The German tuning team at ELIA, specialized in Renault customizations, turned their attention to the still fresh Dacia Duster. As expected, the crossover has a great deal of potential, which the team decided to explore and re-engineer. And so, the Darkster was born.
The price tag for the uprated version varies from 24.000 euros for the 4x2 version, to 27.000 euros for the 4x4. The result of the tuning is simply stunning. Being the most advanced model to come out of the Romanian-French merger, the Duster already benefited from a great deal of attention, careful design and outstanding publicity. The ELIA team took it one step further: they took excellent and made it better.
By default, the Duster would appeal to middle class families with a need for a little bit of off road abilities. The car never intended to be a fully mature off road truck, but it managed to do so quite well – proof being the numerous competitions, both off road and rally raid, in which they participated.
What do you actually get for the extra 10.000 Euros you pay on top of the regular Duster, from the German tuning company? First and foremost, more power. Although the standard 4x2 version came with a well-balanced 107hp engine while the 4x4 version sported 110hp, ELIA felt they can do better. Their chip tuning upgrade boosts the relatively small 1.5 dCi engine to 126 horsepower, while also adding 28 Nm of torque. Furthermore, the SUV comes with 20 inch alloy racing-style wheels, sport exhaust, roof lights, roof rack, roof box, side steps and many more upgrades.
This may seem posh to some, and unnecessary to others. But, the end result is something we fully endorse. A small SUV, bearing the ELIA Tuning&Design logo, with pretty strong resemblances to the cars in Jurassic Park, at an affordable price. Nissan X-Trail, Subaru Forrester, Land Rover Freelander, and many other SUVs benefit from most of these features factory ready. So, what ELIA did was literally respond to a need in a very elegant way. In our view, the Darkster is an excellent choice for anyone wanting more from their Dacia.
