[shankar.balan]

Good information there!
And those side claddings do look useful and purposeful.
Wish they had also launched a 4WD though so that the functionality can also keep pace with the aggressive looks.

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

eturning back to the office, I thought, what the heck, I'll just check out the yard. Imagine my surprise when I saw a fully accessorised(if there is a word like that) DUSTER I'm attaching the pics below as a picture speaks a thousand words. Seems these accessories will be made available to all dealers soon.
List of accessories I saw.
Front Bumper with integrated lights
Door Pedal with rubber cushion
Arch mud guard cladding
Door Cladding.
They are doing everything right except delivering the vehicle

[Shandy1981]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Seems these accessories will be made available to all dealers soon.
List of accessories I saw.

Hey! Neil, good catch and thanks for keeping us posted with these great pics. Any chance you know how much these accessories cost?

If this car is being prepped for someone wonder how they managed to get these accessories fitted

[FlyingSpur]

Those side claddings look perfect. They are exactly what was needed to spruce up the boring and plain side profile of the Duster. Defintiely getting those. Not interested in a bullbar or those stepping rails or any of the other stuff.

[sathyaprakash]

Today as i went to the yard to see black color vehicle i saw this one parked at the front entrance of the yard with front bumper & lights on it seems its used as an internal test vehicle by Renault as per the SA.

There was no mention of price or when it will be available but it will be for sale some time latter according to him. There were more than 60-70 vehicles parked inside the yard which also contains the service area and more RXZ110 and RXL85 but very few Rxe85 or Rxl(o) it seems they have sold 3 85ps yesterday and they are waiting for the RTO approval for 110 vehicles.

When i inquired about my Rxl(o) they requested whether i can take Rxl85 without option there seems be no transparency and on further probe came to know that the whole pre booking has not been updated earlier due to some technical hitch so Renault has sent vehicle according to the order it received ie, people who have booked later after the launch have gained priority and there vehicles have been dispatched according to an SA who requested his name to be anonymous.

[Shandy1981]

Originally Posted by sathyaprakash

technical hitch so Renault has sent vehicle according to the order it received ie, people who have booked later after the launch have gained priority and there vehicles have been dispatched according to an SA who requested his name to be anonymous.

Since Renault doesn't seem to be putting up stickers from the factory dispatch (based on people who have taken delivery so far) can't the dealer prioritize? Or is Renault doing the allocation themselves

[h.s.r]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Just as i was returning back to the office, I thought, what the heck, I'll just check out the yard. Imagine my surprise when I saw a fully accessorised(if there is a word like that) DUSTER I'm attaching the pics below as a picture speaks a thousand words. Seems these accessories will be made available to all dealers soon.
List of accessories I saw.
Front Bumper with integrated lights
Door Pedal with rubber cushion
Arch mud guard cladding
Door Cladding.

Wow,Thanks man i am delighted to see those pics with accesories,makes Duster so complete with those addons.
Any idea about interior Accessories like front armrest.
I guess this can be termed as biggest accessory scoop.

[raul]

Thanks for the pics Neil, the Renault showroom seems to have become your second home!

From the thread it seems the booking process is botched. GTO reported they would be sending the cars with customer name and vin number to avoid any 'on money' attempts but this is clearly not happening.

There seems to be complete confusion from Renault and the dealerships on bookings and delivery. Has anyone received any mail from Renault? So who is actually allocating the cars?

[idofsuresh]

Originally Posted by raul

Has anyone received any mail from Renault?

My dealer looked up at his system and said Renault has allocated the car in September 1st week for me. Not sure what he checked.

Originally Posted by skandyhere

A bunch of questions - Did you personally find the steering centering action particularly annoying? What's your feedback on the clutch hardness after having driven what I'm assuming was at least a 30 minute drive in the city? Did you also drive the 85? If so, was the clutch hardness any different?

I did not find the centering action annoying but I did not drive in winding hills either. I was going by GTO's review.

Clutch is hard. Harder than my old Indica. On the positive side, the higher seating position helped in ergonomics and leverage, so it was not too tough to operate. No unwanted knee or hip pain. I just have a feeling the turbo lag in a bumper to bumper metro traffic will necessitate too many gear shifts and liberal clutch slippage. And the clutch will become harder with time. I drove in a moderate traffic so it was NOT a deal breaker. But if majority of the drive is in bumper to bumper metro traffic better to skip 110 and go with 85 PS. At least, the number of times you need to shift and slip clutch will be significantly reduced. You also get a bonus 10% economy. No, I could not sense significant difference between 85 PS and 110 PS clutch.

In summary, in moderate traffic (cruise at ~25+ kmph with few signals in between) neither the 110 PS turbo lag nor the clutch hardness is a deal breaker. In heavy metro b2b traffic give me a 85. All said and done, try it for yourself. Take long enough and repeat test drives on a weekday when they are not busy. After all, we are spending more than a million and we need to live with the car for the next few years. GTO's upcoming 85 PS review should help too.

[zen kobane]

To know more about these accessories, check this video out. This is from Renualt's Brazil website: Renault

Duster, o SUV de verdade! Lider da categoria! - YouTube

Hope they spread the word about their availability in India soon, I am craving for these.

[GTO]

*Added to the Engine Post on the 1st page*

Other changes to the review:

- Picture of the lower variant's steel wheel added.

- A better picture of the 3rd row seat has been added.

84 BHP Diesel Engine:



The Duster 85 variant churns out 84 BHP (@ 3,750 rpm) and 200 Nm of max torque (@ 1,900 rpm). It runs nearly the same tune as the Sunny’s version of this engine. The two main differences are that the Duster makes 1 BHP less and max torque at a 100 rpm lower than the Nissan. Compared to the more expensive 110 variant, the Duster 85 has 25 BHP & 48 Nm of torque less. Is the Duster 85 underpowered then? Not at all. It's power / weight and torque / weight ratios are still superior to the Scorpio, Safari and Innova – thanks to a lighter kerb weight. Further, the power ratios are about the same as the Maruti Ertiga, and within 10% of the more expensive Mahindra XUV500 and Skoda Yeti.

As expected, the Duster 85’s USP is the outstanding in-city driveability on tap. Turbo lag is too negligible to mention, with the engine feeling immensely tractable. While the Duster 110 only really wakes up after 2,000 – 2,200 rpm, the Duster 85 pulls clean from as low as 1,200 rpm. The engine behaves like a naturally-aspirated diesel! Translated, you’ll seldom need to downshift within the city. The Duster 85 passes the 2nd gear speed-breaker test with flying colours; it is even possible to drive away from 0 kph in 2nd gear, with just a little clutch slip. BHPian Parrys didn’t face any problem in climbing city flyovers in 5th gear itself. In traffic that the Duster 110 would require frequent downshifts, the 85 happily rolls along in the same gear. You can use the versatile 2nd or 3rd gear (choice dependent on traffic speed) just like an automatic. With liberal usage of the accelerator pedal, the Duster 85 is reasonably peppy in the city. That said, it somehow doesn’t sprint as fast as the Sunny Diesel.

Power delivery is fairly linear, but the 110’s mid-range punch (and initial torque steer ) is missing. The 110’s highway performance is noticeably superior. With the 110, you have a decent amount of reserve power in most highway conditions; this isn’t the case with the 85. Don’t get me wrong, the Duster 85 isn’t under-powered. Performance is completely satisfactory up to 120 – 130 kph, only after which power delivery starts tapering off. The engine doesn’t enjoy spinning over 4,000 rpm either. Since the motor runs out of breath sooner, the 85 is best suited to a sedate driving style on the expressway...the same conditions where its more powerful sibling runs like a horse. Anything that the 85 does on the open road, the 110 does better (as long as the needle is hovering over 2,000 rpm). With a full load of 5 occupants and luggage onboard, the difference between the two will be even more. The Duster 85 gets a 5 speed gearbox (unlike the 110’s 6 speed) and therefore, 100 kph cruising comes at a higher 2,400 rpm. On tight & twisty ghat sections, there isn’t a doubt that the Duster 85 will perform better, simply because you don’t have to contend with turbo lag. Remember my comparison between the Innova & Duster 110 on the Munnar incline? The Duster 85 would easily do that climb in 2nd gear as well.

Just like the Duster 110, the 85’s clutch also requires a certain amount of effort to operate. It seems to have a slightly shorter throw and isn't as aggressive as that of the 110. Nevertheless, the 85’s clutch isn’t what I'd call a light & easy clutch at all. I found the Duster 85’s NVH levels to be excellent overall. However, just like the 110, wind noise is quite noticeable at 80 – 100 kph. Overall, if there is any difference from the 110 variant in terms of NVH, it's not much. As a result of having lesser power though, the 85 has to work harder (higher rpm) than the 110 on the highway and thus, sounds louder at the same speed.

Overall, does the Duster 85 do the job? You bet. Power delivery is adequate, even if it lacks the muscle of the 110. If you drive primarily within a congested Indian city, the Duster 85 is the more sensible choice. It’s cheaper and more fuel efficient too! This is sort of off-topic, yet worth a mention : The power steering of our 600 kms run Duster 85 had gone bust.

[GTO]

The Renault Duster's 84 BHP variant has been reviewed at this link.

This temporary thread is merely an announcement for those who'd otherwise miss the update on our official review.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Duster 85 gets a 5 speed gearbox (unlike the 110’s 6 speed) and therefore, 100 kph cruising comes at a higher 2,400 rpm.

Overall, does the Duster 85 do the job? You bet. Power delivery is adequate, even if it lacks the muscle of the 110. If you drive primarily within a congested Indian city, the Duster 85 is the more sensible choice. It’s cheaper and more fuel efficient too! This is sort of off-topic, yet worth a mention : The power steering of our 600 kms run Duster 85 had gone bust.

Fantastic addendum GTO. I believe this part of the Duster TD & Review was the most awaited one. This will clear the doubts of most of the fence sitters. I missed one aspect though, the gear box & the gear shift quality. Most of the members who test drove both the versions of the Duster were all praise for the 6 speeder, but felt the 5 speeder was a bit notchy. Did you notice any such difference?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

I missed one aspect though, the gear box & the gear shift quality.

The gear shift does have a notchy feel. It's not as slick as some of the Japanese gearboxes in the market. Still, the gates are reasonably defined and the gearbox is acceptable to use. I don't have any complaints on this front.

Neither the Duster's rubbery 6 speed nor the notchy 5 speed are class-leading gearboxes. They do the job and that's it.

[thalavoy]

The Duster with the side claddings and front bumper guard with fogs look quite good.
Any idea if the existing cars can be modded at show room after being purchased?
BTW. Where is this Renault yard in Chennai? Thanks.

[nurni76]

Originally Posted by GTO

As expected, the Duster 85’s USP is the outstanding in-city driveability on tap. Turbo lag is too negligible to mention, with the engine feeling immensely tractable. While the Duster 110 only really wakes up after 2,000 – 2,200 rpm, the Duster 85 pulls clean from as low as 1,200 rpm. The engine behaves like a naturally-aspirated diesel! Translated, .

Great addendum GTO. I guess this must clear a lot of things for those waiting to take a decision on which diesel version to go for? I guess the one thing lacking in the 85Ps one is the 6th gear. The other day I was travelling in a Corolla Altis diesel and I was surprised how good the vehicle performed on the highways. It had minimal lag and the 6th gear helped it cruise at 120Kmp at around 2500RPM. Were you able to test the in gear acceleration and do a comparison with the 110Ps? That would be an interesting read. Thanks