foot. It does come with a lot of standard equipment, and it’s decent to drive, it’s just hard to hide the fact it’s a 10-year-old car under the skin.

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