Goodwood special: Black Edition Duster launched in UK





The goodies include a Kenwood media system with a 6-inch high-resolution screen, Garmin satellite navigation, ipod connectivity, DVD playback and rear USB connection, ash leather interior, along with new 18-inch alloy wheels.

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WoodCrawler, you are in very safe hands. You Duster has the ability, capability to do everything the so called 2WD SUV's of this price range does plus much more.
Take it from me, I have put in 90k kms on a Sumo, 25k kms plus on a Scorpio 75k kms plus on a Safari, 1lac kms plus on a Tavera and 1 lac kms plus and still counting on a Bolero.

Don't bother on the wheel spin much as the stop was not in a proper place, moreover you were on a turn. Wheel spin was bound to happen.
You will very shortly pick up ways to avoid it with some more driving.
Just avoid stopping on a curved incline when on a FWD 2WD, its not a problem with a Duster only, with all FWD cars.

About the MRF tyres, you should then have a look at my video here though I agree these wanderers are not real offroading breeds.
I had the Duster planted in all these tracks but my Bolero and Tavera did fish tail quiet a number of times on the same track.
I wouldn't dare to take the Safari during this time of the year as it would just sink due to its weight.


Amitk26, I have high regards for the urban offroading capability of the Safari.
It munches road dividers like pop corn. So does the Duster and I have, just for the sake of testing, tried ones on the Duster too.

But you concept of usable GC of the Scorpio more than the Duster is hilarious.
I still remember the first time I was driving a Scorpio through the roads on North Bengal when I saw a rock the size of a brick lying on the road.
Just graduating from a Sumo, I thought to pass the rock if kept between the left wheel and the differential.
Then came the thud sound, the rock hit the left arm of the front left suspension. It wouldn't have touched the Sumo's underneath for sure.

All the cars I have driven has scraped their underneath on the roads I take in Sikkim except the Safari and Duster.

All said and done the Duster though has one negative point.
This is when the clutch is released in 1st gear from a stop.
MUV's like Sumo, Bolero, Scorpio, Tavera and the best example, the Safari moves on its own very smoothly without the hint of stalling even without the accelerator been pressed.

This is where the Duster feels like stalling or stalls if the accelerator is not pressed. This may be due to the fact the car is designed to save fuel.

Rightly said Neil. Your red Duster on that slope was such an inspiration to me.
There is one more with the left rear wheel up.
As far as experience goes and the number of kms you have put in, you are way up than any other Duster owner in the beautiful forum.
By the way you have not put a front bumper guard as off yet like me or are our quota of experiencing accidents is over.
If you observe, the front grill that is in front of the radiator is very weak and vulnerable if you hit a animal (dog) at high speeds. Any ideas?

Himadri laugh all the way if you find it hilarious but let me tell you I have no emotional investment in Scorpio In fact I hate some of its aspects to the core.
Duster skid plate is of plastic so I could not gather courage to try its GC.

Coming back to duster in this particular test I pressed accelarator all the way but it refused to climb the obsticle.

However as I wrote before apart from this single point of tractability, I like every thing else such as handling , suspension turn radius etc.

The skid plate of the Duster is indeed weak. I am in the process of designing a new one which would also protect my radiator too.
I take a whole lot of time to clean my car, one outing in the rains and it takes me a whole day almost to clean the car.
Hence I did not want to take the car out to show how it clears everything the Safari can clear.

In this obstacle test, used 3 three inch bricks to get a height of 9 inches.
As you would notice, I did not rush or hit the obstacle, was done slowly.

I cleared the obstacle in reverse too.
(Felt quiet silly after doing this, as I doubted my own gut feeling and went on to prove something)

@himadrimondal, really appreciate your write ups and videos. The duster has a very good power to weight ratio and being a lighter vehicle it can fair well on most obstacle course. The demonstration proves your love for the car and clear doubts from the mind of people with a visual. Good job!!!

I got myself PU Leather covers for Duster. Went with butter scotch color. Imperial Leathers did a fantastic job with the fit and finish. Had to order a week in advance. But was worth the wait.
Thought of sharing a few pics.
Please excuse the picture quality, it was raining heavy and night while the work was in progress.

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Wow! I have not attempted anything even close to this. Then, driving through the speed bumps and the potholes in Bangalore and the couple of trips I made to hill stations in TN, I am certain that Duster handles most of these well, very well indeed. Thanks for the video as a picture is worth thousand words! Cheers

Hi HillMan,
The covers look beautiful.

Could you please share the cost details, at least indicative costs?
Where is this shop located?

Cost me 10.5k including pure leather steering and hand break wrappings.

Give a search for imperial leathers on team-bhp. I found them here
He has variety of options and designs to suite every budget.

The owner Shivakumar is a very hardworking and friendly guy.

Workshop Location: http://goo.gl/maps/2raX0

Hi Waxeloquent, Does the coating help dampen road noise as claimed by 3M?

Also there seems to be rusting/coloring on the silencer joint. Has anyone else also noticed it on their Duster?

I had a similar case with Spark that was noticed in second year and Chevy happily replaced the silencer for free. I'll pose this questing during the 2K service to Whitefield Renault.

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This will be very very useful! There were some good discussions on this in the Grand Vitara thread (think it was Samurai's), where they used steel plates (the ones with the dash pattern). Interested to know, based on your initial investigation, what the impact on Ground Clearance and increase in weight be?

I did not do adequate research before getting this done. Yes, it is a 3M under chasis coating. But there are so many
of 3M products each with a different object. My guess is what is generally used by the OEM dealers and 3M care
centres is the anti-rust, anti-corrosion material. If one wants noise reduction, one should look for rubberised coating
which probably will cost more than the Rs 5K I paid for. You could check and inform other forum members as well.
It will be helpful. Also, even though the warranty says 5 years, given the harsh Indian road condition particularly after
the rains and if one does extensive off-roading, I wonder if the efficacy will be that long. Cheers

Yes I second that. My guess is if a metal skid replaces it may add weight but probably will not affect GC adversely. Cheers

the skid plate is non-metal. However, the thickness of the fiber does have distinct advantage for soft-roading where you might scratch the floor a bit (not bump hard). While metal would bend on impact the fiber ones might break. The fiber one would cushion the impact before it gives way. Unless designed properly the metal one will create bad stress on impact to the holding bolts and chassis. IMHO, our 4x2 beasts are not meant to be off-roading in the wild.

How about a sheet of metal reinforcement over the fiber skid plate (sandwich them together), tightened by screws to the fiber itself and not directly to the chassis?

The hardness of the metal will help distribute the weight on impact and improve resistance to scratch.

What say ?

There should be no major difference in GC as the sheet would be either 18/16 gauge thick steel.
No idea about what the final increase of weight would be, lets see !
The final looks as I visualized.