Renault Duster

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.