The dunes can be an intimidating place for a compact SUV like the Duster, especially in the company of a 4,0-litre V6 petrol Toyota FJ Cruiser, the new turbodiesel Toyota D-4D Prado and a Subaru Forester (Steve Smith’s long-termer). A lot of jokes were aimed at the Renault Duster with mentions of tow ropes, shovels and the amount of beers it will cost to rescue the Frenchman…
The location
Atlantis, located on the West Coast about an hour‘s drive from Cape Town, offers one of the few locations where one can still legally drive on the dunes. It is still an environmentally controlled area and a permit is needed for entry and offers beautiful scenery and spectacular white sand. The dunes cannot be compared to what you get in Namibia, but still challenges the owner of any off-road vehicle (SUV, bike or quad). It is advisable to always visit in a group to ensure that help is at hand if something goes wrong.
Preparation
When all the aforementioned vehicles arrived at the gate, we lowered the tyre pressures to one bar and checked that the tow rope, shackles and shovel were in easy reach before we handed over our permits to the officer in charge. The drivetrain of the Duster was locked in permanent all-wheel-drive (there is a 2WD and Auto setting as well) before the wheels touched the beach-like sand.
Driving technique
First step is to switch traction control off as you do not want the power to be cut when the wheels start spinning. Next step: try to keep the revs up. The Renault Duster has a pokey 1,5-litre turbodiesel unit but it is important to keep it in the optimum rev range to ensure torque is available when needed. Driving on level sand was fairly straight forward and the wide-section tyres (215/65 R16) and low weight (1 407 kg) helped the vehicle float on top of the soft sand at speed.
As the day progressed, I got ever more daring with the Duster and would try to follow the FJ Cruiser up a selection of dunes. With a good approach angle, the Renault attacked the dunes at speed and carried its momentum up the dune. It was only on the steepest and longest of dunes, where the engine dropped out of the torque range, that defeated the eager Frenchman.
An obstacle, informally known as the “wall of death”, consisted of a circular dune rounding another. It posed a serious challenge to all the vehicles as speed is needed to keep the vehicle on the side of the dune as one rounds the bend. Any hesitation would mean that the vehicle slips down into soft sand at the bottom resembling quick sand. The Duster surprised everyone by conquering the obstacle successfully, not once but several times! Who is buying the beers now?
Niggles
After concluding the day’s driving in the dunes I had a big smile on my face. Following some discussion with the others, I climbed into the Duster to go home but my smile soon turned into a frown as the engine cranked but failed to start. Maybe the Duster liked the sand so much it did not want to leave? It took ten minutes of waiting and trying (I even removed the battery terminal to reset the ECU) before it started again. This might be something on the specific test vehicle and will be mentioned at the first service. It hasn’t missed a beat since.
Summary
The Duster definitely punched above its weight in the dunes and surprised everyone. The value for money proposition keeps on growing in a vehicle only costing less than R250 000.
After 6 months
Mileage on arrival (km): 6 486 km
Mileage now (km): 20 876 km
Fuel consumption (litres/100 km): 8,06 litres/100 km
We like: Value for money, off-road ability, frugal turbodiesel engine
We don’t like: Interior a bit rough in places and heavy steering, loose driver seat
Follow Nicol on Twitter @NicolL_CARmag.
