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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-3.html)

Congrats on your new Duster. And thank you for quite detailed first impression and ownership report. I hope you will come out with another report after the first free service or so?

Congratulation for your new beast. Its a nice review & beautiful pics.

I have a query, from where you did the lamination of floor carpet & how much its cost. Is it pasting with original carpet.

As Samarjit mentioned, hope we can get a closer look in our next TBHP meet.

Thanks BurningHeart for the comments.
Just back from my much awaited birding trip with the Duster but :deadhorse
the entire trip was washed out. Seems the rains followed me from Kolkata,
stayed with me in Sikkim, followed me back to Kolkata again.

For the past 4 years, have been frequenting this place(foot hills of Maenam)
in west Sikkim for this bird.

Mrs Gould's Sunbird


Though I could not get a single glimpse of the bird, I managed to put the Duster to some test.



To start with, took the car non stop from Kolkata to our spot in Sikkim.
With food packed for the first day, we started at 4am in the morning, and reached at 12 midnight.
The car did not even whisper any problems. It was calm and composed all the way.



Differences I felt from other rides (first two years in a Tavera and next two in a Safari)

1. NO stiff shoulders, no body aches. I was not tired after the long drive.
2. The car is a bliss on highways, just mask the wind noise with some good music.
3. Braking is fantastic, sudden sightings of big potholes don't scare you.
4. 1st gear has massive pull, comes hand on steep hairpin curves.
5. Turbo lag did not bother me much, most of the hairpin turns can be negotiated in second gear
if downshift is done with proper timing.



6. Handbrake works fine in the middle of steep ascents, massive pull in the first gear does the rest.
7. The front and rear wheel arch bulges are thing of concern during a pass, more so when a army truck passes.
8. Wipers took a lot of beating but there was no shuddering sound even once.
9. I clocked around 16km/l for the entire trip.



Duster has a natural tendency to pick up competition, the other Scorpios and Safaris tend to nudge and
zip past only to see the Duster vanish in no time. ( I keep telling myself to smile and let go of competition
but sometimes it gets the better of me)



Though the Duster gobbles potholes and bad roads, I hate subjecting mine to the same.
It has taken a LOT of beating on this trip, will keep it off bad roads for the time being.



Though it was a trip cut short by rain, it did a lot of good from the Duster point of view.
I had started developing a feeling it was a cut to cost car with plastics and interiors cheap enough not to last at least 5 years.
To all those who have been shouting about how much cost cutting Renault has done in its interiors,
I now confidently know its made up with whats underneath the hood and body.

Beautiful photographs !! The duster looks like a chameleon against the background !! Perfect colour for your activities.

This was my "much awaited birding trip" and a big thank you for the lovely photos.Awesome.

I am really glad I am not the only one who has to fight the tendency to put competition on roads to rest. Keep telling myself to grow up,but never been able to control myself. Or rather the Duster breaks my resolution and indulges me.

How was the performance in bad road? Did the Duster underbelly touch ground even once?These are the type of roads where the odd stone/boulder lies plum in the middle of the path and you cant work your way around it, if my guess is correct. Pretty sure in your taverra days you must have collected the odd stone somewhere.

And finally, regarding plastic life, only time will tell. On careful analysis, if only Renault had provided a decent enough contemporary Dash board "for the money which they are charging",I will not crib so much. As long as there is warranty, I guess we can feel relatively covered.
Cheers

Good stuff man. Enjoyed the pics of birds (and also the brown duster :) )
I wish I had shot more pics of my Duster during my Thekkady/Kodaikanal trip last week. But with the 100-400 not leaving my Canon 7D, I was always running after the birds (some pics on my FB page).
I do have to say that my lower back hurts after some 3 hour non stop ride.

PS: Reminder to self to update my ownership thread

Awesome pics! First time seeing a Duster doing a bit of off roading. And it sure looks at home on those roads :)

Some really awesome pics there, Himadrimodal!
The marketing blokes at Renault should be calling you to use these for their pamphlets!
The Little Beast in Woodland Brown looks like a natural in its habitat.

I agree with your conclusion:
"To all those who have been shouting about how much cost cutting Renault has done in its interiors,
I now confidently know its made up with whats underneath the hood and body."

Awesome pictures man!! I have a soft spot for woodland brown for it is the same colour I have been waiting for over two months now. The beast looks at home against the surroundings.

Last but not the least the wait is killing me!

Awesome pics of Duster and the bird. I was all smiles seeing the beautiful pictures. I bought a new Duster. Happy to note Duster is taking hair pin bends in 2nd gear and it could run without trouble from 4AM to 12 midnight. I agree with the wind noise. But the music masks it. Btw, have you tried the car bluetooth for phone ? In my case, the other parties hear their own voice when I put them on the car speaker.

I reported the issue in TBHP as soon as I bought the car and called my wife stupid: Renault service tried to replace the HU but the same exact problem. The root cause is that there is a good 1-2 sec audio lag in the HU. If you play a video from your cellphone you can make out the lag. Especially if you are seeing cricket watch out when the ball hits willow and when you hear the sound of the same. :deadhorse

If I'm not wrong, there is a flipped Indica @ background:Shockked:.

Lovely pics Himadri! The colour of the duster matches perfectly with the misty surroundings.
Any other bird sighting from this trip? do post your log and pics from the trip.

Great pictures and writeup!! And I guess it is fair to say that brown hasn't looked this good on any vehicle as far as I can remember. The duster, notwithstanding its name, is definitely one of the suvs to consider for the Indian buyer today. Now if Renault can get it to be more renault than dacia by refreshing the interior quality in the ext iteration, there would be many more buyers and it will become a proper 'hit' to establish the brand in good stead. Wishing you many more happy miles ahead!!!

Awesome photos. Duster looks smashing.
BTW, that road looks heavenly.

How iss the clutch? Not hard I hope.

Cheers!