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-   -   Renault Duster : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/123824-renault-duster-official-review-152.html)

I guess this price is for the sides only; my experience is that unless you protect in the least the windshield at the front, the effect of aircon is certainly reduced. What we save in film we end up spending more in fuel. It is nice that you got some kind of assurance on reimbursement. I had Garware several years back and it was just ok. Cheers

Hi everyone,
The second thing I did after buying my Duster was to go for V Kool sun films all around the car. It set me back by around 25K, but the cost is well worth the result. It is really hot in chennai now, but the duster a/c cooling has no issues.I went for VK 700 for the front windscreen and Elegant 70 for all sides. Even at nite there is sufficient visibility inside the car,so much so that I dont leave anything of visible interest lying on car seats

The main culprit is the front windshield. The angle and the width allows for heat to permeate through the entire car. Of course I am assuming that you guys follow two basic steps when you park/enter into the car parked under the hot sun on a peak summer afternoon.
1)Reduce the driver and passenger window level by at least 1 cm when car is parked to allow for the expanding hot air to escape outside.
2)As soon as you get in, roll down the windows for at 30 seconds so that the relative temperature difference inside and outside the car is balanced.
O.T I really wish the supreme court tries to do some long overdue justice to commonsense and legalises sunfilms within permissible limits.

Absolutely right on - Chennai heat without sun control films is unbearable and lowering the front window glasses just a little when parking car in sun. In fact after you get in to the car, it will be good to lower the window glasses all the way down and turn on airflow all the way up for a minute or so to get rid of bad effects of interior plastics' heat toxicity. This is true when you start the car after overnight parking also. As for SC order, like throwing the baby with the bath water, really wish some org even Team BHP filed a PIL. Cheers

My bad, i should have mentioned it. The price quoted is for front windscreen ONLY. As per the guy managing the store, 66% of heat enters from the windscreen only.
Corroborates what you have mentioned above.
For covering all sides, I guess he said 18K.
Was contemplating Garware, but not getting too good a feedback on it.

Spot on. For some strange reason when I took delivery the tire was prolly kept around 33 at least. So when I went to the petrol
bunk to fill diesel, I asked the chap to keep a uniform 29 all around and the ride was lot smoother. The little rattle which I thought I heard disappeared. Cheers

Yeah sun control film is a must in summer at least. The issue is you spend a decent sum of money and if police stops and insists on removing it, it is downright loss, isn't it? From the visual inspection where CR 70 is installed, I could hardly make it. Then police have trained eyes one guess. One can try removable static stickers. Bought a few from US, so easy to stick, peel and re-stick. Didn't find such quality here though :( Cheers

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team: Please use the EDIT or MULTI-QUOTE buttons instead of typing one post after another
on the same thread.

I have started to notice lots of black dust on my front wheel caps,predominantly on the drivers side. Is this something to do with the brakes.

Yes I think they are very much due to brakes. You can see them in many cars. Nothing specific to Duster I guess.

Is this something to be checked.Are the brake pads wearing off due to this.

I dont think they are wearing off. I will let others comment (not too sure). I have seen this in my previously owned cars too.

I was in service center last Saturday (6th April) for door rattle thing, where i met a gentleman who was there for braking issue. His brake pads had worn out after 19000 KM and as per him and the service guys, things were fine when he came for 10K service to the same place.
The guy was furious as Renault was asking him to foot the bill for the replacement and he wanted it in writing from them that brake pads had worn out so soon.

So in nutshell, do have this checked once thoroughly at the SC or some good workshop outside. But if an issue is found, pls get it rectified only at SC.

Rohit

It is the brake dust coming from the disc pads.Happens to all cars with disc brakes. This dust settles down on the wheel disc giving it the black color. Brake pads wear off all the time with usage. It is a continuous process.The brake dust is just a indicator. Brake dust is more visible on your wheel disc after highway drives or spirited drives. Even with your rear drum brakes, brakes dust is generated, but as the drum is completely covered, you dont see it outside.

The standard instruction given by Renault is to check and replace disc pads at 20000 Kms and understandably so. Duster has very high pickup and very high ground clearance, both of which combined takes a heavy toll the disc pads.
When my SA first told me that disc pad "check and replace period" was 20000 KM, I got myself one of those 3M spray cleaners and had my own DIY to clean the front disc pads when the vehicle crossed 15000 Kms. Now, my vehicle has crossed 24000 Kms without any issues and if anything, the bite has increased after the DIY. So a little bit of understanding of the basic mechanicals, combined with little bit of elbow grease on sunday afternoons will reduce your service bills substantially.:D

20k kms for disc pads replacement is too early imo. I changed my fusion's at 60k kms though ford recommends every 50k kms. My cars disc pad were inspected at 50k kms but were not changed because sufficient carbon was still there on pads. Disc pad replacement every 20k kms will add substantially to ownership cost.

Thanks for the useful info Neil!:thumbs up
A bit of info more, if you please...
-Are you using 3M's High Power Brake Cleaner?
- Do the wheels need to be removed before applying the 3M spray, since the instructions says it attacks paint surfaces?
- After application, the instruction says -"flush away dissolved deposits with added applications." How is this done?

@ Dr Abhi - its all depends on the expected usage pattern for a vehicle - the OEM expects a more demanding pattern on the Duster as compared to a hatch that's expected to ply on only good roads- that's the probable reason for the standard instruction.
- Everything need not boil down to cost to ownership

We won't let you getaway with just writing and smiling.
Please post details of the 3M spray (which I have not come across ever:Frustrati).
I have recently observed the same black dust on my front wheels, need to check the pads. Thanks Neil for the updates.

Even I thought that 20K per replacement is a little bit weird, but given the cost cutting measures that Renault have undertaken for the Duster, I am keeping my fingers crossed. In fact, word was that the free camp arranged by Renault was to check for,among other things, the wear and tear of disc pads of all Dusters on road. Hence my DIY to extend the life out of the existing pads.Anyways, the life of disc pads in cars is always greater than SUVs/crossovers due to weight, lower center of gravity etc.Iam hoping to stretch the life on the pads to around 40K.

I dont remember the exact name of the spray that I used. 3M sales counter is just across my office(lucky me) and I explained my requirement and they gave me a spray can. It cost me Rs.500/-(approx).
Tools needed.
1)1 double ended spanner and one ring spanner for removing brake calipers.(size is 12-13 or 14-15, forgot which)
2) Copper grease for lubricating the caliper bolts.
3)3M spray.

Procedure
1)Remove the front tyres using your jockey/wheel spanner.
2)loosen the bolts holding the disc pads to the calipers using the double end spanners.(One for the back side to hold the bolt head in place)
3) lift the caliper assembly holding the disc pad in place
4)Remove the disc pads and keep it far away from the vehicle and using a soft cloth clean the brake dust on the surface of the brake pads and the disc.
6)Spray the 3M can evenly on the disc pads and on the disc of your Duster quite liberally. You can see the colour of your pad change from dirty black to asbestoes grey within minutes.The disc shine also increases.
7)Refit the disc pads to the calipers and lubricate the caliper bolt using the copper grease.If possible rotate the disc pads form inside/outside) before mounting.
8) Refit tyres and you are good to go.

As complicated as it sounds, once you see how it is done, it is no big deal at all and it saves you a whole lot of money spent on replacing components. I dont think OE service centres do this kind of cleaning. The maximum I have seen is that they remove disc pads and wipe with cloth and refit it or in worst case, put some emery sheet to the disc pad surface to roughen it up.
3M is surely a good product when it comes to getting the fine dust out. That much I can vouch for.
For all those interested in this DIY, fist see how it is done by any trusted mechanic that you know, and you can do it every 10K kilometers. Trust me, you will save a whole lot of money and your car will have better brakes at no extra cost.
@ Himadri, Iam desperately searching for the invoice copy in my office to see the name. I think it is the same that rigid rotor said but Iam not 100% sure.