[kozhissery]

Originally Posted by Aditya

• Safety kit: Dual Airbags, ESP, ASR, ABS, EBD, BA, Hill Hold & Understeer Control

Lovely review (as always), was eagerly waiting for it.
I got a small query, does New Duster RXZ have ASR (I'm assuming ASR means TCS)? I did not find any mention in their site or downloaded PDF or did I miss it.

[Sree73]

Wonderful review Aditya. Great detail and awesome photos. Thanks for sharing the much awaited review. The Amazon green colour looks really stunning.

It seems one/two photos are missing. The full view of the open boot. Also the boot view with the rear seats folded.

[Veels n Rhodes]

Excellent Review Aditya !!! The Renault company could make the exterior look better by switching to better designed (matt finish grey or matt black) 5-Spoke alloy wheels (pic Below). Previous design gunmetal alloy wheels feel better now.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

If manufacturers concentrate on AMTs then we could possibly be looking at AMTs in cars up to say Rs 20 lacs which would deprive us of the DSG / DCTs of the world.

Fat chance of that happening. AMTs are too jerky & too slow to find a place in premium cars.

Originally Posted by kozhissery

I got a small query, does New Duster RXZ have ASR (I'm assuming ASR means TCS)?

Can't think of any production car with ESP and without traction control.

Originally Posted by Sree73

It seems one/two photos are missing. The full view of the open boot. Also the boot view with the rear seats folded.

A facelift report only focusses on the changes (as mentioned in post #2).

[arnabchak]

Some of the major grouses with the Duster has unfortunately still not been rectified with the facelift:

1) The shared rev counter with the Petrol and Diesel. Cost cutting is a good thing but then, lets not make it evident Renault. Afterall, Duster will cost close to 14 lacs OTR.

2) The dummy buttons and the quality of the buttons still leaves much to be desired for. Especially, the power window switches looked poorly finished.

3) The Creta and even the S Cross have beautiful speedo consoles. Duster consoles looks straight out of the 80s and nothing exciting.

4) The garish pink highlights? This is even more hideous than the red dash of the Figo. What were Renault designers smoking?

5) The Alloys with the red Renault logo of the AWD is again a hit and miss

6) The front grille again is a love or hate design. For me, it didn't gel well with the car profile. The same with the rear lights design. Though it looked good in isolation, it didn't gel with the car somehow.

Overall, the car didn't invite a lot of positive vibes.
Its more a miss and less a hit.

Renault could have put in more efforts for this facelift and dished out something more substantial to take on the current and fierce competition.

[Sherlocked]

When the Duster was first launched in India, the interiors though outdated were still manageable considering what the competitors had on offer (Scorpio, Xylo) at that time.

But now the times have changed, I wonder if anyone who has recently sat in a Creta or S-Cross will buy the Duster with such sad looking interiors. I mean calling them sad would be an understatement! The central fascia and the steering wheel makes me yawn!! They look so uninspiring!

That said, Duster still has an exceptional ride quality and a gem of an engine and I will consider it just for that, but I doubt other people will see it that way. They'll take their wives, mothers and kids to the Renault showroom and anyone who has, well what's its called, a taste, will reject the Duster straight away!

A word of caution: If you are eyeing on a Duster as you are well aware of its prowess then it might be risky letting your family members check out the Maruti, Hyundai or even a Mahindra showroom for that matter!


Oh, Hey Renault, 1990 just called, they want their steering wheel back.

[Tojo_GotBhp]

Excellent review!
Rated a worthy 5 stars for the review.
The new alloys not only looks very aftermarket'ish but very flimsy too, the Terrano's alloys looks great in comparison.

[do-od-do]

New Duster still lacks in many premium features like leather seats, rear aircon vents, keyless entry, start/stop button, side airbags, follow me & auto headlamps, rain sensing vipers - list is huge for a 15L rupee car.

When we say Creta – which is a direct competitor –- is overpriced for features it offers, Renault was expected to capitalize on this and position Duster in value-for-money category. Renault definitely missed this opportunity. While it might bring increase in sales figures but it is not going to be a game changer.

[humyum]

I would be surprised if this sells because an Automatic Customer for 15 lakhs can just stretch a bit and buy a Creta which is FAR more superior in its shift quality than any AMT.

They should have got a Torque Converter with a 6 speed.

Excellent review like always. Rated it a well deserved 5 star

[satz581993Mille]

Top notch review again Aditya! Apart from some good changes on the outside, nothing seems to be drastic. Especially the interiors and the ugly steering. If they wanted to give a run for the competition, they could have redesigned the dash and slap in a better looking steering which isn't plain and fat like this one and price it a lac cheaper than before like ford did with the Ecosport. Then, the duster would have been a worthy option especially with AWD and 110PS which neither the ecosport nor the brezza can match with their diesels.

[MacBa]

Excellent review Aditya. Lists all the supple and not so supple (read garish as also mentioned in your review) changes rather well.

Offering DRL's instead of the silver highlights would have boosted the premium factor. Interiors like the others have also pointed out don't look modern and up to date.

While AT is a welcome addition for the urban commuter, I look at this update as a half-hearted attempt which may only give some short term thrust to the volumes as the new model is expected to launch in India somewhere in 2018 which is still distant. Another mild facelift (mostly feature revisions, etc.) maybe on the cards around early next year to keep the sales ringing.

On a different note, I find the Duster to be very different from the Brezza and Ecosport and feel that the three can't be compared. Duster is not under 4m, has a wider footprint with more sorted ride quality and offers more space and comfort. IMHO a direct competition is an XUV and a Creta.

[Kommandogerät]

That gap between the front side panel and the front door is pretty noticeable in the photos. The inner wiring sure looks shoddy at this angle.

[meetzap]

Originally Posted by Aditya

What you won’t:
• AMT is jerky and suffers from slow gearshifts. Creta AT, in comparison, is butter smooth

I wanted to go for an Automatic and was confused whether I should wait for Duster AMT launch or go with Vento TSI DSG. After going through the review, I am glad I went ahead with Vento's DSG Gearbox. Its super smooth and not at all jerky. Best for both CITY and Highway drives and giving a mileage of around 13 kmpl in City/Traffic driving.

[DragonHawk]

As usual awesome report Aditya, rated 5 stars!!

Duster certainly lacks the appeal when it comes to interior of the car. One being a buyer who spends most of the time inside the car I certainly don`t want to spend a million plus on something which is cheap and boring interiors. ACC is a welcome move and layout is a straight lift from its new age model Renault Captur.


Courtesy: inautonews

[shravan2k2]

Originally Posted by Aditya

So, what's new on the inside?

Renault still needs to take Customer feedback seriously, My Dad declined to buy the 85PS version last year because of the Spare wheel was outside the vehicle under the body! Great Renault did place the spare wheel inside!
But why is the spare wheel placed up side down?
This was also committed by Hyundai in its previous offerings (Now rectified)

This is my experience when i got my new igen i20 also the same with Fluidic Verna(though the 2015 4s has been rectified) when i went to the nearest Gas station to get the tyre pressure checked:
“sahab yeh to ulti rakhi hui puri kholni padegi check krne ke liye isme to bahot time lagega” (sir the spare wheel is upside down, it has to be opened first to check the tire pressure, it would take a lot of time. We had to give the guy some money to get it done, whereas it would have been free of cost if the in spare wheel was kept the other way like by other manufaturers

Mod Note: Please avoid quoting the entire post