[KPS]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Wouldn't that make your hand sticky and slippery as well? I have slipped my hands off the steering wheel couple of times when my hands were sweaty and feel totally un-comfortable with moisturizer in my palms.

Apply less moisturizer . Honestly you get the non oily type moisturizers and they absorb very fast

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by KPS

Apply less moisturizer . Honestly you get the non oily type moisturizers and they absorb very fast

But my palms get sweaty in no time. So I even use gloves while driving long distances. Otherwise I keep wiping my hands over my dress to keep it dry. But moisturizers might work for some as you mentioned.

I need to reckon that I neither get static currents; so those who get it might as well try this once or twice.

[h.s.r]

Guys here's specifications of bulbs in Duster.
I am planning to upgrade most of them with LED.

Exteriors:

Front Indicator signaling- PY21W Single contact Yellow colour 1156
Headlights Parking- W5W
Headlights - Low Beam H7
Headlights - High Beam H1
Front Fog - H11
Side Indicator - WY5W
Taillights - Brake light - P21/5W Double contact 1157
Taillights - Rear Indicator- PY21W Single contact Yellow colour
Taillights - Reversing- P21W Single Contact
Third brake light- W16W

[snkjr]

Seriously guys, about the static shock - in my case it's much higher on intensity to be the commonly-experienced static shock. I appreciate all the views that so many of my fellow BHP-ians are offering, but in my case I can't take this issue lightly. I don't know what it is but it's started to happen only after my dash was taken apart at the Renault workshop to fix my AC issue. It happens all the time, every time when entering or getting out of the car. Happens to all fellow passengers too, to children who don't carry mobile phones and always wear cotton clothes, and to women passengers who are generous with the moisturizer. Can't stand the thought of letting those guys fiddle with my car again - I mean the Renault workshop guys. They are hardworking and they mean well and I appreciate that, but are they competent enough is question I have right now.

One more thing - the sound quality has dramatically improved after the service, and it's a quite a difference with cleaner treble and deeper, deeper, deeper bass. I have not spoken with the service guys again (there is no workshop in the entire state where I live and I'm on the road too often), but maybe it was a software upgrade - I don't know, but I like it!

[noelravin]

Originally Posted by snkjr

Seriously guys, about the static shock - in my case it's much higher on intensity to be the commonly-experienced static shock. I appreciate all the views that so many of my fellow BHP-ians are offering, but in my case I can't take this issue lightly. I don't know what it is but it's started to happen only after my dash was taken apart at the Renault workshop to fix my AC issue. It happens all the time, every time when entering or getting out of the car. Happens to all fellow passengers too, to children who don't carry mobile phones and always wear cotton clothes, and to women passengers who are generous with the moisturizer. Can't stand the thought of letting those guys fiddle with my car again - I mean the Renault workshop guys. They are hardworking and they mean well and I appreciate that, but are they competent enough is question I have right now.

Do you have the original seats or have you got some covers installed/stitched on them. What mats do you have fitted on the floors? I would think that one of these is the source of the static.

Originally Posted by condor

No, not at all ! I'll only say - balance it out. Do engine braking initially, and then at the last part use the brakes. That way the stopping can be much smoother, and you increase the life of the tyres, brakes & also a little better FE too. I have been doing this on my diesels, and my Sumo is still on stock OE bridgestones. Brakes have lasted 50k + too.

A point to note is that with engine braking the 'brake lamps' do not activate. This can be very dangerous if you have tail-gating traffic and travelling at high speeds. Drivers behind you will not get warned. You need to use the brakes also to ensure safety.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by noelravin

A point to note is that with engine braking the 'brake lamps' do not activate. This can be very dangerous if you have tail-gating traffic and travelling at high speeds. Drivers behind you will not get warned. You need to use the brakes also to ensure safety.

Even while using engine braking, say for example when descending an incline in the hills, one will certainly touch the brakes from time to time. That red brake light flash ought to be sufficient in terms of indicating to traffic behind, that you are slowing down. Same goes for driving in traffic at greater speeds on highways.
All things considered it s good if one keeps at least some reasonable distance like some 20 feet or so between the car in front and one's self. Easier said than done in India at least!

[thoma]

Originally Posted by noelravin

A point to note is that with engine braking the 'brake lamps' do not activate. This can be very dangerous if you have tail-gating traffic and travelling at high speeds. Drivers behind you will not get warned. You need to use the brakes also to ensure safety.

True that the brake lamps do not activate on engine braking but the one who does an emergency braking using downshift is not only a moron but also a fool. At the same time, he upsets the traffic behind him and also destroys his engine a bit too. Sudden high increase in RPMs are to be avoided and is bad for the engine as per my owner manual; they have clearly mentioned about the same for downshifts.

I've noticed that even on engine braking, the few moments that the clutch is pressed for downshifting, the car moves forward considerably due to the high momentum it posses in a higher gear. It is better to use engine braking only for anticipated slowing down and for better control over curves and declines.

[snkjr]

Originally Posted by noelravin

Do you have the original seats or have you got some covers installed/stitched on them. What mats do you have fitted on the floors? I would think that one of these is the source of the static.

Well, I've got the original seats, and I've got two layers of floor mats - non-genuine/low quality rubber mats on the floor and then the Renault original mats on top of them.

[Tgo]

Hello everyone,

I am writing after a long time. The last time I was here, was when I was trying to find people with door creaking problem while accelerating/decelerating. I want to tell you that after that the car was taken on a 3000 km trip across Gujrat covered in 10 days by my parents and boy, were they relieved having traveled that far in the Duster. The car behaved well, my dad behind the wheel was comfortable and my mom in the passenger seat was relaxed and the car handled speeds till 120 in a really really really composed manner. The mileage figures from that trip stand at 15.3 kmpl (MID indicated) over really good roads and 70% highway driving.

Now coming to the point:
I shot an e-mail directed to Calros Ghosn and Marc Nassif with a CC to the customer care, the Renault dealer in Jaipur regarding the following issues with proof in pictures and a video:

1. Doors Creaking with improper repair work done in my presence at the body shop, adjusting the lock stubs in the B-pillar with hammers instead of mallets.
2. Bluetooth issue of the stereo rejecting calls on its own and the echo people hear on the other end.
3. Poor quality paint which has chipped after a minor nick.
4. Improper carpet finishing.
5. Mis-aligned doors on delivery.
6. Stained door handles and floorboard garnish pointed out on delivery.
7. Paint catching permanent mud stains on the rear wheel arch.
8. Engine juddering on cranking which has loosened up the front seat back rests.
9. small sized robber boot in the wiper stalk which leaves an opening and looks bad.

Result:
Got a quick reply from Chennai office and Engineers were flown to Jaipur (that is what they claim). Dealership owner extended full support and was a bit upset that he was not informed about these which would have saved us the trouble of e-mailing to Renault. Royal treatment, which even the Koleos owners might not be receiving was given to my father when he dropped off the vehicle today for its 10K service and conversed with the engineers from Chennai.

Few additional issues pointed out by my father:

1. Greyish powder deposits on the front wheels after every 5-10 days of cleaning them .
2. Rubbing noise from brakes after the hand brake has been disengaged and the vehicle begins to move. Much prominent when reversing.
3. Rattles emanating from the steering column while going over patched roads or with roads with gravel lying on them while taking turns (b/w 1/4 and 1/2 rotation from straight ahead position). More prominent on turning right.

The cherry on the Cake:
A Fluence Automatic with a Tank full of Gas was given for the two days they will work on the Duster in finding out causes of all the issues and their fixes. They have assured a replacement of for the system if their software patches don't work out.

[Waxeloquent]

I thought I should share this; I gave my RxZ Duster 110 PS(D) for First Free service to Trident Whitefield Renault; the only document I got was an invoice for pick up and drop.
I emailed Renault India and also the after sale service thanking them and asking for copies of service record so that I would know what works were supposed to be done and attended
to. Promptly I received 2 PDF documents - service done details and full details of warranty. That is real nice By the way I asked them to do a small touch up of paint (basement pillar culprit) and they did an excellent job of that.

[condor]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Greyish powder deposits on the front wheels after every 5-10 days of cleaning them .

Would be brake dust .. Normal, and seen more on alloy wheels.

[amitdan]

A lot of has been already written about the 110 in the ownership forums, so I will just add some of my experiences here. I have a 110 RXZ, and it is nearing 2000 km after 2.5 months. I will be giving it for servicing next week and will follow up with a post service review.

Few generic observations/comments:

- the quality of interiors has been the one of the most talked about negatives of the Duster. Of all my friends who have sat in the car, not one has actually commented on it. Everybody has said that it feels like a premium vehicle. These are folks who drive Puntos, New I 20s, and similar hatches. I personally do feel that the quality of plastics could be better but the overall interior package looks good to most.

- people have mentioned that the plastic build quality is bad and the controls might fall off/ break after hard usage. I have owned a petrol indica for 8 years, and it has aged well, and From the build quality of the Duster, I do not see that to be a problem. They will last...

- Road presence of the vehicle is awesome. Seen enough people checking it out/heads turning when parked or driving. Similarly priced sedans do not seem to command such attention. The car looks/appears big, but if parked amongst other vehicles you come to know that it is not a very big car. The wagon r is of a similar height.

- in addition to the previous point. Some friends of mine, who are looking to buy a new car, and are interested in the Duster, have narrowed down to the Duster and the Vento. This pattern is surprisingly consistent.

- Non quirky controls- the audio controls beneath the steering take a day to get used to, and I might go ahead to suggest that they work better that steering mounted controls. I was driving a 2013 Kia optima in the US last month, and found the steering controls not as easy to use (disclaimer - it could be because of it being a left hand drive), but the duster controls are perfectly fine to use.

- similarly, the ORVM controls are also very easy to get used to. Although they are placed under the handbrake, they are easily operable.

- the actual weird one is the seat belt reminder, which is placed in the central console and not in the the MID

- Bluetooth works fine. No echo on my Galaxy Nexus and Winphone.

- as summers are starting in Hyderbad, I am sure that the rear AC, would come in handy. The front blowers are fine, but when fully loaded, the 2nd blower will help keep the cabin pleasant during full blown summers. On a 90 km trip, the person sitting in the center in the rear seat had no complains. Ingress egress may not be the best, but when seated, no issues.

DRIVING DYNAMICS
- enough written about it. Absolutely brilliant. Last week I sat in a new Xylo. I was siting in the front and was absolutely surprised by the cabin roll and forward movement on braking. If anybody wants to know how well the duster rides, sit in a Xylo.

- the vehicle is absolutely brilliant for overtaking within the city/ highway. Power delivery at your disposal across the board. No fuss whatsoever. And this is when the car is still in its run in period.

- within city driving is just about fine. Going over those bumpy speed breakers is the most cumbersome part of driving the vehicle. I am personally trying to find the sweet spot for a stretch of five speed breakers which come within 250 meters. I guess this is a unique problem for that stretch only.

- On a very few occasions, the 2nd gear seems just inadequate. When starting from a dead stop on a slope, the first gear should be pulling a bit more, for the 2nd to take over and do its job. As the vehicle has not had its first servicing, I guess this is just a temp issue as after servicing, I can make the 1st gear pull more.

- I drove on a highway with 5 people and I feel that the Duster handled at its best when fully loaded. Felt more planted at higher speeds, than with just 2 people in the cabin.

- ADJUSTING FROM PETROL DRIVING - in my petrol Indica, I was moving to the top gear (5th) as quickly as possible. When I started doing this on my duster I realized I had to do down shifts and gear changes much more often (I was only shiting upto the 5th). I have slowly changed my driving style to not to shift up very early. For most city driving 3rd/4th work fine and keep the rev meter between 1500-2000.

- there is wind noise in the cabin beyond 120 lymph. Taken care of easily by music

- I am getting 14.7 imply in semi city driving. That's what the display shows nearly always.

WHAT MORE WOULD I LIKE
- single touch window up/down
- auto lock on while driving
- although the wipers look small, they work fine, but still there's something about them that can be improved.
- cabin space works just fine for me, but people expect a lot more legroom in the back, as the car appears to be much larger. Not a crib from my side though.
- climate control
- arm rest for driver
- the turn indicator could be slightly softer to operate
- better dealer

[TheTeacher]

@amitdan, that was a nice wrap-up and is very helpful - thank you! If only they came out with the 4x4 version soon!

[motorhead1981]

Hi all

I am just back from a 1200 km trip from Coimbatore -chennai-Thanjavur-Coimbatore. My 110 PS behaved really well. I got hella 3003 & roots viber sonic installed in Chennai. I will post the new butch looks soon. Driving involved around 70% of pure 4 lane bliss & a fair bit of driving amongst non existent roads when I visited my village. I got an average of 16.1 KMPL during the entire trip with AC on 100% of time.

Cheers

[noelravin]

Originally Posted by snkjr

Well, I've got the original seats, and I've got two layers of floor mats - non-genuine/low quality rubber mats on the floor and then the Renault original mats on top of them.

Try putting the original mats on the carpet directly so the static can be drained through the car - those carpet mats do generate statis. The rubber mats might be insulating those mats causing the static to go to the passengers. Good luck!