[Reinhard]

Sure it is mechanically sound and offers a nearly unmatched ride quality. But there is no hiding the fact that the car is now well past its sell-by-date. The only discount that can actually result in any significant sales numbers will have to be 100%. There are far too many compromises in the cabin that one has to live with if deciding to buy this car. And one of the key aspects in our market "impressing the peers" is absolutely not satisfied by such an old car with basic interiors. When spending this much money - most customers around us expect that the neighbours and peers be impressed. (The small sales numbers of the car currently - are that small wise % of population that doesn't care about what people think.)

Its about time Renault discontinued this plate in India & only launched again if the new generation is planned for this market. Looking at the concentrated focus of the cousin-brands towards purely budget oriented vehicles - I don't think the "new" Duster will arrive here any time soon. Especially since it will land in competition with a weird & potent overlap of Creta-Seltos-Harrier-XUV500 depending on variants.

[MOUNTAINMAN]

Originally Posted by JishD

If they only spruced up the interior even to a Kiger level , Renault would have far better traction in the market with the 1.3 Duster ! Even a 3 lakh discount won't help at this stage

Seriously, that's all that they have to do. I wonder what refrains them from giving a make over to the dashboard.

[greyhound82]

along with interiors the platform is also a bit old with 3 star rating and an unstable body shell

http://www.globalncap.org/wp-content...VER-Airbag.pdf

[simplysaj]

Exactly my thoughts! I was ready to live with the dated interior but refrained from buying it due to the poor safety rating + smaller driver air bag news. Also visible cost cutting in lot of areas including the AC performance. The ride was unmatched!

[mav3r1ckblu3]

Originally Posted by greyhound82

along with interiors the platform is also a bit old with 3 star rating and an unstable body shell

http://www.globalncap.org/wp-content...VER-Airbag.pdf

This needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, since it was before the safety features like front passenger airbags etc. were made standard. Check out the most recent Latin NCAP crash test below, which gave 4 stars for adult occupation and 3 stars for child occupation safety.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGI86VO3bxM

[swunkjyn]

My in-Laws own a 2014 Duster (85PS) and it is fun to drive, plus has an amazing ride quality. It sits 5 easily and I can say this because I am 6'3 and my brother in-Laws are 6'1 each. Only Gripe is on the quality of the material used, wish Renault launched the Next Gen Duster in India.
Recently a friend of mine bought the TC Duster 1.3 and it is a mad vehicle to drive with so much power one can tap. Turbo variant with 1 Lakhs of discount is not a bad deal at all.

[greyhound82]

Originally Posted by mav3r1ckblu3

Check out the most recent Latin NCAP crash test below, which gave 4 stars for adult occupation and 3 stars for child

Are you sure this is for the model selling in India ?

The above article I quoted is for India specific model and it has a driver air bag. Adding more air bags will not help for compromise in body shell integrity.

A quick search in google gives me this article which says the Brazil specific model is build on a newer platform while Indian model is still using old platform . From the article
“ Brazil-spec Renault Duster facelift utilizes a new platform called B0 Plus, which is an enhancement over the B0 architecture. This has helped derive improved performance from suspension system while overall rigidity has been increased by 12.5%. SUV’s doors, hood, roof and tailgate have been updated and overall length has been increased by 40mm.“
https://www.google.co.in/amp/s/www.r...-12356149.html

We can’t simply go with other NCAP ratings for Indian specific models. This happens with every car that sells in India : Venue, Seltos , Jeep( there are discussions in forum on how LHD jeep ratings cannot be used for RHD due to filter protrusion to driver foot well )

[rpm]

Originally Posted by mav3r1ckblu3

This needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, since it was before the safety features like front passenger airbags etc. were made standard. Check out the most recent Latin NCAP crash test below, which gave 4 stars for adult occupation and 3 stars for child occupation safety.

What I find interesting is, the 2015 Duster with a single airbag, sans SBR and ECE R95 compliance was also awarded a 4 star in adult occupant protection in Latin NCAP, managing 11.00/17.00 points. Now, the scoring system used by Latin NCAP back in 2015 was based on the following criteria (The NCAP story - GNCAP vs ENCAP), currently used by GNCAP, hence the Duster didn't get any, let alone 1 point for SBR, because it simply wasn't there according to the crash result pdf.

Compare this to the Duster tested in 2019, shown in your post as well, which although managed to get a similar 4-star rating in AOP with a score of 26.01/34.00 points, could only fetch an even lower 10.68/16.00 in the frontal offset section of AOP even with 2 airbags this time.

The only difference between the scoring criteria for frontal offset/ODB in 2019 and 2015 is the maximum achievable points, 16 vs 17 respectively. The newer and lower upper limit of 16 is because SBR is now evaluated separately with a maximum achievable score of 2 points, and the 2019 Duster already got 1/2 points because it had front occupant SBR in line with Latin NCAP requirements. It could have got 2/2 if it had SBR for all rear occupants as well.

So, the 2015 Duster would still score 11.00/16 in frontal offset/ODB, though it may not get a 4-star rating because minimum 1 point in SBR is now mandatory for a 4-star rating in Latin NCAP.

PS: The dummy's head in the Indian Duster with 1 airbag was remarked to have unstable airbag contact by GNCAP, which automatically results in 1 point reduction if Latin NCAP's frontal offset/ODB testing protocol can be extrapolated to GNCAP.

[TrackDay]

The Duster is a great car, but then the competition has changed so much since it arrived in 2012 & just upgrading the spartan interiors wont do the trick now. However the nameplate is still strong, and all they need is the next gen model to cash in on that model brand value.

Originally Posted by TusharK

The 1.3L turbo-petrol version comes with an exchange benefit of Rs. 30,000 (available on RxS and RxZ variants), loyalty benefits of up to Rs. 15,000 and a cash benefit of Rs. 30,000 (RxS CVT & MT).

Wasn't the CVT discontinued at some point ? When I was car shopping last year, CVT was not available on the Duster.

Originally Posted by swunkjyn

Recently a friend of mine bought the TC Duster 1.3 and it is a mad vehicle to drive with so much power one can tap.

By TC did you mean Torque Convertor ? I thought the duster only came in CVT/AMT avatars here.

[aKrain]

I called up the Renault showroom in Noida Sector 63 and they were offering the extra cash discount of 30000 only on the 2020 model. This is not mentioned anywhere in the press release.
If anyone else has also inquired about the price, it would be good to know if this is official or just something that the dealership came up with.

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

By TC did you mean Torque Convertor ? I thought the duster only came in CVT/AMT avatars here.

It's more likely that he meant TURBO CHARGED and not torque converter..

[swunkjyn]

Originally Posted by TrackDay

By TC did you mean Torque Convertor ? I thought the duster only came in CVT/AMT avatars here.

I was referring to Turbo Charged and this variant comes with CVT only, even with 1.5L variant, Duster comes with CVT. I am glad that they ditched AMT.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

Fellow TBHP'ians, as you know, I bought a Renault Duster 1.3 Turbo. And the first thing I noticed was an overkill of Chrome on the front grill. It looked like a hideous multi-toothed beast grinning, rather than the classy gentle giant it actually is (my personal opinion, no offence meant, I don't like too much of Chrome). So thought I'd do some DIY "Facelift" using good old glossy black vinyl and an aftermarket "Turbo" badge. I kept the simple flowing lines and hid the sort of protruding "tooth" by cutting and pasting glossy black vinyl over it.

Hope you like it. I'll keep updating the thread as and when I add on to the modifications.

The first pic is a before and after comparison pic, and then I clicked some from different angles.

Mods: In case this thread is not worthy of this forum, please remove it. In case it's in the wrong place, kindly move it to the right one.

[mav3r1ckblu3]

Originally Posted by mav3r1ckblu3

Hope you like it. I'll keep updating the thread as and when I add on to the modifications.

Mods: Request you to merge this with my previous post related to modification here.


Renault: Here's our new logo which will debut from the next year onwards on our vehicles
Me: Hold my beverage

So I attempted to change the rear Renault logo on the boot of my Dusty from the past one to the future one, changed the chrome bit to Crimson Red, using black vinyl and Matt crimson red vinyl. I plan to do the same to the front big logo when I get time. Please enjoy the pics of my amateurish attempt meanwhile:

[girishss]

Originally Posted by mav3r1ckblu3

Mods: Request you to merge this with my previous post related to modification here.

Renault: Here's our new logo which will debut from the next year onwards on our vehicles
Me: Hold my beverage

So I attempted to change the rear Renault logo on the boot of my Dusty from the past one to the future one, changed the chrome bit to Crimson Red, using black vinyl and Matt crimson red vinyl. I plan to do the same to the front big logo when I get time. Please enjoy the pics of my amateurish attempt meanwhile:

@mav3r1ckblu3 congratulations on your new car! the sticker job looks great

You should start an ownership thread for the 1.3 turbo Duster.

What is the service interval for this variant? Also how has been your service experience so far?