[HillMan]

Originally Posted by thalavoy

Good for you. In my case I am experiencing lower back pain after a longish drives of late. Not sure if this because of the seat. I feel it is not supportive and think that I am thrown about (by millimetres ) in the seat. May be it is the after market seat covers I added? The loose seat rails may be? Or could it be that I am no longer fit?

@Neil Roy has a good point out here.

I felt the seat had to raise a few mm to get my back in the curve. The padding on seat cover helped get the right back support.

[thalavoy]

Hard clutch could be the reason. My left side of the lower back only hurts. Can the service fix this hard clutch?
Seat belt? Never have driven or ridden front without it. Feel a bit naked without it actually
Will get clutch checked next service.
All said, I wish the seat is more snug.

[Waxeloquent]

Two Simple yoga asanas for people with lower back pain, stiffness after long drive:

1). Lie flat on a mat or bed sheet (avoid cold bare floor) on your back; bend both your legs at your knees with feet flat on the floor; now for a minute or so keep breathing in and out normally. Then as you inhale, raise your back so that it forms a bridge
between your knees and shoulders. Both the hands should lie on the sides of body, palms flat on floor. Make sure your feet still are flat on floor, shoulders on floor, the back comfortably raised
(not too much, not too little as much as you feel comfortable) . Hold the breath, hold the posture for a count of 5 to 10; you can increase it gradually. Then as you exhale, lower the back to get flat on the floor. Repeat 5 to 10 times gradually. Focus on your breath as you raise and lower your back. After 5, 10 repeats unfold your knees, stretch your legs, lie flat, keep breathing normally.

2) After you complete the first one, again bend both the knees, feet flat on floor, arms on the sides, shoulders flat on floor; raise the arms, breathing normally grasp the knees; make sure your neck is not strained and you are relaxed. Having grasped the knees, inhale deeply, draw the knees towards your chest exhaling slowly. Draw just as much as you can; no need to draw them to touch your chest. It can happen gradually. Again focus is on breathing. Once you have brought your knees to a point where you are comfortable, slowly inhale, let arms fall to the sides, knees go back to original position, feet flat on ground, knees still folded/bent. Repeat this 5, 10 times. After that stretch your legs, lie flat, breath normally. After 2,3 minutes, roll to your right side, bend knees, get up slowly.

These two can also be done by people who sit in front of computers for a long time to strengthen lower back, pelvic
muscles. Those who have chronic back problems, high BP, please consult your physician before doing these.

Hope these are useful, Cheers

[acroback]

Guys, I want to change the headlamp bulbs with more powerful ones.
Which ones can I use without changing the relay? Simple plug and play bulbs would do.

High beam at highway speeds is inadequate.
I want to change both low and high beam bulbs, I notice 55W is the marking on the spare lamps. Can I install a 95W or 110W bulb without any change in relay in high beam and 65W in low beam?

[sameerg001]

Originally Posted by acroback

Guys, I want to change the headlamp bulbs with more powerful ones.
Which ones can I use without changing the relay? Simple plug and play bulbs would do.

High beam at highway speeds is inadequate.
I want to change both low and high beam bulbs, I notice 55W is the marking on the spare lamps. Can I install a 95W or 110W bulb without any change in relay in high beam and 65W in low beam?

You can't go for higher wattage without relay. What you can do is, buy better bulb in same wattage, like say Osram night breakers or philps. I'll say get Osram first and see if you still need higher wattage bulbs. Then go for relay and 90/100 bulbs.

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by thalavoy

....Can the service fix this hard clutch?
......All said, I wish the seat is more snug.

You just have to live with the hard clutch. No workarounds for that. Unless your clutch is worn out with symptoms like shuddering, it does not make any economic sense in changing it. As waxeloquent pointed out, yoga is your best option.Trust me, Iam living with a herniated disc for the last 7 years. Proper back strengthening exercises does wonders and it keeps you fit too.
Regarding redoing the seats for a snug finish, anything other than OE is a hit or a miss.

Originally Posted by acroback

Guys, I want to change the headlamp bulbs with more powerful ones.
Which ones can I use without changing the relay? Simple plug and play bulbs would do.

High beam at highway speeds is inadequate.
I want to change both low and high beam bulbs, I notice 55W is the marking on the spare lamps. Can I install a 95W or 110W bulb without any change in relay in high beam and 65W in low beam?

Try philips xtreme vision or OSRAM night breaker plus. These are also 55Watts only but the light output is better. Only two disadvantages.
1) It costs a bomb.Rs.2500 for a pair of H1 and H7.
2) Bulb life is maximum for a period of one year. Mine gave up after 9 months.

However, the light output is atleast 30% more than OE. Going for relay and 95W bulb for headlights is not advisable for the following reasons.
1)The housing inside the Duster headlight assembly is very cramped and requires physical alteration on the headlight assembly itself which will void any warranty.
2) Higher wattage means higher temperature which will definitely affect the reflector, the plastics inside etc.

You can always go for xenon for the fog lamp assembly and retain the OE for the headlamp. That way, even if the xenon affects the fog lamps, they are easier and cheaper to replace and owing to it's closeness to the ground, the light distribution is simple beautiful.

[gurha]

Originally Posted by acroback

Guys, I want to change the headlamp bulbs with more powerful ones.
Which ones can I use without changing the relay? Simple plug and play bulbs would do.

High beam at highway speeds is inadequate.
I want to change both low and high beam bulbs, I notice 55W is the marking on the spare lamps. Can I install a 95W or 110W bulb without any change in relay in high beam and 65W in low beam?

I was checking with one of shop yesterday regarding changing my bulb and putting a 90/100 bulb. He told me that it's not possible in Duster even if we put a relay. I wouldn't totally agree with him until I check with some other shop but after reading the comments from Neil, may be it's not possible.

So the only option left with me is out another set of Hella bulbs with a different switch altogether, thought I've to explore this option. I'll update the thread whenever I'll get gather some more information on this.

[woodcrawler]

Originally Posted by sumeshmani

Let me steer you all in another direction.
How good do you guys/gals find the fog lights to be.
....
During normal driving (in the night), I can barely make out any difference when switching them on.

I don't think it is specific to your car. It has been two months of heavy rains and the Duster's lights are below par for Kerala monsoons. The headlight hardly penetrates the down pour and that is compounded by the fact that the height adjustment is cable controlled. It does not lift up sufficiently so we have a longer reach.

Coming to your query. The fog light just seem to be only a fancy addition. Perhaps to make you feel that your car has more features. It makes absolutely no difference switched on or off. Pretty pathetic especially in pouring rain.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by woodcrawler

Coming to your query. The fog light just seem to be only a fancy addition. Perhaps to make you feel that your car has more features. It makes absolutely no difference switched on or off. Pretty pathetic especially in pouring rain.

Fog lamps are for near distance visibility and focused at ground level to cover a larger spectrum. The beam of light created by fog lights is usually wide and flat pattern. This is to help cover visibility on the sides and reduce reflection from the fog itself. The illumination in normal driving conditions will be marginal.

The Duster fog lamps are not the brightest, but in combination with low beam the fog lamps seem to work well. I was traveling thru moderate fog so can not comment on the visibility in heavy fog.

[woodcrawler]

Originally Posted by HillMan

Fog lamps are for near distance visibility and focused at ground level ...

.... but in combination with low beam the fog lamps seem to work well. I was traveling thru moderate fog so can not comment on the visibility in heavy fog.

I understand that the fog lamps are designed for near visibility that is why I mentioned about the headlight adjustment. Perhaps that was out of context there. My apologies if you understood me wrong.

Coming back to the fog lights; in my part of the world I'm not troubled by fog but heavy downpours. I use the fog lights here to light up the wet road in front of my bumper so I can get a better assessment of the potholes that invariably appear a month into the monsoons. Of the cars I've driven I find the Duster has the weakest night illumination and it is considerably worse in heavy rains. I'm not someone who tinkers with anything OE, inclusive of bulbs so I'm just waiting for the monsoon to fade out

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by woodcrawler

Coming back to the fog lights; in my part of the world I'm not troubled by fog but heavy downpours. I use the fog lights here to light up the wet road in front of my bumper so I can get a better assessment of the potholes that invariably appear a month into the monsoons. Of the cars I've driven I find the Duster has the weakest night illumination and it is considerably worse in heavy rains. I'm not someone who tinkers with anything OE, inclusive of bulbs so I'm just waiting for the monsoon to fade out

Got it. Thanks @woodcrawler.

To me fog lamps have never been of any help in normal drive. I turn them On during rain only to attract attention of the vehicle coming in opposite direction or sometimes just for aesthetics.

agreed: the stock lamps are not the brightest. Pamper yourself with Hell a Looks good too.

[Docster]

I was planning to drive to lonawala and back from indore and felt that the light were inadequate. I did go and check out the Osram ightbreakers but before I got those fitted I went to the showroom to get the light adjusted. WOW what a difference in the brightness and throw. All they did was adjust the lamps with an alan key from the lamp. The same was done for the Foglamps and it sure made a difference. You could get this done.
Also any news about the company changing the door beadings on all doors. I was told by the service engineer that they have gotten the memo to change all the beadings but have yet to get the beadings from the company.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by Docster

Also any news about the company changing the door beadings on all doors. I was told by the service engineer that they have gotten the memo to change all the beadings but have yet to get the beadings from the company.

Your update on the headlight is very useful. Few more have inquired about the headlight on this forum.

Do you know if the beading change for all models or certain batch?

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by HillMan

Do you know if the beading change for all models or certain batch?

I would like to tell you that we got our Duster's Door beadings changed back home in Jaipur. My dad ended up at the service center to get a clogged air filter cleaned as he happened to be in the area. The service guy asked if there was any other problem my dad was having with the vehicle. Dad mentioned the creaking noise from the doors. And the guys there got to work.

As explained by my dad. They;
Took out the door beading.
Installed a Buffer pad below the beading.
Installed the beading on top of the buffer.

He said they have instructions from Renault to apply this fix on all vehicles whose owners are complaining about noise from the doors. So basically they have increased the height of the beading. Similar to what one forum member did here (installing a rubber stub of slightly increased length in place of the one originally fitted in the door) and should be given the credit of figuring it out on his own. Was it Himadri-da?

And he also mentioned another thing which took me by surprise. He said that the brake pad wear will be indicated in the instrument cluster and you don't need to worry about it till the light glows up. He also said that their Demo vehicle has done above 30k km and hasn't had any pads changed.

[pahwa]

Originally Posted by h.s.r

Go for Galio chrome kit for Duster as BUXX suggested.
It looks better than black or painted door handles.
U also get chrome surroundings for fog & tail lamps.


Attachment 1081007

Originally Posted by BUXX

^^ That's the price that was quoted here in Delhi as well.
Cheaper option is to get a chrome package- 1200/- for handles, fog lamps, rear lamps.

Hi BUXX, HSR - Could you please share some pic of the Galio chrome rear view mirror installed? I went to a shop today for this kit and it was priced at Rs. 1600 here in Bangalore. The seller did not agree to opening the box to show the product before installation.

Thanks