Renault Duster- Review
New in the market the Duster tries to compete with it's rivals.Sitting
inside one feels that the seats are comfortable and spacious.Four to five
people can sit comfortably.The chrome grills and the headlights gives it a bold
look all together.The SUV is not behind in it's length too 4315 mm long
and 1822mm wide makes one fell of owning a big car.The DUSTER logo chrome plate
at the back gives a classic look although the taillights are not that
impressive.The 475 litres boot space at the back is worth
mentioning.The rear AC vents makes no difference for the passengers sitting at
the back or in the front.There is a storage space in the centre to keep a
mobile phone which is handy while driving.The audio controls are placed at the
back of the steering wheel which is different.This gives a feeling of paddle
shifts of a sports car.The duster comes in three varients.The 1.6 litre petrol that gives 104 PS at 5850rpm and 145 Nm torque at 3750rpm comes with a five speed
manual transmission.The other two are the varients of the diesel engine one gives
85PS and the other 110PS. Both diesel varients come with 6 speed manual
transmission.The car seems fairly quiet while driving.The weight of the SUV is
carefully balanced weighing less than 1300 kg which gives it a edge in fuel
efficiency. Renault claims that the
petrol varient offers a mileage of 13.4 kmpl and the 85PS, 110PS diesel gives
20.45 kmpl and 19.0 kmpl respectively.
The ride is comfortable thanks to the MacPherson
struts in front and torsion beams at the
back that make the car go smooth even on bumpy roads.One drawback is that the
steering wheel is slightly heavy.The DUSTER all together majors in handling and
gives a good performance.
The
DUSTER has been priced quite attractively for the Indian market by a European
manufacturer and is value for money .It aims to dust out(wipe out) it’s competitors as the name suggests. Starting at just 7.19
lakh (ex show room ) it sets a new bench mark to domestic SUV manufacturer.The
top end diesel model is priced at 11.40 lakh.