[DeKay]

Gennius,
Amazing review and great pictures!

There are a couple questions I want to ask you,
1. Any rattles or squeaks from the car?
2. How is the overall fit and finish of the vehicle? Any loose ends?
3. I always look for stability in a car when travelling on highways. Normally, I dont travel faster than 140kph. How is the duster's stability on such a speed?

[raul]

I think I posted this before. I remember reading at At dusterforums.ro or daciaclub.ro someone tried to resolve the wind noise with better door damping and find spots where wind could be coming in, and spent tons of time and effort on this. It didn't work.

Apparently there are 2 problems, the roof bars cause the wind noise, and also there seems to be an issue the way the windscreen and front mirror is designed.

For the roof bars even the Yet has it and Shankar or other Yeti owners will be able to tell us if they get wind noise above 120kph.

[motorhead1981]

Hi gennius

Yours was one of the first ownership threads. I have been following yours since day one. You have not had an update in a long time. How has your time with the beast been? Any niggles, rattles ? How many miles have you clocked in your odo ? Do keep us updated.

[gennius]

Greetings fellow BHPians!

Apologies for keeping myself dormant on this thread. I just got back from my college.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Congratulations on the Duster. Am a bit surprised to see the absence of Duster threads on the forum, more surprised to hardly see any Dusters on the road in Pune. Got to see the first one today, it was a looker! Almost banged into another bike, as my eyes were fully locked on that car The review thread might not praise the looks that much, but the car's got style when you see it on the road.

Do keep updating your thread - a lot of friends planning to purchase a car in the coming year, and I keep pushing this option in front of them!

Indeed it does!

Originally Posted by Jazzper

In this Pic, Duster looks stunning! I never thought a low cost compact SUV can have such good looks! Congratulations on your aquisition. BTW is that white patch the number plate? I would suggest you remove it and get the reg. number stickered somewhere on the side of the bumper, It would look even hot!

Regards
Ekz

Thanks Ekz! Yes that white patch was a temporary number plate. I've installed the permanent ones now.

Originally Posted by DeKay

Gennius,
Amazing review and great pictures!

There are a couple questions I want to ask you,
1. Any rattles or squeaks from the car?
2. How is the overall fit and finish of the vehicle? Any loose ends?
3. I always look for stability in a car when travelling on highways. Normally, I dont travel faster than 140kph. How is the duster's stability on such a speed?

Thanks DeKay!
1. None as of now. It's all silent inside.
2. It's pretty solid I'd say. I don't see anything loose hanging out as of now.
3. The Duster fairs pretty well on straight paths on highways. However, I'm fairly disappointed with the steering feedback. It doesn't weigh up adequately with speed and cornering at high speeds tends to make me nervous.

Originally Posted by raul

I think I posted this before. I remember reading at At dusterforums.ro or daciaclub.ro someone tried to resolve the wind noise with better door damping and find spots where wind could be coming in, and spent tons of time and effort on this. It didn't work.

Apparently there are 2 problems, the roof bars cause the wind noise, and also there seems to be an issue the way the windscreen and front mirror is designed.

For the roof bars even the Yet has it and Shankar or other Yeti owners will be able to tell us if they get wind noise above 120kph.

Could be a probable cause. I hope Renault is able to figure this out. Any updated on this issue? Have other Duster owners experienced the same issue?

Originally Posted by motorhead1981

Hi gennius

Yours was one of the first ownership threads. I have been following yours since day one. You have not had an update in a long time. How has your time with the beast been? Any niggles, rattles ? How many miles have you clocked in your odo ? Do keep us updated.

Apologies for not updating this thread motorhead1981! I only come back home twice a year so it's pretty difficult for me to keep the thread constantly updated. Nonetheless, I'll make sure I feed in the required major updates from time to time. Here's one for now:

UPDATE 13000KMS

I got to drive this car right after 13000kms. And my God I'm surprised. All the turbo lag aforementioned in this thread has tremendously reduced. This stuff flies now. The Duster drives like a charm and I haven't noticed any niggles in it either. All in all, I'm still very much in love with my Duster.

Also, I was determined to get better sound quality from this car. Since I am the only audiophile in my family, I couldn't get any fancy business of changing the main console, installing an amplifier or a subwoofer done in my Duster. I simply wanted a replacement of all 4 speakers on the Duster. Consequently, I installed 2 pairs of Infinity Reference 5032cf speakers (link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BZE36E/ ). To start with, these speakers were super reasonable (Set of 4 cost me about 4K, less than half of my budget) and fit the Duster perfectly. The setup cost me 300 bucks, but I got about 500 bucks for the shitty speakers, so I ended up saving on the installation.

Now for the quality. Being products of a subsidiary company of Harmon Kardon, these speakers have amazing high and mid sounds (thanks to the inbuilt tweeters) and pretty good bass for their sheer tiny size. Their construction is solid and for their size and price I think they're the best available deal in the market. I'm not sure about their availability and prices in India though. I think I'm pretty content with them and wont be digging any deeper for now.

Cheers,

Nilesh

[Waxeloquent]

I just took delivery of my White 110 RxZ the day before. I was rather nervous, based on some of the comments, regarding city driving particularly in Bangalore. Also, my wife was not sure if the switch from Verna to Duster would be comfortable for her to handle the bumper to bumper Koramangala traffic. Well....two days on we both are really delighted that the decision is turning out to be absolutely fine. Yes we can put it in the basement tight car parking area just like the sedan. Yeah we miss the automatic climate control and I miss the arm rest. We did not add too many accessories except replacing the front speakers with JBL component speaker. Yes got the under chasis anti-rust coating done and got a set of temporary rubber floor mats. Still tossing between Stanley and Karlsson for the leather upholstery. Inclined to go with Stanley with the wonderful experience we had for the Verna.... even after 5 years with Stanley's 3 month cleaning, it looked new.
Yes looking forward to this week drive to Coimbatore....any suggestions on the speed / RPM we should stay below? All ideas for parking /reverse camera cum display and leather seats most welcome Thanks

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ravee_nk

I just took delivery of my White 110 RxZ the day before.

Yes looking forward to this week drive to Coimbatore....any suggestions on the speed / RPM we should stay below? All ideas for parking /reverse camera cum display and leather seats most welcome Thanks

Congrats on the Duster, Ravee. White looks smashing.

Speed is not too much of a problem, just keep the rpm below 3K or so and avoid sudden acceleration and braking. Smooth driving is the key. Also make sure you are not at a constant speed/rpm for a long time. Basically use the revs as much as possible and try not to lug the engine i.e. too high a gear for low speeds.

You probably won't need 6th gear.

ps: If I am not wrong, I think yours is a black Verna and we stay in the same apartment complex.

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Congrats on the Duster, Ravee. White looks smashing.

Speed is not too much of a problem, just keep the rpm below 3K or so and avoid sudden acceleration and braking. Smooth driving is the key. Also make sure you are not at a constant speed/rpm for a long time. Basically use the revs as much as possible and try not to lug the engine i.e. too high a gear for low speeds.

You probably won't need 6th gear.

ps: If I am not wrong, I think yours is a black Verna and we stay in the same apartment complex.

thanks Vid The choice of white was easy considering the trips we make to Tamilnadu in particular Chennai.
The heat there is mitigated somewhat considering now no sun control films are allowed :( Then the delivery
period was much shorter for white in Duster compared to other shades.

On the RPM, the service guy at Renault said stay below 2500, didn't mention about not staying at same speed for
too long. Won't that happen in highways, just asking....thanks.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ravee_nk

On the RPM, the service guy at Renault said stay below 2500, didn't mention about not staying at same speed for
too long. Won't that happen in highways, just asking....thanks.

Basically the idea is to not stick to constant rpm's for long duration and exercise the engine so that it can get run in sooner. Engine settles down sooner.

Diesel motor's take much longer to settle down sometimes close to 7-8K kms to become smooth.

[superdunkaroos]

Originally Posted by gennius

Also, I was determined to get better sound quality from this car. Since I am the only audiophile in my family, I couldn't get any fancy business of changing the main console, installing an amplifier or a subwoofer done in my Duster. I simply wanted a replacement of all 4 speakers on the Duster. Consequently, I installed 2 pairs of Infinity Reference 5032cf speakers (link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BZE36E/ ). To start with, these speakers were super reasonable (Set of 4 cost me about 4K, less than half of my budget) and fit the Duster perfectly. The setup cost me 300 bucks, but I got about 500 bucks for the shitty speakers, so I ended up saving on the installation.

Now for the quality. Being products of a subsidiary company of Harmon Kardon, these speakers have amazing high and mid sounds (thanks to the inbuilt tweeters) and pretty good bass for their sheer tiny size. Their construction is solid and for their size and price I think they're the best available deal in the market. I'm not sure about their availability and prices in India though. I think I'm pretty content with them and wont be digging any deeper for now.

I am facing the same dilemma as you, don't want to touch the unit or mess with the wiring and add an amplifier or a separate woofer.

How much of a difference do you think they made, when compared to the OEM Speakers with regards to Audio quality/clarity and max Volume?


I was thinking of these:
http://www.sony.co.in/product/xs-gtf13272
They cost around 5000-6000 for a set of 4. and I think they are the same size as the ones that you installed.

Thanks in Advance.

[Waxeloquent]

Ok did the Bangalore-Coimbatore-bangalore stretch. Duster handling of the work-in-progress stretch between Avinashi and Coimbatore (roughly 60km) is awesome. Yes automatic climate control would have been nice. Then the road clearance and
the shorter turning radius compensated more than adequately. Yes one thing; the PDI posted in the forum very thoughtfully
should be used without fail as I learnt. My Duster did not get the mud flaps (I paid for it) and it did not have the buckles for
the rear seat belts :( When contacted the sales person said the usual apologies and then the promises. Nothing worth recounting. Yeah got the front stock speakers replaced with JBL - GTO 509C. They are good. Even the rear seat passengers were happy with audio quality. Still researching on the leather seat covers. Checked with Stanley. They are doing about 300 OEM Duster seats.... price? Keep guessing..... Cheers

[noelravin]

Has anyone found any solutions to the Duster Wind Noise problem. I am surprised that till date Dusters are still sold with this grouse and Renualt has not found any solution. I have done some work on the door frames which have reduced the sound by 50% but I am still not satisfied.

[condor]

Originally Posted by noelravin

I have done some work on the door frames which have reduced the sound by 50% but I am still not satisfied.

Can you please share the details ?

[Mudhalaipatti]

Originally Posted by raul

I think I posted this before. I remember reading at At dusterforums.ro or daciaclub.ro someone tried to resolve the wind noise with better door damping and find spots where wind could be coming in, and spent tons of time and effort on this. It didn't work.

Apparently there are 2 problems, the roof bars cause the wind noise, and also there seems to be an issue the way the windscreen and front mirror is designed.

For the roof bars even the Yet has it and Shankar or other Yeti owners will be able to tell us if they get wind noise above 120kph.

Haa, I thought the XUV competitor had this 'wind' under control. I can draw a Impish smile here. In my XUV, I had to 'hammer' out the issue.

How about adjusting the fins that hold the door beading, to improve the air-tightness ? Does it help ?

[Waxeloquent]

I have got a mini tire inflator with pressure gauge. It is supposed to work only with 12V 15 amps power outlet. Is Duster RxZ 110ps power outlet compatible with this? It specifically says do not use with 8 amps outlets(older ones).

Thanks and cheers