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Changing brake pads at 14000kms seem quite premature. Pads normally last 25-35k depending on the driving conditions. Did Renault mention any surprise at the pads being worn so early? Skimming or 'facing' of the discs during the replacment of pads is standard procedure to ensure max contact between the new pads and used discs.

While i respect your opinion i must say that your decision of not buying this car solely based on intermittent wipers and no tinted glass is bad.

Duster is an otherwise brilliant car and you get around these small quirks easily in a month or two, if it was build quality or interiors then i can understand as it cant be changed but you will get used to the wipers and for tinted glass you can install some good sunfilm like 3M CR series or VK70 which has excellent heat rejection and cops wont see it.

I dont own the car so please dont think am biased but rethink on your decision.

Hi, i'm noticing a lot of black smoke from my duster when the RPM crosses 2500 rpm.

Could you share your experience and what do you mean by partially fixed.

Anyone else noticed thick black smoke from their Duster? or is it just a couple of people with bad luck.

What could be the reason and interpretation, experts could you provide your view on this?

At what RPM's do most of you drive your Duster?

Sid

I am a duster 110 owner.
These are interesting in terms of deal breakers. Maybe I do not see the need of having an intermittent setting, as it does not rain that much in Hyderabad. I am sure you have sound reasons for your decisions, but these seem to be a bit harsh for the vehicle. Were there other things you might not have liked in the package with these last two turning out to be the deal breakers?
Was the dealer experience bad and what else did you not like in the car?

Took a test drive of the 110 ps RXZ Duster today. Here are my views:
1. Clutch is quite hard as compared to my Dzire diesel.
2. I had to operate the clutch pedal with my left foot at some angle towards the right.
3. Turbo-lag is pretty evident in low rpms. Caught myself being honked by the vehicles behind me when starting from the traffic signals. I would need some time to adapt to the turbo-lag. At the same time third gear acceleration is very good. 15 to 20 kms is very less to fully understand the dynamics of a car though.
4. Very good ride quality. It definitely felt better than my old generation dzire.
5. I would love to be chauffeured in a duster.

I dont know how much more I can agree here. That way, you name any car I can find 10 such issues.

Well, AFA I know, inherently Diesel engines will emit black smoke if you throttle it too hard which happens when there is too much fuel but not enough oxygen for a healthy combustion. Now, why that does not happen for Petrol is where the actual experts will have to comment but I am guessing it has to do something with the temperature the 2 different fuel work.

I have never seen any black smoke out of my Dusty or out of the other 100 Dusters I see everyday today in Bangalore. I drive < 2500 rpm most of the time.

^^Yes the diesel engines do emit black smoke under hard acceleration. I suggest to ignore it unless your car is emiting a bit too much of it.

Don't know why but I have seen that the 1.5 l diesel unit working in Renault and nissan group of cars, emits a little too much of the smoke. I have seen lot of micra, sunny, scala emiting black smoke, as compared to other cars in segment.

On the contrary, donot generally see Duster or Renault or Nissan or any other renowned brand emmit black smoke.
The only brand I see smoking is the Tata's.
If you deliberately want a diesel car to emmit black smoke, simply slot to higher gear at lot speed and accelerate.

Depends more on the user / user's thinking/driving style. And the engine size to some extent.

Renault Duster Becomes No.1 SUV in India

Source 1:http://www.business-standard.com/art...0300006_1.html

Source 2:http://blog.carexpertsindia.com/rena...-suv-in-india/

Source 3:http://www.carwale.com/news/10438-re...e-segment.html

More power to the crazy French !

All this talk of changing disc pads made me very apprehensive about the life of my brakes as I have already crossed 27000 kms. So I did what I do best:Shockked: Clean my brake pads and disc(Do it yourself)

I had already completed this exercise at 15 K kms with amazing results.
Following is the series of pics which I hope is self explanatory
This is how the existing pad looks like.

This is work in progress using 3M brake cleaner

This is how the brake pad looks like after it is cleaned. Even though the pad is not fully dry, you can see the color difference.Look at the brake dust and grime washed away from the disc pad.

This is the thickness of the existing inner pad. It measures around 12mm after 27000 kms. The outer pad measured at 8 mm.

Here is the secret to getting the best out of your brake pads for Duster. The inner and outer pads are interchangeable. The outer pads wear out more quickly compared to inner pads. So, if you can switch pads(similar to tyre rotation, but within that wheel only) you can at least double the life of your brake pads. For sure, cleaning increases the efficiency.
Cheers.

^^Does cleaning brings any difference to the brakes, like do you feel any difference in brake bite?

And how much does the 3m brake cleaner Costed you and from where you got one?

Too many questions :D

And valid ones too.
C'mon who are we kidding here? Rs.4500 for 14000 Kms works out to 32 paise/km running cost just for front brakes alone. What the ...?
Duster is no beemer, although I pretend it to be:D,so billing in the same league when it comes to regular running costs is ridiculous. Hence the DIY.

To answer your question, yes the bite is increased once the pad surface after interchange evens out after 20-30 kms of city driving. the cleaner cost me Rs.480/-. Got it from GP road, as 3M retail outlet in nungambakkam was out of stock. This is my second cleaning using the same can.Have some left. Planning to use it on the rear drum brakes also(which I did not do the first time). Once The rear is also cleaned, Iam pretty sure the efficiency will increase drastically.

Thanks Neil for the detailed inputs. 4.5 K within 15000 km is a bit too much that to from pads.
Interchanging is a fantastic idea. Thanks again.