Courtship with the Renault Duster RxZ

[himadrimondal]

Dusted, after driving almost all the common man's (myself being one of them) SUV/MUV from the likes of Safari (twice), Scorpio, Bolero, Tavera, I think, had enough of my share of niggles.

At one point in time, the mechs at the workshop were about to become my friends as far as the Safari and Scorpio were concerned.

Last time when I went to the deep interiors of Sikkim(for birding), the Safari key remote was not working suddenly. Since the car has engine immobilizer, remote was the only way I could unlock the engine. The remote battery went dead in the cold, a battery (12v, 28 amps, 1inch long pencil thin) size I have never seen in my life. Arranged a 12v 22 amp different battery and wired it to the remote to unlock the engine.

Coming back to Kolkata, I decided to get the Duster in June, was following the Team bhp Duster thread too for a year or so.

But that does not go to say that Duster was the only alternative I was looking for which has terrific GC and comes with reliability:
1. Followed the Toyota Fortuner since 2006 onward when pricing rumours were around 15L but reality came crushing after launch.
2. Then came the Yeti, started following it from 2009 onwards, but the ground clearance made me so sad, otherwise I love the car.

Why did I choose the Duster?

I needed a car which would do good on highways and on mountains with the highest ground clearance but should be within 10-12L. The Yeti, very close to my heart, lost out on GC and price. The Logans on the road made me trust Renault on quality. Finally Duster on 2012. seems to fit my requirements perfectly.

On August 2nd, took delivery of RxZ 110 PS Woodland Brown colour.

Booking and Delivery experience.

Actually got to know about the bookings from other TBHP members.
Booking was smooth, 19th June 2012.
Duster got launched on 4th July across India, it came to Kolkata on 7th July.

Wanted to get a TD but the dealer does not call me. The excitement to get hands on the car was too much for all the patience I had. So I called and forced a TD saying I would pay up full on road value after the TD and on the same day.

9th July, payments over, dealer told me I should be the first person to get the car by July end or first week of August.

First week of August, called up the dealer to know only 16 cars have arrived but my colour does not exist in the RxZ. Sales representative says, " Please take the Grey". He even brought the grey plate, polished it with his own shirt and tells me, "This looks great" but in vain, the woodland brown strongly stood its ground in my mind.

Then came the senior manager with a list which has 3 woodland browns, RxZ but cannot be allotted as they were booked before me (as claimed by him and all were corporate big shots as seen in the list). I was surprised, shocked but politely sat with him. We both tried to convince each other and after 15 mins of reaching nowhere I asked, "Did any of them finish their payments or all are opting for loans?"

He got stuck, my next answer was, " Either I get the car or return my full amount". His reply, "Sir, please come tomorrow and take the car but prices have gone up by another 7k".

Will update on this when I get my invoice, they have kept it for registration.

Features I liked:
1. Good GC, (roads I traverse during trips are bad, all scrape except the Safari)
2. Large Boot (everything from food, water, burner, tents should fit on trips)
3. Tired of seven seater, even a four would be fine.
4. Good ride quality, better handling.
5. Exterior finishing and paint quality.
6. Loved the fabric seat designs, have ordered art leather for the same.

Things I did not like:

1. As mentioned by all and everyone, the Doors. They are light but worse are the door beading. Room for improvement.
2. The body metal gauge, its actually thinner than the cars I am used to. Quiet similar to Innova.
3. Horrible audio quality, makes me laugh at the kind of dynamic range Renault shows. (Koleos has BOSE)
4. Plastic quality in the interiors, should have been much much better for the price.








Since this is the rainy season, gave the car a good wax and did not opt for the paint protection.
Also went for a floor lamination to save the interior carpet.



The Bluetooth connectivity is fantastic, I even like to steering remote controls. As a matter of fact, you can even access them while making a turn. Its actually impossible doing this if the controls were on the steering wheel itself. BUT the car audio is just beyond even basic.

Hence the Primus PR 6500cs Infinity component.





The rear GTO-S959 6x9 JBL



The GTX-X646 amps below the front left seat.

There was a hissing, whining noise picked up by the amps which was transmitted to the speakers which I have managed to kill. Just adjust the amps input gain where no audible hissing is heard. Did this at midnight with all doors closed and there I have hissing free amps.



For Team BHP with love. When I was fitting the speakers at the after market shop, many came to have a look at the Duster, many more came to ask where I got the TBHP stickers from.




Something which many would love to see, this is what you get if you drive it with love.



Otherwise in sporty mode but never crossing 2k rpm mark for the first 1500km, I get 12.5km/L

City drive is pleasurable but not tension free. The side arches are a real concern with motor cycles and rickshaws going left and right. Engine feels smooth and adequately powered. Downshifting is a must in city traffic. I am used to driving one hand on the wheel and one on the gear knob, shifting becomes a bit easier then.

I doubt if the AC is powerful or the sun heats up the dash pretty quickly. The front wind shield gets very hot in no time on bright sunny days making the AC look inadequate. During nights its fine.

Thinking if I have to put a front wind shield film.

Night driving is not a problem, I find the headlights good enough. Two separate high and low beams throw a good amount of light. There is wind noise audible at high speeds but I mask that with some good music.

Have driven the car 900 kms so far, should finish up another 500 kms within a week as rains have stopped.
Its niggle free this far with no body/door noise even on bad roads.

My courtship with the Duster till this point is fantastic. The ride quality and stability is to die for. Had parked my car on a road side when a brand new Ford Endeavour(Big Boss) came from the other side and stopped beside mine. The family had a good look at my car and gave me a 'Thumb's Up' and moved on, feels good!

The real test though is about to come by September end when I take it to Sikkim. Have to see if it develops any kind of rattle.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[sameerg001]

Congratulations on owning one of the best sub 12L car in Indian market

Looks awesome in woodland brown color and those Team-BHP stickers looks classy. BTW how's the performance of headlamps, do you feel a need to upgrade or they are fine in stock form ? And also, How are the brakes ?

And what was the cost of Audio setup ( upgrade ) ?

I might upgrade to a duster in few months, if everything goes well.

Wish you wonderful miles ahead, Drive safe.

Cheers,
Sameer

[HappyRoadie]

Congrats on your purchase. It is really value for money. The brown is looking quite appealing. Wish you many happy and safe miles.

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

A BIG THANKS for all the support, salute your dedication.

Originally Posted by sameerg001

Congratulations on owning one of the best sub 12L car in Indian market

Looks awesome in woodland brown color and those Team-BHP stickers looks classy. BTW how's the performance of headlamps, do you feel a need to upgrade or they are fine in stock form ? And also, How are the brakes ?

And what was the cost of Audio setup ( upgrade ) ?

I might upgrade to a duster in few months, if everything goes well.

Wish you wonderful miles ahead, Drive safe.

Cheers,
Sameer

Thanks Sameer.
I find the headlights good enough.

There are two separate high and low beams apart from two fog lights. Six beams in total.
More luminance might as well be a cause of irritation for the person driving from the opposite side.

The entire Audio setup was for 22k.

Originally Posted by HappyRoadie

Congrats on your purchase. It is really value for money. The brown is looking quite appealing. Wish you many happy and safe miles.

Thanks HappyRoadie.
I would be able to comment 'Value for money' aspect only after a usage of about 10,000 kms.
That should give an idea of how things would shape up in the years to come.

[vasanthn21]

Congrats on aquiring the latest Beast!

I was of the opinion that Duster looks best in white, I stand corrected Woodland Brown is the winner! Stranegly don't see too many on the road yet.

Eagerly waiting for your report after your drive to Sikkim. I am confused between Duster and Sunny (I know, its weird!). I hate rattles and would like to know what happens after your trip. I did not get a chance to TD the Duster, I did drive the Sunny and with the soft suspension, I don't think it will develop rattles so easily.

Keep the thread updated please! Thanks in advance.

[swiftnfurious]

Nice pics! The beige mats are going to give you a hard time. Innovative placement for the rear speakers too! But how is the reach of music from there? Is it the stock location provided by the company for rear speakers?

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

Edit:: I am kind of confused with all the news trickling in about the FE! I have hardly seen anyone mentioning anything above 15 kmpl. Why do we have such a drastic difference? Guess I should wait a bit more to see much more real life figures.

[supertinu]

Congratulations Himdari on your purchase and lovely pics. You definitely got yourself a car thats bound to get you some attention for sometime . Do provide more details on how the performance of the ICE. Whats your impressions about drivability of the engine?

[crazyjeeperk]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I am kind of confused with all the news trickling in about the FE! I have hardly seen anyone mentioning anything above 15 kmpl. Why do we have such a drastic difference? Guess I should wait a bit more to see much more real life figures.

I have a partner now, I too was wondering about the same. Does this mean the most practical mileage one can expect from Duster is around 15KMPL?

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by vasanthn21

Congrats on aquiring the latest Beast!

I was of the opinion that Duster looks best in white, I stand corrected Woodland Brown is the winner! Stranegly don't see too many on the road yet.

Eagerly waiting for your report after your drive to Sikkim. I am confused between Duster and Sunny (I know, its weird!). I hate rattles and would like to know what happens after your trip. I did not get a chance to TD the Duster, I did drive the Sunny and with the soft suspension, I don't think it will develop rattles so easily.

Keep the thread updated please! Thanks in advance.

Vasanth, the woodland brown does look good but I feel its only during the day. The white and silver would look better after sunset.

Regarding the rattles, let me give an honest confession here.
I too am in two minds if the car would develop rattles after the trip. As far as (interior) quality goes,
if this were a Toyota or a Honda or a Chevy, I am sure it would be rattle free even after several trips.
Will surely update on this.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Nice pics! The beige mats are going to give you a hard time. Innovative placement for the rear speakers too! But how is the reach of music from there? Is it the stock location provided by the company for rear speakers?

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

Edit:: I am kind of confused with all the news trickling in about the FE! I have hardly seen anyone mentioning anything above 15 kmpl. Why do we have such a drastic difference? Guess I should wait a bit more to see much more real life figures.

"The beige mats", are my wife's choice, nothing can be done there.

The reach of music is fine, infact I feel it's now better placed that the oem speakers placed on the rear side doors.
Further since they are large 6x9, 400watt, output is adequate. 80% of full volume, I can't hear the person beside me.

Originally Posted by supertinu

Congratulations Himdari on your purchase and lovely pics. You definitely got yourself a car thats bound to get you some attention for sometime . Do provide more details on how the performance of the ICE. Whats your impressions about drivability of the engine?

Supertinu, thanks for the comments. The ICE setup I did was initially satisfactory and not up to the mark.
There was some amplifier whining initially. Took care of that by decreasing input gain. BUT,
as I used to turn the power steering extreme left or right, there was a very faint buzz as if a mosquito was flying.

So I decided to do the re-wiring..
This time the power wire came from one side of the car and the audio wires, RCA cables came from the other side of the car.
One should make sure no electrical wire should overlap a RCA cable or speaker wires from the amps.

Checked to see if only the amplifier is grounded.
Now since all wires are running under carpets and re insulated with black tape, the setup looks extremely clean.
There is no whining, buzzing, shrill noise even if input gain is increased.

Adjusted the input gain so that volume 1 on the head unit will give only a faint faint sound.
Clarity of sound is lovely, just a little low on base as I did not put a sub woofer.
I did not want to use up my luggage space, tested a sub that goes under the seat but did not like the output either.
Happy as off now due to the sound quality, more so due to the proper way everything was arranged.

Originally Posted by crazyjeeperk

I have a partner now, I too was wondering about the same. Does this mean the most practical mileage one can expect from Duster is around 15KMPL?

Crazyjeeperk, I guess you can expect 15KMPL for sure.
The manual says the car will go up on PERFORMANCE after 6000km.
If driven smoothly and with a light foot, there will be happy days ahead.

1200km UP.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by himadrimondal

The reach of music is fine, infact I feel it's now better placed that the oem speakers placed on the rear side doors.
Further since they are large 6x9, 400watt, output is adequate. 80% of full volume, I can't hear the person beside me.

Congrats on the new ride! I had a few more questions on the same topic (ICE)

- Does placing the amp below the seat, hinder with leg space? Hopefully it should not. But just in case, wanted to know
- How was experience with wiring? Especially from HU to the amp and powering up the amp
- Where did you place the cross overs for the front speakers?
- Any specifc reasons why not a basic co-axial for the back seat? Or it was just want of better quality?

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by ampere

Congrats on the new ride! I had a few more questions on the same topic (ICE)

- Does placing the amp below the seat, hinder with leg space? Hopefully it should not. But just in case, wanted to know
- How was experience with wiring? Especially from HU to the amp and powering up the amp
- Where did you place the cross overs for the front speakers?
- Any specifc reasons why not a basic co-axial for the back seat? Or it was just want of better quality?

Placement: Placing the amp below the left front seat does not hinder with the leg space of the rear passenger.
I have checked it multiple times. In fact if not told or shown, the amp is invisible.

Wiring experience: This has to been done very judicially. Since the amp is placed under the front left seat, all wires were cut to required size except the RCA cables. The excess of the RCA cables were coiled and taped but the front and rear coils were placed more than a feet apart. The rear RCA cable's excess part was coiled and placed behind the HU. The front RCA cable was coiled and placed below the carpet under the right leg position of the front left seat.

The Power cable was from the battery directly. The fire wall of the car has a round rubber block through which the power cables of the car goes inside from the left side. The amp power cable passes through this block too and then goes under the carpet and comes out of the carpet exactly where the power cable goes into the amp.

Placement of cross over for front speakers: Both crossovers were taped properly and placed just behind the head unit inside the dash.

Did not go for a basic co-axial just for want of basic quality.

[Blow Horn Ok]

Congrats on the purchase! Wish you happy and trouble free miles on your new acquisition.
This color suits the Duster and I hope almost 50% of the Dusters in the market are going to be of this color. Placement of TBHP sticker on the rear quarter glass is cool.

The HU has pre-outs or you connected the amp through hi-lo converter?
The speakers at rear aren't visible in the RVM? Does it interfere with rear visibility?
Can this speaker be installed on the rear door pads (ie. the original speaker position)?
What's your take on the new sound quality? Is the HU competent enough?

[samarjitdhar]

Yeaaaa. Finally the first ownership report from our city on the Duster on TBHP. Many congratulations. Among most SUVs of its price range it has the best road presence IMO, even beats the MM XUV 5OO by a mile. What I like about the looks is its perfectly balanced proportions which conveys a lot about its handling abilities. Hope you can join us soon in our next TBHP meet here and we can have a closer dekko at your prized possession. Wishing you many happy road trips and miles.

[himadrimondal]

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

Congrats on the purchase! Wish you happy and trouble free miles on your new acquisition.
This color suits the Duster and I hope almost 50% of the Dusters in the market are going to be of this color. Placement of TBHP sticker on the rear quarter glass is cool.

The HU has pre-outs or you connected the amp through hi-lo converter?
The speakers at rear aren't visible in the RVM? Does it interfere with rear visibility?
Can this speaker be installed on the rear door pads (ie. the original speaker position)?
What's your take on the new sound quality? Is the HU competent enough?

Thanks Blow Horn OK.
The HU does not have pre-outs, connection is done through hi-lo converter.
Only a part of the speakers are visible through the RVM as its diagonally just behind the headrests of the rear seat.
Have attached a convex RVM as I don't use the OVRMS.

The HU, Daewoo make, is pretty good though functions are basic.
The quality of sound is superb. Pink Floyd sounds terrific, as good as it sounds on my drawing room sonodyne.

Originally Posted by samarjitdhar

Yeaaaa. Finally the first ownership report from our city on the Duster on TBHP. Many congratulations. Among most SUVs of its price range it has the best road presence IMO, even beats the MM XUV 5OO by a mile. What I like about the looks is its perfectly balanced proportions which conveys a lot about its handling abilities. Hope you can join us soon in our next TBHP meet here and we can have a closer dekko at your prized possession. Wishing you many happy road trips and miles.

Thanks Samarjit.