[soul-on-4wheels]

Great, honest review, Suresh! Thank you! Such reviews are a big help for folks planning a new buy especially when they are spending northwards of 10L on it. Really liked the small things you have pointed out. Appreciate this gesture and here's wishing you many miles of wonderful driving in your Duster!

[vineet20]

- The music system has a mind of its own.

I recently picked up my RxL 110 (review and pics shortly), and music system seems to be an issue. Yesterday, the ICE just hanged when I tried to change the media source from iPod to CD. Just couldn't use it till we reached our destination. On our way I tried restarting the car, but to no avail. I had always thought of replacing the OEM unit at some stage, but didn't expect this!

But as Suresh says, it does seem to have a mind of its own. When we started on our way back, with the iPod removed, ICE started to work as if nothing had happened! (Our iPod seem to be working fine - no issue playing music off earphones or syncing it with gtkpod.)

[Rigid Rotor]

Not to forget that the speakers are just plain lousy.
I used to get better results from my home-built music system kits when I was in high school!
I tried to put up with the stock speakers for about two weeks. Gave up after that and changed those for JBL Co-axials.
Decent output now with good fidelity -thank heavens for that.

[autovarun]

Thanks for the review. I am currently in the process of booking the Duster, already took test drive it 2 times and love the size and looks. Is the premium for the RXZ(O) over the RXZ justified ?

[Waxeloquent]

The difference between the RxZ and the Opt version is the leather seats. At least till I took my delivery in Jan beginning, that was really not a great differentiator. Yes, you may have to pay much more than the price difference if you go for aftermarket
seat covers. Then you have much better choices. That's my take. Cheers

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Rigid Rotor

Wheel Jack Points -Where are they? This is a bit of a puzzle - The manual's diagram is not very clear and the underfloor does not appear to have clearly designated wheel jack points. I forgot to check with the SA and was crazy enough to go long-distance without checking the details. Suresh, would you have the info?

Vivek emails across the following:

Hi mods, you please pass on this information to RigidRotor's question. From years of experience abroad, jacking point is as indicated by the red arrow in the attached photo

[BheemBoy]

Congrats on your new Duster.

How hard is the clutch?

Took a test drive and was surprised with the lack of space in the second row. Not sure if the second row could be pused back but it wasn't spacious. The boot space was huge however.

This observation coming from comparing with a Swift.

The vehicle looks good and big from the outside but felt the inside is very tightly packed.

Cheers

[Chitta Pradhan]

Had a TD of 110 PS version around a couple of months back. Did felt the turbo lag & very hard clutch problem. But liked the NVH level & ride quality. NVH was better than my Verna 1.6 CRDI ( fluidic).

Today took a drive on a friend's 85 BHP Duster & did upto 120 kmph. No issues till that speed. Contrary to my expectation, the NVH level was same was 110 BHP Duster which I TDied earlier. Really impressive & was better than my Verna. Clutch of the 85 BHP Duster was way lighter than the 110 BHP's & felt little lighter than my Verna. It had negligible turbo lag ( approx upto 1200 rpm.). Has any body have a longer experience of both versions of Duster & can draw a comparison. To me 85 BHP makes more sense, should have more FE as well. The only advantage of 110 BHP version which comes to my mind is better power after 120/125 kmph, which we require only very occasionally.

Any views?

Thanks

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Chitta Pradhan

To me 85 BHP makes more sense, should have more FE as well. The only advantage of 110 BHP version which comes to my mind is better power after 120/125 kmph, which we require only very occasionally.

+1. Duster 85 beyond 100/110 delivers the goods though, but you can feel that slight strain in the engine. The sweet spot I think is 95-100. If you are real sedate driver on the highway go for the 85. City drivability is standout. You can drive it like a petrol engine!

But if your requirements are geared more to the highway, then 110 is better suited. Esp the sixth gear adds quite a punch.

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by ampere

+1. Duster 85 beyond 100/110 delivers the goods though, but you can feel that slight strain in the engine. The sweet spot I think is 95-100. If you are real sedate driver on the highway go for the 85. City drivability is standout. You can drive it like a petrol engine! But if your requirements are geared more to the highway, then 110 is better suited. Esp the sixth gear adds quite a punch.

I'd second that. Our driving 80% on highways and we find 110 is fantastic. Actually after a couple of months even city
driving is fine. You get used to it. Cheers

[Waxeloquent]

Bangalore Renault works on Sundays, the service manager actually responds to your calls. We have different norms here at Kochin it seems. Drove straight to Renault service at Kalamaserry from Kumarakom as I did not get any response to my calls or sms. No they don't work on Sundays. Come back on Monday morning 9am - 24km from Cherai Club Mahindra! Renault customer service emails their regrets for 2 fuse blow ups in 10 months, when I said in Verna for 5 years with same GPS & charger, no fuse ever blew!At Kottayam on Saturday found show rooms of Suzuki, Ford, VW & Hyundai open with customers, Renault has something -not sure if it is just sales or service - on MC road before Ettumanoor AND it was closed at 10 am. Well for a good measure when Renault customer care called me I told them them that also. They had more regrets and promised that they would fix the issue, not just replacing the fuse. So tomorrow will go there at 9am and if it works fine then make trip to
Chottanikara after that! Renault needs to figure out what and how Hyundai does right.

Cheers

[noelravin]

I have a 110ps RXZ which has run 26000kms till date. I have been disappointed with the mileage of this car as I get about 12.6 in Chennai city traffic and on the highway at speeds of 140-160 I would get the same 12.6kms. I decided to check this at realistic speeds and was quite surprised with the results.

I drove to BLR from Chennai with the AC on and stayed between 80-100 with an occasional speed of 120. I got an average of 19.5!

On the way back I drove at quite a consistent 120kmph and got an average of 15.8. The attached picture shows just two bars dropped on the fuel gauge after driving 300km and an average of 15.8.

The power of this engine encourages crazy speeds on the highway. Its a pity but I am going to sober up to save diesel. This engine is incredibly sensitive to speed.

[noelravin]

I must also add that the Fuel Gauge does not work consistently through its range. When I do a regular 640km drive at high speeds; the gauge runs through 6/9 bars over 570kms - the last 3 bars get depleted over 70kms. The range which shows 73km-to-empty then goes straight to zero. I hear this is a common issue with the duster?

[ampere]

Originally Posted by noelravin

I must also add that the Fuel Gauge does not work consistently through its range. When I do a regular 640km drive at high speeds; the gauge runs through 6/9 bars over 570kms - the last 3 bars get depleted over 70kms. The range which shows 73km-to-empty then goes straight to zero. I hear this is a common issue with the duster?

Not sure about it. But I would not recommend to wait for the last bars to tank it up esp for the highway. I usual tank it up when its down to 30-35%. At 50 I start getting uneasy.

As regard FE ranges, yes, its incredibly sensitive to speed. One needs to know when the engine is starting to over work rather than just work. Its in these ranges you just blow up the FE. From that point I have seen 85bhp has a sweet spot just about 95/100 and 110 may be at 110/120kmph.

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by noelravin

I must also add that the Fuel Gauge does not work consistently through its range. When I do a regular 640km drive at high speeds; the gauge runs through 6/9 bars over 570kms - the last 3 bars get depleted over 70kms. The range which shows 73km-to-empty then goes straight to zero. I hear this is a common issue with the duster?

I agree that FG has some issue. What I have experienced is that when the fuel is down to last 10%, the indicator - remaining distance to empty goes for a toss. I reported this at 2nd service and they agreed that there could be an issue but doubt if
anything is doable or was done. So like Ampere said I just play it safe particularly on highways. Cheers