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-   -   Courtship with the Renault Duster RxZ (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/125576-courtship-renault-duster-rxz-2.html)

Hello Himadrimondal,
Congrats on your New Duster !
Wishing you Happy miles !
Nice pics. Some pictures can be even be referred to as wallpaper items.
Drive Safe

Many many congratulations Himadri. The write-up is short & sweet. I think given the nature of your work/hobby, no other car suits you better than the Duster. Keep this thread active as there would be lot of TBHPians & others keenly following it. Just a single picture of the Woodland Brown, does not do any justice to this lovely vehicle. Please share with us loads of pictures, both exterior & interiors. Try to pose your Duster in the wilderness of nature, that's the place where it belongs to.

Congrats on the Duster. I guess this does tick all the right boxes for a lot of us. I too have gone for the Woodland Brown color as it is unique & does look nice on Duster. Waiting for the delivery - promised end of the month.

I have heard from multiple people that the ICE is sub-par & what you have done with it looks neat :thumbs up

Any plans for the silver ORVMs & door handles? They really do look out of place.

Do keep the thread updated once you take a couple of your Long Trips.

@Himadri Mondal : Congratulations for your new purchase.
I hope this SUV would suit your requirements perfectly. But don't you think a 4WD would have been better for you. Your choise of colour is also fantastic but it may be a pain to maintain the dark colour.

How do you rate the Duster against the Safari or Scorpio in engine refinement, handling and ride comfort.

If you do not have a problem would you please reveal the cost breakup.
Within a month of the launch, Renault have already raised the prices by 7K, never read anything of this in the newspapers.

Wish you many happy and trouble free long trips with your Duster.
Do post your experience after the September trip.

Thanks for all the details.
What is specification of the HU? Does is it have 1 or 2 pre-amp outputs?
(Front and rear)

Thanks VishnuNarayanan.

:) Will come up with frames of the Duster in wilderness. Can't shoot now as I somehow don't like the rain. Will update with photographs soon.

Congrats on booking the Duster, sure you would love it too.
No plans lately for the silver OVRMs and door handles.

Sommos, I would have got the 4WD if Duster came with one, hence consoled myself and went for the 2D.
But honestly, even with all previous years of birding in the Himalayas, I never felt the requirement of a 4WD.

Just for reference, if one has been to Upper Neora Valley National Park from Lava, WB;
this is one route which any 4WD lover would love to traverse. I did that route with a 2WD but had some underneath scrapings.
Rest everywhere would do it on foot.

Have not noted the HU specs :deadhorse, but does not have any pre-amp outputs. Hence used the hi-low convertors.

Hi there,

First of all I should make it clear that I'm not Indian, rather I am British and I have put down a deposit on a Duster, the first deliveries of which are supposed to arrive in January, or possibly a little before.

Since there are currently no Dacias in Britain (which is, as I'm sure you all know, what it is being badged as in Britain) I have been following the Indian launch intently. Obviously I am aware of Dacia, and a Belgian friend owns a 4x4 Duster, but the Indian model has the new dashboard, which at present is only available in Russia and South America, and in both of which markets the car is also badged as a Renault by the way, but also in which markets the detailed specificatons vary form the Indian/British version built in Chennai.

Himadrimondal: your observations are the best I have read from a new owner, so I would like to ask a few, possibly innane questions, if you don't mind.

I curently own a ten year old Fiat Doblo, which has been a great car and I am reluctant to get rid of, but nothing goes on forever and since it looks to need some money spending on it I thought I'd cut my losses on a practically worthless car and replace it.

Unfortunately we only have a German spec cars in our dealers to look at, since the Chennai built cars are currently all allocated to Indian owners and Renault is obviously having to work hard to meet the unexpected demand. In any case, getting a new model up and running is always slow, and it is typical here to have to wait three months for specific models built to order. But I digress.

The 'German' car is very similar to the Indian version, bar the dashboard, but obviouslythe pedals are on the left hand sicde.

My first question is:

Is there adequate space for the clutch foot to the left of the pedal? I know there isn't a 'dead' pedal, as it's obviously known in india, and that doesn't bother me, but I would be interested to know if changing gear is easy and uncomplicated by the possibility of getting my left foot jammed, either under the pedal or to the left of it. In other words, is there sufficient space around the pedals to make changing gear easy?

Question 2:

How do you find the steering? It is lower geared than my Doblo, which has 2.5 turns from lock to lock. The Duster has 3.5. i just wonder if it feels very low geared and cumbersome to drive?

Question3:

The wind noise. Some peope say it isn't anyhting to bother about, others say it is bad, others don't even mention it. My dealer, who has driven the German car, says it isn't bad and is mostly heard in the back seats. In fact, when British dealers went for their mass induction they were all very pleasantly surprised by the car. They were expecting something cheap and shoddy and discovered a very impressive car. I have no intention of carrying people in the back, other than exceptionally, but I would like to know what you think as you have driven the car at speed, whereas most of the testers potter about on country roads and in town and seem to think that 100kph is fast. I know this is difficut to measure; one person's mild wind buffeting is another person's din. It depends what you are used to as well. My Doblo has wind flutter above about 60/70mph (120/130kph) but it isn't bad, and the engine and road noise combined very low below about 130kh. Aso, the quality of the noise is not unpleasant: no headache.

The Indian car is better secified than the one coming to Britan. We don't get a spare wheel, even as an option, only a gunk compressor thing to pump into a holed tyre in case of puncture. Fine, unless the tyre is wrecked, but not a great idea. The 4x4 gets proper spare though.

We also don't get that solid load bay cover, rather a simple fold away netting thing. There is no rear charger point in the British (or Eurpean) cars either.

None of this matters in the least to me. I wish it didn't have elecric door mirrors either, since I hardly ever re-set my mirrors and an electric mechanism is just soemthing to go wrong.

I mention these points because I have seen many obserations in India about the strange positioning of the RVM adjuster, and also the lack of climate control, another 'luxury' I don't want. The same goes for keyless entry, we don't get it and I don't want a car with it, and I am more than capable of switching on my own lights and wipers, I don't need these to be automatic either. The fact that the headlamp adjuster is mechanical rather than electric just removes another potential problem, especially since the adjuster is only used when carrying exceptionally heavy loeads, which for me means about three times in ten years.

There is a growing movement here against unncecessary features in cars which just add cost and complication, and I'm with them I'm afraid.

Dacia is meant to be a low cost, tough, reliable brand, and I just hope they don't weaken this philosophy. Newer cars, like the seven seater Lodgy, get a touchscreen multi-function computerised inftotaianment system. Thankfully the Duster doesnt, yet!

I'e gone on far too long. My pologies. But just ome more thing; most testers here suggest thatthe ride is excellent but that the cars rolls in corners. I like a comfortable ride, and i have no problem if the corollory is a ittle roll, but do you find the car rolls much when taking corners at speed. i mean here above 100kph?

And that will do, eh!

Manythanks for your indulgence.

I just hope the car gives you a lot of happy motoring, without too many probelms.



I recently tested a Suzuki Swift Sport, whcih has very good reviews here, and I was struck by the road noise and very mild wind bluster, which combined to make the car noisy at 140kph. Combined with the slightly harsh ride and the overhard and uncomfortable seats, the little Suzy was not a great place to be, for me, and I found the electric steering to be dead, as electric steering so often is. Ansd as i said, this care gets grat revews! I got out feeling quite confused, and I was glad to get back into my Doblo, which was both more comfortable (great seats), just as nippy , since the Suzy had a revvy petrol engine which needed 4000+ revs to deliver anyhting, and as better and ore direct hydraulic steering.

In fact the little Twinair Panda is a much better drive than the Suzy Swift, but try telling the professional testers that.

Just read it. Sorry about the spelling and punctuation, you'll just have to read around it :D

One more thing. Are the (rear) wheelarches - underneath - painted in body colour or are they given some sort of underseal? The European ones have limited internal cladding and come in body colour only.

That'll do for now :)

Congratulations on your purchase. Finally there is a sensible buy in that price range. The exterior looks refreshing and the interior well sorted. An overall a far superior vehicle to the safari and the scorpio. Ride safe.

Here goes the actual breakup:
West Bengal, Kolkata

Renault Duster RxZ 110PS: 9,94,794.00
Vat @ 13.5% : 1,34,297.00

Total : 11,29,091.00 (Renault website says 11,18,591.00)

Registration & Road tax : 28,800.00
Insurance from dealer : 40755.00

On-road price : 11,98,646.00


NO, there is absence of adequate space for the clutch foot to the LEFT of the pedal.
Left foot is better placed under the pedal but that has never come in the way of changing gears.
I never experienced any complications and at the same time never felt the requirement of a dead pedal either.
The clutch is slightly on the stiffer side though.

:)It actually IS to a certain extent. There is resistance offered during fast turns and feels a bit stiff.
But you may only experience this if you are going zig zag every minute.
On straight roads and normal curves, the Duster feels confident with no sign of any under steer.

There IS wind noise and you will hear it at 100kmph and above.
The only way I mask it now is with some good music, might think about getting around this in the future.
But never felt the noise to be unbearable either.

Me too and it feel so good to hear the same from you.
I would have felt so stupid if everything automatic was happening around me.
Can't imagine wipers going off if I choose to clean my wind screen with the car running. lol:

Regarding the RVM adjuster, I feel its just perfectly placed.
The hand break leaver DOES NOT come in the way of adjusting.
Adjustment is stress free and you can do this even while driving.

Last but not the least, I suggest you take a test drive and check for yourself how you connect with the car.
You guys are lucky to get a 4x4, do update us with your choice.

Thanks Bigron.

Thanks Himadrimondal,

I really appreciate your complete and very comprehensive response.

I knew there wasn't sufficient space next to the cutch pedal. I've been studying photos and watching the Indian road tests, and your clear description has clarified the matter. You say it isn't a problem, and since none of the testers have mentioned it, even though they seem to obsess about the totally irrelevant rear view mirrow control and the load adjuster switch for the lights, I can only believe that it isn't a problem. There would be no point in saying how comfortable the car is if something like that was not mentioned.

As for the steering; I guessed it. A pity, because all Fiats have superb quick steering. At least the steering isn't electric, because some of these systems are horrible. I drove a new Kia Picanto and a Suzuki Swift Sport recently and the electronic assistance killed the fun. I do drive quickly by the way

I'll have to wait and see. The wnd noise might be a deal breaker, I don't know. We can't test drive one here until the left hand drive ones arrive from India in the new year. I have put down a deposit of £100, which is supposedly non-returnable after signing the contract - in October maybe. I've mentioned these points to the dealer and he's not going to hold me to it. Particualrly since deposits taken now are only going to see delivery in March! It will, as in India, be easy to move stock along.

I don't need a 4x4 car, or at least not 99% of the time, and the 4x4 falls into a slighty higher annual tax bracket here, so there is no point. Most cars sold here (about 80%) will be 2x4s.

We don't get the 85hp Diesel, and the petrol only comes in very basic spec; no A/C, no radio, no adjustable driver's seat, and no ESP availablty either - but remote locking, anti-lock brakes and four airbags. This cost's £8995, and there aren't many new cars of any type available for less than that in Britain.

I've gone for white. Metallic paint costs £470 more and we only get the choice of black, silver, grey and a couple of blues. I'd like a lovely soft creamy yellow that Renault does, but no hope on the Duster unfortunately!

I appreciate your reply, and the fact that most people really like the Duster is encouraging. I have no idea of the Indian car maret, but it must be very different from here. People have driven the Duster and said they can get five people across the back seat :eek: Totally illegal here. If you need more than 4/5 seats the answer in Europe has to be to buy an MPV or something with seven seats. Travelling without a seat belt on is totally illegal. And don't get the point of that little seat option for the boot either, for the same reason. This isn't what the Duster is intended for. It is a light, economical, easy to drive , high riding car. Basically a jacked up Logan. I love the way Dacia/Renault cuts costs by sharing not only the componenents we don't see - they all do that - but also the ones that we do. The front doors on the Duster are lifted diretly from the Logan, and I like that sort of cleverness. Actually the Duster is a brilliantly conceived car.

As for the 1.5dCi engine, well, we know it a one of the very best Diesels, and since Mercedes is using it as its base engine in the new A Class, (with start and stop etc.) it means you will be able to get your Duster serviced at a Mercedes dealer :uncontrol

Take care now, and enjoy your lovely car.

I'll keep you posted.

One question: The car being so new did the technicians face any skill issues while installing the amp/speakers? Asking so that I can get confidence to go ahead with it.

Also please do update after your Sikkim trip! :uncontrol

Himadri,

Congrats! Great pictures, great settings for an outdoor car like yours. And I am sure you will make good use of it on your birding trips to these parts.

I spotted a Duster in town last evening when I was taking out my TJet for a spin. I quite liked the brown color, although I did not care for it too much earlier.

Thanks Ulpian for the info, never knew that. Will be in touch. :D

Suchit, no problems faced as such by the technicians. It was only one person
who worked and I was there all the time watching him closely.
Made sure I was absolutely clear about the modifications it was undergoing and how the layout of the connection was done.
To be precise, only the HU wires that goes to the speakers need to be worked upon.
Will update you on the trip, its on this month end.

Thanks Jhoy.

Congratulations on your new car. I really liked the way you dealt with is pesky dealer. Brilliant.

Attachment 975853


If there is a prize for the best TBHP sticker placement, yours will take the cake. The one on the C-Pillar quarter glass. It is THE BEST.