35 Dacia Duster: maximum tasks for minimum outlay

If you were looking for a minimal/maximal car or, in other words, a car that carries out the maximum of tasks for the minimum of outlay, you could do a lot worse than this. The Dacia Duster has, since launch, been the sine qua non of affordable motoring – a compact crossover that's as much as €10,000 cheaper than some rivals, yet which is entirely acceptable to drive and live with.

Acceptable is the key word here. If the Duster were conventionally priced, we would pillory its noisy engine, its cheap cabin, its lack of driving dynamism. That €16,000 entry price gets it around all that though, and the Duster instead emerges as a frugally honest, hard-working car. Perspective is funny like that.

Big enough to be practical but compact enough not to be worrying in tight city spaces, the Duster does mostly all you could ask of it for comparative pennies. A recent update has lightly tweaked the styling and added a touch-screen on some models, but the cheapest one is still probably the best.

Price range: €16,690 to €19,690

CO2 emissions: 115 to 123g/km

Which one? Alternative dCi 110

PCP from €159 per month