Team-BHP - Renault Duster AWD : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob (Post 3563413)

Took the vehicle for a second test drive today, a rather long one 25-30 km, through highways, cities, broken roads and no roads. This machine blew me away completely !!

Now if I had an 14 lacs to invest on a new vehicle, that'd be Duster AWD, simply because it's such a delight to drive through all kinds of road and traffic. This is coming from a Duster 85 owner. Call me biased , I'd never been so happy after a test drive; and I dare say, this is best riding car in this side of 30 lac's. That said, I haven't touched anything that costs over 30 :)

From a driving experience perspective the prime differentiator's that I found in Duster AWD when compared to the regular variants are: Noticeably better ride quality, an engine which pulls cleanly in any gear, noticeably lighter clutch and improved NVH. It just glides over broken roads that would unsettle Duster 2wd.

I'd always felt that the magic carpet ride quality of Duster 2wd and more importantly the outstanding drivability of Duster 85 are overrated. While I still hold on to that, I have to admit Duster AWD has Magic Carpet like ride quality, outstanding drivability (Innova, you're not my benchmark anymore) and a good mid & top end grunt.

It is posts like this that make us Bhpians plonk our hard earned money on cars, cars & cars:D. I had more or less made up my mind to book the 85 Duster(the variant with the SatNAV, approx. 13 lakhs on road in Pune) but now am seeking reasons to migrate to the AWD.

Btw I am no 4 wheel drive addict, no jungle trail driver, but am looking for the most comfortable car to be driven as fast as possible on our bad potholed roads. The AWD means that I would need to sell off my Petrol Octavia MK1, whereas the 85 possibly means that I keep her. Disposing off the Octavia means that I am without a fast car for our Pune - Mumbai expressway, but I generally drive sensibly within 120 with the occasional bursts to:D . Can the AWD handle this ? Would the 110 2wd accelerate faster than the AWD ? Would I miss the Octavia if I sell it ? Help !

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Originally Posted by rxpaul (Post 3564575)

I have driven the 85 and 110 extensively. My brother in law has the 85 and my business partner the 110. If your driving style is generally conservative, the 85 is just fine. If you highway speeds are generally 120 kmph give or take five, 85 will meet your needs. If you don't need AWD, then why waste the money, the 2WD duster is reasonably capable, only let down by the MRF highway tyres. Get a set of good AT tyres and the 2WD should do for minor mud excursions.

As I understand from the reviews, there are no lower range gears on the Renault AWD. Is the lack of this feature compensated with limited slip diff and shorter gears? I understand that this is more of a softroader and that also could be a reason for the feature miss of a true off-roader. An off-road expedition with this baby with old ladies (MM 540/ CLs) should provide better clarity on these aspects; added this car to my wishlist as of now...

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Originally Posted by harishF1 (Post 3565880)

Its not the lack of low range which is the problem. Its the inherent toughness of the ladder on frame undebody which is lacking in this vehicle. In a Safari/Scorpio/Thar you can give some bumping to the underbody. Not in case of modern AWDs.
As for low range, the first gear is very short, and you can crawl just fine.

Then there is the question of tires. You just cannot go wider than 225 on this(even with lift kit). 215/70 is the only upsize you can go for safely without any moditifcations(10mm GC increase), but that is just a bit. Ladder on frame SUVs with their bigger 29.5" tires have many more options in A/T and M/T tires which duster AWD lacks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harishF1 (Post 3565880)

As I understand from the reviews, there are no lower range gears on the Renault AWD. Is the lack of this feature compensated with limited slip diff and shorter gears?

Duster AWD has very short first gear and 4.86 final drive ratio. It is still not as good as having low range, but far far better than other softroaders.

It also has ESP/Traction Control which is more superior than LSD. Duster can extricate itself if only one wheel has traction.

Dust is not a replacement for mm550. It is a supremely comfortable family softroader with superb road handling a off-road capability that is far better than most softroaders.

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Originally Posted by 4x4addict (Post 3566063)

The Scorpios and the Safaris may be tough with the ladder on frame (agree with TSK), however, on a practical side, the Duster with its light weight ergonomics, should fare better off-road (purely on bhp/ton) factor. Obviously, the GC should be a stumbling block for certain terrains. Thanks to 4X4 addict for his comments as well> tractors and MM 550/ 540 are in a different league, but for the rest there is the Duster AWD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rxpaul (Post 3564575)

Btw I am no 4 wheel drive addict, no jungle trail driver, but am looking for the most comfortable car to be driven as fast as possible on our bad potholed roads. The AWD means that I would need to sell off my Petrol Octavia MK1, whereas the 85 possibly means that I keep her. Disposing off the Octavia means that I am without a fast car for our Pune - Mumbai expressway, but I generally drive sensibly within 120 with the occasional bursts to:D . Can the AWD handle this ? Would the 110 2wd accelerate faster than the AWD ? Would I miss the Octavia if I sell it ? Help !

Being an existing Octavia owner i can safely say that you will not miss the vehicle after buying the AWD. She performs just as well if not better on the road.

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Originally Posted by rxpaul (Post 3564575)

Would I miss the Octavia if I sell it ?

200% sure You would. Duster can't match the turbopetrol Octy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk1979 (Post 3565902)

You just cannot go wider than 225 on this(even with lift kit). 215/70 is the only upsize you can go for safely without any moditifcations(10mm GC increase), but that is just a bit.

Why is this limitation? My Tucson came with 215/65R16 tyres from factory, recently I upgraded to 235/60R16 which is the internationally recommended size for the Tucson and everything is perfect (I am only talking of tyre size here and not the off-road capability)

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 3569471)

200% sure You would. Duster can't match the turbopetrol Octy.

Why is this limitation? My Tucson came with 215/65R16 tyres from factory, recently I upgraded to 235/60R16 which is the internationally recommended size for the Tucson and everything is perfect (I am only talking of tyre size here and not the off-road capability)

Wider tires foul the inner wheel well cladding. After some time wider wheels can poke holes. So 215/70 is considered ideal up-size without modifications, and with lift kit its 225/80 or 225/70 or 225/75

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Originally Posted by anandpadhye (Post 3569667)

So the duster wheel wells are less spacious than Tucson's it seems? 235/60 does not foul anywhere on the Tucson.

I was talking about "taller and wider tires", not just wider. Duster cannot take 235/70R16. I don't know if Tuscon can take it.

If you are just going wider, and not at all taller(like 235/60R16), Duster AWD also may not foul, however, people mostly upgrade the Duster to go taller(about 10-15mm of extra GC).