[Neil Roy]

Spent the holiday adding some basic accessories to the DUSTER.Since then rains keep on coming making it very difficult to keep the DUSTER clean, but I'm loving the way the DUSTER handles itself on Chennai's pot hole filled roads to be concerned about anything else. To top it all my3 year old kid has given the DUSTER a huge thumbs up, so that has taken away whatever regret that may have lingered on my mind. In fact he goes to sleep holding the DUSTER's keys tightly
Anyways beauty is subjective, but the DUSTER is not meant to be a looker. On the balance between utility vs cosmetic appeal, the scale tilts firmly and lopsidedly in favor of utility. But, as is the case of any groom treating his bride with lots of Tender loving care and attention, this is what I how my DUSTER looks now. Sorry for the dirty car, as it rained last night after I cleaned it.







Now, Renault have taken the term frugal design to a whole new level. A minor offset in the alloy wheel with no increase in tyre size splashes mud onto the rear door from the rear tyre.

This is my only cause of worry as of now. See the mud that is accumulated on the running board near the rear wheel. That is not going to do the body work any good.
All in all, I am more than happy. Have to do something about the headlights though.

[johy]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

To top it all my3 year old kid has given the DUSTER a huge thumbs up, so that has taken away whatever regret that may have lingered on my mind. In fact he goes to sleep holding the DUSTER's keys tightly

^^Worth every rupee you plonked in buddy.

Great backdrop to the Duster, Neil. It is in these places the Duster looks great. Don't fret about keeping her clean and shiny; the dustier the better!

[DRIVEN-TWEEL]

I got a call from showroom. They are checking the issue and they said its mostly due to the ac water outlet jammed between something. There was much more water under the carpets. They are drying ,cleaning and repairing the issue. Will get the car tomorrow. Hope everything will be fixed.

If anyone had not seen the base varients interior, im posting some pictures, with



































some more pictures of my car.

[Ajitsingh208]

I too was planning to go for the 85 PS base model. Did the TD at 2 dealers in Delhi. It handled itself well and I was okay with the interiors too but still couldn't convince my heart to go for it.
Ended up booking a Black Safari LX. Delivery expected on Tuesday

[h.s.r]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Spent the holiday adding some basic accessories to the DUSTER.Since then rains keep on coming making it very difficult to keep the DUSTER clean, but I'm loving the way the DUSTER handles itself on Chennai's pot hole filled roads to be concerned about anything else. To top it all my3 year old kid has given the DUSTER a huge thumbs up, so that has taken away whatever regret that may have lingered on my mind. In fact he goes to sleep holding the DUSTER's keys tightly
Anyways beauty is subjective, but the DUSTER is not meant to be a looker. On the balance between utility vs cosmetic appeal, the scale tilts firmly and lopsidedly in favor of utility. But, as is the case of any groom treating his bride with lots of Tender loving care and attention, this is what I how my DUSTER looks now.

Great pics, Front & side profile looks best.
I noticed Duster written in front on hood as well. It is sticker or what?
What is PCD of alloys u got there?

[sharanvenu]

Had a test drive at Renault Calicut. I was keen on the 110 and they had just what I wanted. I live some 50km away from Calicut and I informed them I am coming only to visit their showroom. They said Yes, No and Yes the 3 times I called. And finally they confirmed that the vehicle will be arranged for me. They said their test drive vehicle is not registered and that caused the confusion!

Me and Mom went for the test drive. The decision was torn between me and mom who wanted the 85 for better VFM and room at the back seat. Any way, the test drive of the 110 brought a smile to her face and off we go.

Our use is restricted to semi-urban road conditions. We don't face long, crawling lines of traffic very often and we do push the limits of every machine when we do a 350km trip to Trivandrum once in every 3-4 months. So better have the 6th gear, I had decided. Reviews all over had made me skeptical about the turbo lag, but I felt it was very livable in our traffic scenario. Mom actually managed to roll the vehicle from 2nd gear on a couple of occassions without purring the engine too much.

Of course, the interiors don't belong to a 12.5 lakh car, but it is still way better than the competition. Ride quality was found to be better than the mighty Innova and Duster was riding on with aplomb. I could engage the 6th gear at 70kmph which I think will be achievable in real life riding conditions. The lack of boost below 1500 rpm is something we are used to as we own a Suzuki Ritz which itself need to be kept on the boil constantly to extract its best.

All of us in the family are short and hence after adjusting the driver's seat, there was lot of space available at the rear. The rear ac was actually looking like a lone island in the rear and was quite an ugly sight. But, once seated, this won't create a problem I guess. Visibility was fabulous even for short people. As GTO rightly said, the elderly will really appreciate the seating height while stepping in and out. You can actually walk into it with no fear of bumping your head or bending your back to sit down also, you dont have to climb a step for ingress. My 60 year old Mom standing at 5'2" was more than comfortable getting in and finding a comfortable driving position. She was pretty comfortable with the clutch also. I asked her particularly about the rebound, but she said it was fine with her.

So, people in small towns, you can go for the 110 without any doubt. For metros, the 85 would be the wiser choice.
The ICE system can be called average at best. Can anybody suggest some method to make this sound better without altering the current setup by a great extent? I am suggesting something like installing an amplifier or a sound processor? People who have fiddled with this, please advise.

Coming to the booking part. The waiting period over here is 5 months for all the variants. We have booked for the RxZ in white color. 50k is the booking amount and it is totally refundable. We are not planning for any accessories for the time being except for the mud flaps and floor mats. So, it should cost around 12.45 big ones on the road.

Also, please enlighten me about the VIN and customer name on the car. When will these be made available to us. Say, the car will be delivered in January 2013, when can we expect these details?

[Neil Roy]

@h.s.r
The PCD of stock wheels and alloys is the same. Rim size for stock wheel is R16 x 6.5J I think. I have put alloys of size R16 x 7J with a slightly increased negative offset. What this does is push the tyre out by say 10mm. This gives the DUSTER a slightly more muscular appearance(who am I kidding)
On the Hood is actually work in progress. It is a chrome sticker. Still in two minds whether to keep it permanently. To me it looks good, but I may be a little biased. Still waiting for our members' verdict as to whether it belongs to weird and wacky mods before taking a call.So guys, help me

[smsrini]

Originally Posted by sharanvenu

Had a test drive at Renault Calicut.

Test drove the Duster 85 and 110 back to back at Renault Palace Orchards Bangalore. It was a short drive around RMV extn, approx 3 kms. Found the 5 speed gearbox to be more clunky than the 6 speed. The turbo lag is not felt so much in the 110bhp version, and this version felt more refined than the 85bhp.

Waiting period was mentioned as 4 to 5 months.

The rear A/C in the RxZ is a sore point, which makes me tend towards the RxL (O), but you loose the seat height adjustment in that case.

At this moment, the TINA factor seems to pull the decision towards the Duster... will I ? won't I ?

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

On the Hood is actually work in progress. It is a chrome sticker. Still in two minds whether to keep it permanently. To me it looks good, but I may be a little biased. Still waiting for our members' verdict as to whether it belongs to weird and wacky mods before taking a call.So guys, help me

Get rid of the sticker..

[n_naik]

Saw this duster on bangalore roads. Sorry for the poor quality of the image.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by sharanvenu

....Me and Mom went for the test drive. The decision was torn between me and mom who wanted the 85 for better VFM and room at the back seat. Any way, the test drive of the 110 brought a smile to her face and off we go....

If you were looking at 85 PS version, then I guess the RXL 110 will be fine for you too. It has the 110 bhp engine and also NO rear AC from what I have read.

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

....Still waiting for our members' verdict as to whether it belongs to weird and wacky mods before taking a call.So guys, help me...

Your car, your taste! I say, if you like what you did, keep it than bothering about the pic getting to whacky mods thread / what others feel about it! I am sure you will find at-least a bunch who will appreciate those. To me, the sticker looks good & will give it an identity once lot more cars get on to the road in due time. I have quite a few stickers on my swift and the elder members of the family dislikes it to the core. But I like how it keeps the identity on road compared to the other zillion swifts!

[rohitbagai]

Took a test drive a month back. The car is OK but definitely not worth the price tag. One thing that caught my attention was, there was cost cutting all over and could be more that I could not see. The door mechanism was something that I have not seen since the Amby days and I remembered how we use to kick the doors from inside to get it open. Why has renault used same mechanism in Duster? I saw Pulse in the showroom and it had the mechanism that we see these days. Anybody from the industry can comment upon the pros and cons of the design of the latch?

[h.s.r]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

@h.s.r
The PCD of stock wheels and alloys is the same. Rim size for stock wheel is R16 x 6.5J I think. I have put alloys of size R16 x 7J with a slightly increased negative offset. What this does is push the tyre out by say 10mm. This gives the DUSTER a slightly more muscular appearance(who am I kidding)
On the Hood is actually work in progress. It is a chrome sticker. Still in two minds whether to keep it permanently. To me it looks good, but I may be a little biased. Still waiting for our members' verdict as to whether it belongs to weird and wacky mods before taking a call.So guys, help me

Front sticker is not looking that bad,instead of putting that sticker in front,
You can paste it on side,just like Scorpio,better get side cladding first.
Are you planning to put any accessories.

To all Dusters owners,please put some pictures with other vehicles like Safari,Innova,Ertiga etc for comparison purposes.

[swiftnfurious]

To all, I see only the grey + beige interiors in the pics. Is it the only version available or do we have a complete grey interior for any variant? If so, can I have the (link to the) pics please ?

[sumeshmani]

Have a look a this image from 'carcomparisons'



I am sure DRIVEN-TWEEL will upload some more interior pics of his Duster.

[Siddy]

Hey Neil Roy, loved the Alloys on your duster!

I am sure they are not the stock wheels, can you please share some details? Cost, brand etc? and did you go in for a tyre upgrade? If yes, details )

Thanks and keep revving !