[Driving_Nomad]

Originally Posted by GTO

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.
.

Awesome review and attention to detail GTO!

I took a test drive of the Duster 85 and found it fun to drive in the peak-hour Mekhri Circle traffic (Bangaloreans would know what I mean!). I could move from a halt on the second gear just by taking my foot off the clutch by just a bit. I felt like riding a tiger that's stalking its prey! The stealth with which the 85 moves needs to be experienced rather than explained.

OT: This happens on my GP 90HP as well

• What's with the elastic strap bottle holders for the front and the rear passengers? The strap holders' elastic would definitely loosen once you use them for 2L bottles on a long road trip. They would then be an eye-sore in the cabin, don't you think?
  
• I also reckon that the pedals are not properly arranged to utilize the relatively wider well, or, are they? One thing they could have done was, increase the distance between the pedals or throw a dead pedal in.

[Nitinz]

Thanks GTO for a much awaited review! I had been waiting for your 85 ps review for a long time . I am so relieved that my choice of 85 RXL option pack considering my requirement of mainly city driving is the right choice indeed and just needed your review to validate it


Though I was committed a Delivery in first half of August but vague reply from Renault Dealer indicates September mid Delivery. I was offered a Red RXZ by dealer with immediate Delivery but family vetoed the proposal so I guess will wait out another month.

Till then will call on all bhpians who recently acquired Duster to post more pics and feedbacks

cheers

[mac_guy555]

For the first time in my life .... I am entirely confused to buy a car!
I absolutely love the Duster and its ride but my primary requirement is the occasional 6/7 seater.
I have visited the Renault dealer at least 6 times and they are not able to show me the jump seat option. Heck they could not even find a brochure of the accessory!
I am beginning to think of letting my mind do the thinking instead of the heart and buy a Ertiga VDi ..... Can any of the mods here please comment on the ride of the Ertiga compared to the Duster ?
And if someone has seen a jump seat fitted in the Duster and is it even remotely comfortable for kids of 5-9 years age ?
This valuable information will be highly appreciated !
Thanks & Best regards,
Mac_Guy555.

[sunsetorange]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

And if someone has seen a jump seat fitted in the Duster and is it even remotely comfortable for kids of 5-9 years age ?
This valuable information will be highly appreciated !
Thanks & Best regards,
Mac_Guy555.

I believe children are much too valuable to be left sitting in the last row with no seat belts and with a bumpy ride and also susceptible to a rear end shunt. They always belong in the middle row.

[n_naik]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

For the first time in my life .... I am entirely confused to buy a car!
I absolutely love the Duster and its ride but my primary requirement is the occasional 6/7 seater.

Well, even I am in an exactly similar situation. Test drove the Duster, Scorpio in the last two days and even had a look at the Ertiga.
I liked the way duster drives but the '5 seat limitation' was a big let down. I already own a vehicle (swift) which seats 5 people , is fun to drive and i am happy with it. But yes, my swift doesnt have the ground clearance of a duster but then, it cost me just half of what duster costs now.

Ertiga had its own set of problems. Too much of beige inside. The TD car's interiors were already dirty to such an extent that the white/cream colored steering wheel was already brown. Maintaining it would be a challenging task i felt. And then there was that ground clearance issue which i had suffered in my swift too.

Next was Scorpio. Scorpio had no trouble with respect to either GC or seating 7 people. But didnt like other things like handling, ride comfort etc. And i felt that Mahindra would come up with an all new version of scorpio in a couple of years which means, my vehicle will become outdated soon.

I am still confused and i feel i should wait for few more months for things to become clear.

[sathyaprakash]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

For the first time in my life .... I am entirely confused to buy a car!
I absolutely love the Duster and its ride but my primary requirement is the occasional 6/7 seater.
I have visited the Renault dealer at least 6 times and they are not able to show me the jump seat option. Heck they could not even find a brochure of the accessory!
I am beginning to think of letting my mind do the thinking instead of the heart and buy a Ertiga VDi ..... Can any of the mods here please comment on the ride of the Ertiga compared to the Duster ?
And if someone has seen a jump seat fitted in the Duster and is it even remotely comfortable for kids of 5-9 years age ?
This valuable information will be highly appreciated !
Thanks & Best regards,
Mac_Guy555.

First Duster is not a proper 6-7 but an proper 5 seater small kids in the age of 9 can sit in the jump seat but not too long without complaints and there is no seat belts. Please don't confuse yourself if your need is an 7 seater go for other options straightaway.

Ertiga is more like riding an Dzire and a car like ride with very limited space for the 3rd row minus no boot space. Whereas Duster is an SUV with better GC, stability & huge boot.

If you could fly into Chennai the Jump seat is readily displayed at Renault showroom and for an detailed photo please go through our official review of Duster its added there.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

And if someone has seen a jump seat fitted in the Duster and is it even remotely comfortable for kids of 5-9 years age ?
This valuable information will be highly appreciated !
Thanks & Best regards,
Mac_Guy555.

Remember the jump seats are facing each other, so the seating position/direction is perpendicular to the direction of vehicle movement. Kids on these seats would be comfortable only for occasional intra city drives (measuring for a couple of kms). However if you plan to take kids on long / inter city/ inter state drives, then it is a big NO NO. Kids will be thrown all over the place, with lateral movements during braking & acceleration (which would be further accentuated in the absence of belts for these seats). The Ertiga is better suited for such drives.

The jump seats should be looked at only as a provisional arrangement, when you have 2 extra passengers to carry around. It is in no way a permanent seat, but if you want to torture someone to eternity then reserve that seat for him.

[thalavoy]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

On the delivery front, in Chennai the status is unchanged. No STATE TRANSPORT AUTHORITY approval is obtained for any variant of Duster except 110RXZ. More than the delay, it is the lack of clarity or on a worse case scenario the inability of the Local dealers to get the approval.
Renault themselves have a huge role to play in getting the approval by submitting the necessary manufacturer documents. I dont know where the fault lies, but I'm already having panic attacks when I look at the sheer helplessness that the dealers are displaying.In fact, I'm starting to wonder if Renault will go the FIAT or in worse case the SKODA way by giving good cars but poor dealer or manufacturer support. In fact I'm sincerely praying that French eccentricity is limited to design and not taking my money for granted(remember peugeot?)
Latest news is that approval is not yet issued today and tomorrow is govt. holiday. So even if hypothetically,the dealer gets approval on friday, registration will be possible only on monday, all of which are pure speculation at this point.
Here Iam, making 100% upfront payment, selling my old ride and stuck in the middle of nowhere, with my EMI count starting from the 2nd of this month itself, not even knowing when delivery will be made.I sincerely hope this not the "DRIVE THE CHANGE" that renault had in mind for India.

This is really sad state of affairs. Have you tried reaching Renault management? With FIAT, the users were able to reach Mangesh or even the CEO. Isn't there a mail to CEO facility in Renault web site?

I was hoping to see many Dusters on road but so far none :(

[C300]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

I am beginning to think of letting my mind do the thinking instead of the heart and buy a Ertiga VDi ..... Can any of the mods here please comment on the ride of the Ertiga compared to the Duster ?

Originally Posted by n_naik

Well, even I am in an exactly similar situation. Test drove the Duster, Scorpio in the last two days and even had a look at the Ertiga.
I

You can also check Nissan Evalia which will be launched soon. Price-wise it will probably fit between Ertiga and Duster.
IMO Duster with Jump seats is good for short city drives but wont work for long drives especially with kids.

[DRIVEN-TWEEL]

I am facing a small problem with my duster. Its nothing serious. I do have a habbit of driving inside the city with right hand on the center part of the steering with my fingers going around the back of the steering.

While taking turns and while getting the steering back to centre, my fingers tend to get jammed between audio control stick and back of the steering. Might be my driving style is wrong. I never had this issue with any other car. It happened about 3 to 4 times. Im attaching picture, to get a







clear idea about what im trying to say.

[condor]

I dont think there is anything wrong with the design of the steering wheel - or anything seriously wrong with the placement of the audio control. The steering wheel is meant to be gripped along the outer ring, and not the center part. The grip is also far far better when you hold the wheel in the traditional way - and not in the center.

[sandeepmohan]

There is no solution for this other than you not holding the horn boss partly and steering the car which is the wrong way to do it.

Well; you did not face this problem in your other car, assuming it is not another Renault, cause there are no audio controls located in the same place as it is in your Duster.

[werfish]

Originally Posted by DRIVEN-TWEEL

I am facing a small problem with my duster. Its nothing serious. I do have a habbit of driving inside the city with right hand on the center part of the steering with my fingers going around the back of the steering.

While taking turns and while getting the steering back to centre, my fingers tend to get jammed between audio control stick and back of the steering. Might be my driving style is wrong. I never had this issue with any other car. It happened about 3 to 4 times. Im attaching picture, to get a



clear idea about what im trying to say.

I had the exact problem and my fingers got jammed,but now used to it and grip only the outer ring.

[vasanthn21]

This would happen with this design of the steering. I would not say it is a wrong steering design, I guess it is a matter of changing your driving style to suit the car/steering.

In fact, I hold the steering exactly the way you have photographed quite a few times during my driving! So, I am inclined to say, it is not a wrong way of holding the steering either

Originally Posted by flyingkolors

I had one question, what does the first two images on the passenger side vanity mirror indicate?

I am still waiting for the answer to the question posted here.

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by mac_guy555

For the first time in my life .... I am entirely confused to buy a car!
I absolutely love the Duster and its ride but my primary requirement is the occasional 6/7 seater.
Mac_Guy555.

MY 2 cents. By primary and occasional, if you mean within city for even 10 times a month you are good with the duster fitted with jump seats. If by occasional, you mean a long trip say once every three months better to hire a VAN because, even in an ertiga you cannot do a long trip with seven people. If you are going on a long drive with seven people, where will you store the baggage for seven people, unless you consider loading your baggage on the roof.
Going for any other vehicle other than a duster or a ertiga does not make sense if you bring the fuel economy into consideration.
But there is a catch.Nobody has confirmed whether DUSTER with jump seats is street legal. I think RC mentions it as 5 seater, so loading more than 5 is illegal. Same can be said of our sedans too where it is mentioned as 5 seater but occasionally 4 people sit on the rear and 2 on the front making it 6 people in all.
Between DUSTER and SWIFT, that's a personal call. I just sold my 1 year old fully loaded Chevy Beat and pre-booked the DUSTER. My justification was, with the present road conditions, hovering monsoons and of course the tug of the heart for SUV made my choice.My wifey feels Iam just rationalizing my obsession and Iam hoping this is my last lapse of momentary reasoning before mid life crisis firmly sets in (remember reclaim your life?)where the heart rules over the head.