Fair Enough 'Bang for your Buck' !!

Exteriors Duster looks quite aggressive from front, okish from sides & submissive from rear. Tail lights need a makeover. Overall its exteriors are new & refreshing. Double beam front head-lights look great & original bulbs are adequate in terms of distance illumination.

Interiors (Features, Space & Comfort) Front passengers are fine for leg room, but rear leg room is cramped. Rear AC vent - what's this all about, looks like a weird plastic fitment post purchase, only exists in RxZ variant. Base 2 variants are completely devoid of all safety features like ABS, EPS, airbags, etc. Interior designing team needs a kick for following:

1. Boot is seriously huge, & rear leg room is cramped.

2. Rear AC vent is obnoxious.

3. Media controls are placed, where they can't be accessed at all.

4. Side mirror controls also can't be accessed when hand-brake is down.

5. ICE is quite out-dated & looks sad. Buttons are not easy to use & press, & give that awkward 'tik-tik' sound, that one doesn't want to hear.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy & Gearbox From Indian Automobile Market point of view, fuel economy is PERFECT. City mileage with AC is 15-16 kmpl & 18-19 on highways. Gearbox & gear shifts are smooth & aptly placed (even for female drivers). Engine performance, 85 PS (200 Nm) is under-powered, but 110 PS (248 Nm) rectifies it. Both variants do suffer from a lag till about 1500 rpm, post that, power & pick up seems fine. Both diesel engine variants seem fine for city driving & non-power & non-turbo enthusiasts. You definitely need a turbo & a 4 x 4 if you have some mountaineering to do.

Ride Quality & Handling I was overwhelmed by overall ride quality of Duster. It’s great, in a word. I took it over pot-holes, speed brakers, off-road, etc. & its suspension worked decently, with very little / no bumps felt. Handling is good, steering wheel is quite exact & tyre movements are well synchronised. Obviously, Duster isn't as precise as a Honda Civic, but then again, machine works well & rides better than well.

Final Words Well, Renault Duster is first car in this price segment & this Mini-SUV segment, & is doing quite well too. Value For Money is what I must say. 110 PS engine is good but then it’s a little more expensive as well. The 85 PS Diesel Engine RxL variant makes max sense.

Areas of improvement

1. Bookings -- Renault is currently very unprofessional with their bookings of Duster. All dates / time lines are overshot. Renault currently is not capable enough of producing number of Dusters already booked, & sticking to time given to their customers.

2. Engine point of view - more power, a 4 x 4, a turbo-charged engine required.

3. Interior quality of plastics need to be improved.

4. Rear AC vent should be removed / placed above, along with roof.

5. Media controls & ORVM (outside-rear-view-mirrors) controls should be placed appropriately.

6. Rear passenger leg room should be increased & boot space could be reduced a little, some tuning over there is most definitely required.

7. ICE console should be replaced with a one that is more innovative & up-market.

9. More number of service stations should be opened & at appropriate locations.

10. RENAULT & NISSAN should stop fooling Indian Automobile buyers & have different diesel engines for different cars. Currently, Nissan Micra, Nissan Sunny, Renault Pulse, Renault Scala, Renault Fluence & Renault DUSTER are all powered by same diesel 1461 cc engine, which is frankly quite annoying. If Renault can power 4 teams (8 cars) for Formula-1 races, I think they can definitely have different engines for different cars. Nissan & Renault have same manufacturing unit in Chennai, & they are even using same platform for their cars. For example, Nissan Sunny, Renault Scala & Renault Duster share same base platform.

Front exteriors, ride quality, shock absorbers, fuel economy, ground clearance, handling, boot spaceBookings for one, rear exteriors, rear AC vent, rear seat leg-room, media controls, plastic quality