Renault Duster : Official Review

[DoneAndDusted]

Awesome review GTO! This review kind of vindicates my own feeling about the duster. The top end is overpriced and has brought it too close to the XUV that made me go with the XUV. I definitely think the 85ps RxE and RxL make more sense. I just wish Renault had included abs and airbags in these variants.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Scorpio VLX BS4 - 10.09 ex-shw

That's 10.9 ex-shw. So we can leave it out.

Originally Posted by abhi.kedlaya

May its just me and all this doesn't matter for most people in general.

I wouldn't say it doesn't matter, but what can we really do about it now? :(

Whats happening with Duster is a li'l different. It is their Best seller (or would be?) which crosses this mark, which drives the on-road price that much further for people who are already streching. For Safari, its a low selling variant.

85 PS RxE - 8.04L
85 PS RxL - +1.02L = 9.06L (+rear wash-wipe, defogger, fog lamps, integrated audio, steering audio controls, elec. adj. orvm, seat high adjustment, some cosmetic bits)
85 PS RxL option pack - +1.02L = 10.08L(+ABS, Airbags, EBD, Brake assist, Parking sensor, alloys)

But then, accommodating a variant under the 10L category throughout the country could be an uphill task for any manufacturer.

PS: Go easy on the smilies.

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

85 PS RxL - +1.02L = 9.06L (+rear wash-wipe, defogger, fog lamps, integrated audio, steering audio controls, elec. adj. orvm, seat high adjustment, some cosmetic bits)
[/i]

Seat height adjustment is there only in the top end variant of 110 BHP. I sorely miss it in 85 BHP variant.

[naut]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

That's 10.9 ex-shw. So we can leave it out.

I wouldn't say it doesn't matter, but what can we really do about it now? :(

Whats happening with Duster is a li'l different. It is their Best seller (or would be?) which crosses this mark, which drives the on-road price that much further for people who are already streching. For Safari, its a low selling variant.

85 PS RxE - 8.04L
85 PS RxL - +1.02L = 9.06L (+rear wash-wipe, defogger, fog lamps, integrated audio, steering audio controls, elec. adj. orvm, seat high adjustment, some cosmetic bits)
85 PS RxL option pack - +1.02L = 10.08L(+ABS, Airbags, EBD, Brake assist, Parking sensor, alloys)

But then, accommodating a variant under the 10L category throughout the country could be an uphill task for any manufacturer.

Agree with you 100%. But don't you think it's better to share your thoughts (or rant) than keep quiet? May be someone might act. As the say, if wishes were horses et al.

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

PS: Go easy on the smilies.

Thanks bud! Got a note from the mods too!. My bad. What the hell was I thinking.

[deetjohn]

Great review GTO. Thanks for sharing.

I am sure you had a lot of fun driving James May' favorite car on Munnar roads.

The exemplary ride and safe handling is great news indeed. Wish Renault had spend some more money and attention to detail on the interiors though.

After reading the review, I think the best variant is the RxL O 85 Diesel.

The RxL O 85 Diesel has Airbags, Alloy wheels, Parking Sensors over the RxL 110 for the same price. One saves around 1.3 lakhs (tax savings extra) over the latter and avoid the leather and that nasty rear air con unit.

And more over the it seems the 85 is better suited for city driving and one can always add a tuning box if its falling a bit short on the highway. Yes, the 6 speed will be missed.

Renault might give only the 110 for a test drive though. Eagerly waiting for the report on the 85 Diesel.

[sharadmumbai]

Saw the Duster yesterday in thane ghodbunder road showroom. There was a good crowd which shows that the kind of interest this segment has.
I liked the exterior of the car, the real SUV rugged looks and overall good finish and styling.
Inside, the plastics were reasonable and dash and console though wasn't outstanding yet it didn't look out of place and integrated well with the duster.
The Boot was big and much bigger than you will ever need for daily use in the city.
The rear seats were however disappointing. the leg space is very scarce and the ac vent practically makes it 2 seater for adults. I feel they missed a trick by not reducing the boot space and making rear more spacious to even match the space in sedans.
Even i felt a little cramped in driver's seat with seat fully pushed back and I'm only 5-11". I drive a Fusion currently and I feel that space inside fusion is better than Duster.
I couldn't do a TD as there was a crowd.
I guess need to wait till Ecosports gets launched or settle for XUV.

[NPV]

Awesome review GTO, this was much awaited.
Few observations:
1.While the body with the nice bulges looks muscular and scores on the aesthetics point of view, the pain with this design will be evident if you ever have to get accident repair/body work done, it's going to be a costly affair.
2. Not having a remote fuel lid opener seems to be a glaring miss on the part of the designers!

Originally Posted by GTO

Unnecessarily large fuel lid looks awkward. The lid locks / unlocks with the car's central locking system. There is no remote fuel lid opener

I think this car's release will be the moment of truth for Renualt in India after their earlier goof up's mostly on the pricing front.
And as you have rightly mentioned, the pricing of the variants still raises some questions in our minds - don't really know how many people will really do a close comparo of the specs to decide on the variant, rather it may simply be based on price points. I think it would have helped Renault if they'd offered fewer variants.

[Sheel]

Thanks for penning this comprehensive review. Its as in details as it can be. Terrific.

I think it has the makings to blitz the sales chart numbers and I really won't be surprised to see few in Team BHP Member's Garage as well. Its versatile and does most things well.

The places where it does lack (QC wise) may see a step up in its next iteration.

And Renault India must be given a pat on its back for choosing this wonderful location.

Wishing the best to Renault with this

Originally Posted by Vid6639

In short for a hatch owner who is looking for an upgrade, the Duster ticks all the right boxes.

Get the Yeti if you can. I am more than smitten.

[skandyhere]

Originally Posted by NPV

Few observations:
1.While the body with the nice bulges looks muscular and scores on the aesthetics point of view, the pain with this design will be evident if you ever have to get accident repair/body work done, it's going to be a costly affair.

The bulge is on the fender, which is not a particularly expensive piece to hammer back into shape I think. I'm not saying it'll be cheap, but it'll probably have more to do with Renault's general pricing of its repairs and service rather than the design itself.

Originally Posted by NPV

2. Not having a remote fuel lid opener seems to be a glaring miss on the part of the designers!

This is not a 'miss'; it is meaningless and nonsense. You don't have to design this right... even the cheapest cars have had a simple lever on the floor since a decade now, and Renault just had to stay in line. Is Renault trying so hard to be different that they make this foolish mistake? As I was saying in a previous post, over a period of time, it will be common knowledge that the best chance of flicking a laptop from the rear seat of a duster will be when it stops for fuel because you're forced to unlock all doors just to open the fuel lid!

Originally Posted by NPV

I think it would have helped Renault if they'd offered fewer variants.

Their variants, features and pricing seems so off and useless that it looks like ONLY the top versions of both 85 and 110 make sense. The remaining variants only appear to serve Renault's marketing purposes to project a relatively economical price tag while hiding the fact that these variants are impractically bare-bones.

Like many manufacturers, Renault seems to be worried purely about business and revenues with no regard to responsibility. I feel it may not have been hugely challenging for them to have worked out the variants, features, option pack and prices in a way that makes at least ABS more reachable, price-wise. ABS is not just a feature; it is the responsibility of car makers to strive to make basic safety as accessible to its customers as commercial viability permits.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Get the Yeti if you can. I am more than smitten.

The Yeti has the worst rear seat space from any D segment sedan or with any of the SUV's. My hope was the duster will have acres of space convincing me to move away from a sedan.

[dZired]

As always a great review GTO. Rated it a must deserved 5 stars.
Saw the Duster yesterday and my misconception of thinking it as a 'small' car was removed at the first sight. It does have the road presence of a proper SUV. The front is indeed aggressive and provides a nice taller stance to the vehicle. All in all, it surely has the potential to be the game changer for Renault in India.

[anilkalvani]

First of all, kudos for the super detailed report. Team-bhp reports are the one's to trust, unbaised & fair.

Originally Posted by GTO

Have always been a sedan guy. Get better quality, equipment, performance, handling, braking and driving pleasure for the same money (vis a vis SUVs).

I was a sedan guy too. But with the virtually non-existent roads in the 'burbs, specially with the faulty tile blocks right from where i live in Bandra West upto my factory in Andheri East, just salivating at the thought of a car-like SUV that takes broken roads to task & with those 215/65 R16 (with a possible upgrade to thicker rubbers) & that ride quality you mentioned. And not to mention, those drives to Mahabaleshwar, Lonavala, Lavasa, Malshej where sometimes you get horrible patches you wish you could fly over. That. That's what gotten me all excited about the Duster.

[Rada]

Excellent review. Very in-depth and informative. Thank you!

After reading the review, somehow I cannot help feeling version 2 of the Duster (whenever that is going to be a reality) will be a far superior product to what it is now, if Renault takes and incorporates even 25% of the feedback which is available in this thread!

Thus of us who have booked the current version I guess will have to live with the niggles and the ergonomic quirks that you have so candidly pointed out!:(

Originally Posted by abhi.kedlaya

Hey GTO,

In fact, many car manufacturers tend to price variants @ 9.99L ex-showroom Delhi. Since the local taxes in most states & esp in K'taka are higher, it ends up in the higher tax bracket and results in excess payout to the tune of 40 odd thousand just as taxes.

Why can't manufacturers take this into account and price variants such that ex-showroom prices don't exceed critical price barriers (5L, 10L etc) anywhere in India. If only wishes were horses! Me thinks..

This is an excellent point! The RxL (O) version in Chennai is more expensive than the RxL version by close 1.7 lakhs only because it falls under a different tax bracket!

[pjbiju]

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Seat height adjustment is there only in the top end variant of 110 BHP. I sorely miss it in 85 BHP variant.

Renault should remove alloys from the options pack and instead add features like seat height adjustment etc. in the 85 bhp diesel options pack.

[sumeshmani]

Well, like I had anticipated, now I am more confused than I have ever been before.
My need is to upgrade from my hatchback to a sedan/SUV that can accommodate the family of 5 for the numerous highway trips.
- Unfortunately my budget is around 10 to 11 L. Which removes SUVs from the list (because I value ABS and Airbags).
- Tough to find a sedan that can seat 3 in the back. Nissan Sunny is always there, but this car is focused on city drive.
- I love Skoda Rapid, but the floor hump in the rear makes it a 4 seater
- Ertiga can not accommodate 3 in the 2nd row and has limited luggage space.
- So, I ended up waiting for our star Duster. Renault clearly killed this one with pricing.
- To add to all this, I live in Bangalore, talk about killer road tax.
So I am in a bind, is it worth stretching my budget to 12.4L and getting the 85 PS Duster? May be I should wait for EcoSport also .
Kindly share your thoughts dear members.