Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh

Cruiser_D · 22nd August 2020, 22:55

Excellent Power and Torque available at your disposal. But having an AWD variant would have been a great choice for enthusiast, who doesn't care much on the interior aesthetics. Especially for people looking for a practical balance between daily commute, rear seat comfort, decent boot space and some off road fun.

New Gen Thar has shown all signs for being a daily commute option while retaining the hard core off-road capabilities for weekends. But it doesn't tick the other boxes so well, rear seat and boot space, which are essential if Thar has to be that single vehicle which does all duties for an average family.

My heart goes for Thar, but practically i would have gone for a duster AWD if there is a choice.

shibujp · 22nd August 2020, 23:28

I was never bowled over by the 1.3 Turbo from the start. Primarily because the Duster's design and cabin are so long in the tooth it would put the fangs of a snake to shame.

There is no getting away from the fact that Renault should have launched the facelift here at least. or persisted with the Captur and a competent range of engines. And to top it off, the real life performance is nothing to crow about given the engine specs.

I am constantly perplexed by how they screw up some part of the equation. The Captur was a smashing design but then they went and gave it the 1.5 engine that was just not great. This from a company that produced the awesome Megane, Twingo and Clios.

The biggest strength of the Duster is it's ride which is awesome and indestructable. this you can get in the 85ps diesel. Then why bother spending money on higher variants that offer no substantial value addition.

Drive on,
Shibu.

sahil624 · 23rd August 2020, 08:38

As much as I love the Duster for it’s mechanicals, that wonderful ride quality and, now, a good Petrol engine too, I think it has become irrelevant in current Indian Car market with feature rich Compact SUVs in the vogue. Even the vehicle with similar ride quality albeit better interior (Nissan Kicks) is struggling in the market. I really wish for Duster to do well because it is a fantastic vehicle, however, they ought to bring the new model to India for that to happen.

Also, it would be interesting to see the real time fuel economy these 1.3 turbo petrol are capable to dish out. This will be a deciding factor too for many, as their diesel engines were pretty frugal.

carriage.retorq · 24th August 2020, 14:26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T14hPEBtBao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2jBZdj9mbs

Not judging - but just a quick comparison of side impact tests with a pole of Duster (probably the EU version) and Ecosport (US version?). Both tests seem to be at approx. 20 miles/hr according to NHTSA and EUNAP websites.

FF to 00:09 in both videos to compare. I pity the dummy in the Duster - even with the curtain airbags. Visually it looks like ES handled the crash rather well, probably because of a stronger build and better sheet metal?

NFS2024 · 24th August 2020, 18:53

I took a short test drive of the 1.3 Duster manual. It was short and in traffic so couldn't make out much on performance, but yea it appeared to be powerful. Smooth engine, felt it was not free revving. Surprising part was I felt the clutch to be on the heavier side compared to my diesel Punto. Asked the same to SA and he also test drove and said it's fine. But I was not convinced and let it be. Also my left foot was getting stuck between dead pedal and clutch badly. The brown seats looks down market. This should make an awesome highway car. The MID was showing 7kmpl in traffic.

There is absolutely no interest from the Dealer or SAs in selling the car even after the test drive. The SA did not take my details, did not check if I wanted to buy the car. No explanations, questions nothing. They are going through motions, maybe they are not getting paid and working for free. This was my second visit, after there was no follow up from the previous visit.

Whatever it is, no sales effort to sell a product worth 14 lacs?? Beats my mind, given the fact the auto industry is in dumps.
Really need a longer test drive and TBHP official reviews to even start considering this car.

starke · 25th August 2020, 08:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by NFS2024

There is absolutely no interest from the Dealer or SAs in selling the car even after the test drive. The SA did not take my details, did not check if I wanted to buy the car. No explanations, questions nothing. They are going through motions, maybe they are not getting paid and working for free. This was my second visit, after there was no follow up from the previous visit.

I also experienced the same when i went to Nissan for Kicks 1.3T TD, but here the dealer person opened up to me that they are only getting a mere percentage of their salary and struggling to sell some cars. This was almost opposite what you'd experienced as this guy was requesting me to buy the car so that he can get his salary :( . He also contacted me multiple times to check with me and even offered me and anyone that i know of few more test drives at my home if needed. I really felt sad by seeing their situation but I'm helpless as my buying plans are by 2021 only.

nimz_blr · 31st August 2020, 18:29

Took Delivery of Renault Duster Turbo RxZ CVT !!

Hello fellow BHPins. Writing my first post on this forum. Took delivery of Duster Turbo Petrol RxZ CVT yesterday from Renault Dealer in Sarjapur Road, Bangalore.

Haven't driven the car much, so this can't be a review. Will try to cover my buying decision and delivery experience.

Consideration Set:

I had a budget in mind of 15L OTR. I wanted to buy a 5 seater car with good GC and also capacity to carry luggage for 4 or 5 people. Preference was to buy a Petrol car and not diesel. Listing below some cars I tried :

XUV 300 : Mainly got excluded because of the small boot capacity.
Nexon : Good car but a bit too flashy for my liking.
Creta S : It's NA engine with limited bells and whistles. SX in manual and NA was going above the budget.

This left Duster RxZ Manual as a reasonable choice. I test drove both Manual and CVT Auto variants. Eventually, considering the ease of automatics in city driving, decided to stretch the budget to 17L and switched to automatic variant.

Test Drive:

Took test drive of both CVT and Manual varints, in Sarjapur Road only.

Duster Manual : Very peppy engine. As soon as I started accelerating in 2nd gear, literally get the feeling of being thrown back in the driver seat. Pulls very well and reaches 100 very quickly. Clutch wasn't hard (haven't driven Kicks, so can't really compare. But my current car is Alto k10 and clutch was almost as easy). Gear slotting was also perfectly fine. I did see some reviews about youtubers saying clutch on Kicks becomes very hard, so was a bit cautious about buying manual.

Duster CVT : Even the Duster CVT has good acceleration and reaches speeds of 100 without breaking a sweat. However, as compared to manual it does not give that feeling of sudden acceleration and getting pushed back in your seat. Still it's quiet peppy in itself and provides good acceleration as soon as we push the pedal.

Both Manual and CVT have good breaking capacity. Though it would have been better to have all 4 wheels with disc brakes. Ride quality and handling is simply great in Duster (as compared to other cars I test drove).

It would certainly be better had the AWD been provided in Duster. But it was not a deal breaker for me (it does provide better ride quality and basic off-roading capability but isn't comparable to full time 4WDs). As I was migrating to Duster from Alto K10, I personally find features being provided to be reasonable. If I am missing something on this car, it's 360 degree camera which would have made parting in relatively tight spaces easier. At least front parking sensors should have been provided.

Pricing and Delivery:

In my personal opinion, I think duster turbo (specially top end automatic) is overpriced by 1L. However, on absolute comparison with Creta / Seltos it still costs lesser by 2.5 / 3L OTR.

Delivery experience with sales staff of showroom was very good. However, I did have some issues with Dealership in terms of charges being levied in name of "Logistics Charges". It was approx. 11K. I tried contacting Renault Dealer in Hosur, but they too were charging 10K for Logistics and Handling. OTR pricing without insurance was having eventual difference of less than 2K. So finally decided to go ahead with Renault Sarjapur.

Insurance:

I purchased insurance by myself. Dealer had quoted approx. 72K for 3 year TP and 1 year comprehensive along with Zero dep. I got quotation for similar policy from Royal Sundaram for less than 35K. So went ahead with insurance purchase from Royal Sundaram, and added few more covers as well.

Dry Ice · 31st August 2020, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimz_blr

Took Delivery of Renault Duster Turbo RxZ CVT !!

Congratulations on the new car, the color looks smashing! Do start a ownership thread soon

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimz_blr

However, I did have some issues with Dealership in terms of charges being levied in name of "Logistics Charges". It was approx. 11K. I tried contacting Renault Dealer in Hosur, but they too were charging 10K for Logistics and Handling.

There's a full thread running for this

Maybe post this issue here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ngalore-8.html (Handling charges deemed compulsory by Trident Renault, Bangalore)

carriage.retorq · 31st August 2020, 18:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by nimz_blr

Took Delivery of Renault Duster Turbo RxZ CVT !!

Welcome to Team BHP!
Congratulations on your new ride! and good choice of colour. I think this colour looks great on Duster. Please do post more about your driving experience as you clock miles. Eager to learn how the engine performs and fuel efficiency numbers.

ramki.grandhi · 1st September 2020, 14:21

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7lu9svUnos

Venkatesh · 2nd September 2020, 11:21

2020 Renault Duster Turbo CVT review.

Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh-smartselect_20200902111726_chrome.jpg

Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh-smartselect_20200902112031_chrome.jpg

https://www.autocarindia.com/car-rev...t-drive-418466

84.monsoon · 2nd September 2020, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

2020 Renault Duster Turbo CVT review.

It is interesting that the Duster CVT at 10.89 seconds is faster than the Kicks manual which took nearly 12 seconds to reach 100 kph according to the Autocar review that came out a few weeks ago. I guess some of it could be due to the fact that the Kicks has Traction Control features which "that cannot be turned off' and cuts into the fun during hard acceleration based on that review. I am not sure if the Duster has TCS (it is not mentioned in the brochure). Also, the Duster is lighter than the Kicks which could also be a contributor.

I would expect the Duster CVT to be at least a second or so slower than the equivalent manual, so I guess the Duster 1.3 Turbo Manual will be even faster, probably breaching the sub-10 second mark in the run to 100 kph.

Venkatesh · 3rd September 2020, 17:06

Autocar India video review is live

https://youtu.be/EqoJbYwS3Mk

Turbokick · 3rd September 2020, 17:44

It is plain ridiculous to find the Seltos CVT 1.5 and the Duster Turbo CVT taking similar time to reach 0-120 or even 0-140. With such huge difference in power and torque figures it is either very disappointing or maybe Autocar is bit biased here. Even the kickdown timings are not far off. 100 nm extra torque for just the brochure?

sai_ace · 3rd September 2020, 18:04

Looks like the CVT is holding back the engine.

That said the the Seltos and Creta compared in the videos - both have dual clutches right?

22nd August 2020, 22:55	#106
Cruiser_D BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: KL/TN Posts: 82 Thanked: 109 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh Excellent Power and Torque available at your disposal. But having an AWD variant would have been a great choice for enthusiast, who doesn't care much on the interior aesthetics. Especially for people looking for a practical balance between daily commute, rear seat comfort, decent boot space and some off road fun. New Gen Thar has shown all signs for being a daily commute option while retaining the hard core off-road capabilities for weekends. But it doesn't tick the other boxes so well, rear seat and boot space, which are essential if Thar has to be that single vehicle which does all duties for an average family. My heart goes for Thar, but practically i would have gone for a duster AWD if there is a choice.
	() Thanks

22nd August 2020, 23:28	#107
shibujp Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Trivandrum Posts: 1,753 Thanked: 3,225 Times View My Garage	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh I was never bowled over by the 1.3 Turbo from the start. Primarily because the Duster's design and cabin are so long in the tooth it would put the fangs of a snake to shame. There is no getting away from the fact that Renault should have launched the facelift here at least. or persisted with the Captur and a competent range of engines. And to top it off, the real life performance is nothing to crow about given the engine specs. I am constantly perplexed by how they screw up some part of the equation. The Captur was a smashing design but then they went and gave it the 1.5 engine that was just not great. This from a company that produced the awesome Megane, Twingo and Clios. The biggest strength of the Duster is it's ride which is awesome and indestructable. this you can get in the 85ps diesel. Then why bother spending money on higher variants that offer no substantial value addition. Drive on, Shibu.
	(3) Thanks

23rd August 2020, 08:38	#108
sahil624 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2020 Location: Jaipur/Mumbai Posts: 363 Thanked: 898 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh As much as I love the Duster for it’s mechanicals, that wonderful ride quality and, now, a good Petrol engine too, I think it has become irrelevant in current Indian Car market with feature rich Compact SUVs in the vogue. Even the vehicle with similar ride quality albeit better interior (Nissan Kicks) is struggling in the market. I really wish for Duster to do well because it is a fantastic vehicle, however, they ought to bring the new model to India for that to happen. Also, it would be interesting to see the real time fuel economy these 1.3 turbo petrol are capable to dish out. This will be a deciding factor too for many, as their diesel engines were pretty frugal.
	() Thanks

24th August 2020, 18:53	#110
NFS2024 BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 839 Thanked: 444 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh I took a short test drive of the 1.3 Duster manual. It was short and in traffic so couldn't make out much on performance, but yea it appeared to be powerful. Smooth engine, felt it was not free revving. Surprising part was I felt the clutch to be on the heavier side compared to my diesel Punto. Asked the same to SA and he also test drove and said it's fine. But I was not convinced and let it be. Also my left foot was getting stuck between dead pedal and clutch badly. The brown seats looks down market. This should make an awesome highway car. The MID was showing 7kmpl in traffic. There is absolutely no interest from the Dealer or SAs in selling the car even after the test drive. The SA did not take my details, did not check if I wanted to buy the car. No explanations, questions nothing. They are going through motions, maybe they are not getting paid and working for free. This was my second visit, after there was no follow up from the previous visit. Whatever it is, no sales effort to sell a product worth 14 lacs?? Beats my mind, given the fact the auto industry is in dumps. Really need a longer test drive and TBHP official reviews to even start considering this car.
	(3) Thanks

31st August 2020, 18:29	#112
nimz_blr Newbie Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: Bangalore Posts: 13 Thanked: 68 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh Took Delivery of Renault Duster Turbo RxZ CVT !! Hello fellow BHPins. Writing my first post on this forum. Took delivery of Duster Turbo Petrol RxZ CVT yesterday from Renault Dealer in Sarjapur Road, Bangalore. Haven't driven the car much, so this can't be a review. Will try to cover my buying decision and delivery experience. Consideration Set: I had a budget in mind of 15L OTR. I wanted to buy a 5 seater car with good GC and also capacity to carry luggage for 4 or 5 people. Preference was to buy a Petrol car and not diesel. Listing below some cars I tried : XUV 300 : Mainly got excluded because of the small boot capacity. Nexon : Good car but a bit too flashy for my liking. Creta S : It's NA engine with limited bells and whistles. SX in manual and NA was going above the budget. This left Duster RxZ Manual as a reasonable choice. I test drove both Manual and CVT Auto variants. Eventually, considering the ease of automatics in city driving, decided to stretch the budget to 17L and switched to automatic variant. Test Drive: Took test drive of both CVT and Manual varints, in Sarjapur Road only. Duster Manual : Very peppy engine. As soon as I started accelerating in 2nd gear, literally get the feeling of being thrown back in the driver seat. Pulls very well and reaches 100 very quickly. Clutch wasn't hard (haven't driven Kicks, so can't really compare. But my current car is Alto k10 and clutch was almost as easy). Gear slotting was also perfectly fine. I did see some reviews about youtubers saying clutch on Kicks becomes very hard, so was a bit cautious about buying manual. Duster CVT : Even the Duster CVT has good acceleration and reaches speeds of 100 without breaking a sweat. However, as compared to manual it does not give that feeling of sudden acceleration and getting pushed back in your seat. Still it's quiet peppy in itself and provides good acceleration as soon as we push the pedal. Both Manual and CVT have good breaking capacity. Though it would have been better to have all 4 wheels with disc brakes. Ride quality and handling is simply great in Duster (as compared to other cars I test drove). It would certainly be better had the AWD been provided in Duster. But it was not a deal breaker for me (it does provide better ride quality and basic off-roading capability but isn't comparable to full time 4WDs). As I was migrating to Duster from Alto K10, I personally find features being provided to be reasonable. If I am missing something on this car, it's 360 degree camera which would have made parting in relatively tight spaces easier. At least front parking sensors should have been provided. Pricing and Delivery: In my personal opinion, I think duster turbo (specially top end automatic) is overpriced by 1L. However, on absolute comparison with Creta / Seltos it still costs lesser by 2.5 / 3L OTR. Delivery experience with sales staff of showroom was very good. However, I did have some issues with Dealership in terms of charges being levied in name of "Logistics Charges". It was approx. 11K. I tried contacting Renault Dealer in Hosur, but they too were charging 10K for Logistics and Handling. OTR pricing without insurance was having eventual difference of less than 2K. So finally decided to go ahead with Renault Sarjapur. Insurance: I purchased insurance by myself. Dealer had quoted approx. 72K for 3 year TP and 1 year comprehensive along with Zero dep. I got quotation for similar policy from Royal Sundaram for less than 35K. So went ahead with insurance purchase from Royal Sundaram, and added few more covers as well. Attached Thumbnails
	(34) Thanks

2nd September 2020, 11:21	#116
Venkatesh Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 8,292 Thanked: 43,821 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh 2020 Renault Duster Turbo CVT review. https://www.autocarindia.com/car-rev...t-drive-418466
	(3) Thanks

3rd September 2020, 17:44	#119
Turbokick BHPian Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Bhubaneswar Posts: 647 Thanked: 1,304 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh It is plain ridiculous to find the Seltos CVT 1.5 and the Duster Turbo CVT taking similar time to reach 0-120 or even 0-140. With such huge difference in power and torque figures it is either very disappointing or maybe Autocar is bit biased here. Even the kickdown timings are not far off. 100 nm extra torque for just the brochure?
	() Thanks

3rd September 2020, 18:04	#120
sai_ace BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: CBE-BLR-MAS Posts: 431 Thanked: 686 Times	Re: Renault Duster 1.3L Turbo Petrol launched at Rs. 10.49 lakh Looks like the CVT is holding back the engine. That said the the Seltos and Creta compared in the videos - both have dual clutches right?
	() Thanks