Renault Duster CVT Review

It has ben almost a year now (some 8000 Kms) since I bought my Duster CVT in Bangalore and have drove to some places like Hyderabad, Mahabalipuram, Nandi Hills, Beemeshwari etc in a short span from Bangalore.

Exterior Great Look, masculine and head turner.  One of the best in the market (across many segments). The new black thick roof rail adds to the look. However, the drawbacks on this are also quite a few. An electric sun roof is badly missed and the absence of chrome rail in between two head lamps is really felt which is available in other variants of Duster. Although there are a few accesories wich can be added to further up the look like- Ranault logo tail lamp, exhaust pipe chrome finish etc.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Nothing excellet on this front. I would rather term the interior as Pathetic and very basic. Many hatchbacks comes with far better interiors :( . Unfortunately, could not even find any good accesoreis to ramp up the interior look except for blue coloured door lights. The dashboard is pretty ordinary. Display screen is also very basic and without navigation. The gear handle look is also feels like from ancient models. However, the space and confort is awesome. You will not feel the tireness even after miles of driving.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Great driveing experience between speed of 55 Kmph and 110 kmph. anything outside this range is a problem. Extremely slow pick up, specially in the first gear (equivalent in CVT), feels like pulling very heavy. The rubber band effect can be easily felt during gear shifts (specially around 45-55 kmph speed). However all this can be overcome to a large extent by pressing the accelerator harder and fuller (but may strain your legs on the long run) or shiifting to manual. Fuel economy is decent -gives around 9-10 kmpl in city (Bangalore) and around 13 on highways (with AC). AC performance is poor.

Ride Quality & Handling All thumbs up to this segment. The ride quality and handling is just great and that is where Duster scores well. However, bad AC is a set back specially with such big interior space.

Final Words Overall, value for money. Easy to drive and extremly comfortable. May be termed as best at this price range.

Areas of improvement Imrovement in AC and Interiors are much needed. May come up with some accessories to boost up the interior look (like something for better dashboard, wooden like cover for central part of dashboard around the screen and central AC vent, software upgrade for the screen to include navigation, some space managers or sometinng similar to boost the look for area from around the gear handle and hand brake etc).

Great Exterior, Hill drive Assist, Ample Boot SpacePick-up, Pathetic AC, Bearable Audio system, No navigation, Bad Interiors