Renault Duster

The earlier version of the Renault Duster did not quite 'cut-the-slack' and was very dull. The face-lift, however, is better with a combination of beige and dark brown on the dashboard with silver accents for the centre console and a little bit of chrome thrown in to add a more premium feel. Plastic quality is better and the steering is even more chunkier to hold, thanks to leather wrapping complementing the characteristics of the car.

While the dashboard has a lot of action going on with the immense combination of colours and metal, the seats on the other hand are rather simple, well bolstered and can seat four adults comfortably. Riding in the second row is very comfortable and can be termed as a great vehicle to be chauffeured around in. Good under-thigh and back support make long hauls a ridicule. That in no way means seating comfort for the driver and co-driver have been compromised. Both rows carry you in extreme comfort and driving position is well placed with good all-round visibility. The rear glass, though, is relatively small and reversing into a tight spot without aids offered by the company would be a slight task.

The infotainment on the new Duster has a refreshed 'MediaNav' navigation system that is very intuitive and extremely easy to use. Icons are rather big and fairly visible even while sitting at the rear bench. The top-spec version (AWD) and the AMT which is available only with 2WD drivetrain, come equipped with steering mounted audio controls for the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment unit. It does take some getting used to as the phone controls are placed in a separate switchgear behind the steering wheel while the cruise and volume control units are neatly placed on each side spokes of the wheel. Indicator/headlamp and wiper controls are reversed because the system stays the same for right hand driven cars, but it is just a matter being behind the wheel of the car, that the driver would get used to them.

Coupled with a rear view camera with parking sensors, the infotainment unit aids to stationing of the rather wide SUV with ease. Coming over to the rear end, the boot space of the Duster is very generous and can swallow up a good amount of luggage over long hauls. While it is comfortable for four adults, seating three in the rear bench would be slight squeeze due to the high transmission tunnel. So the Duster is a fit companion for a small nuclear family of four. Talking more about the space, you get a lot of cubbyholes to store your knick-knacks with bottle holders in front doors, space to keep your phone, wallet, etc behind the gear lever, above the AC vent and glovebox. Front and rear rows get their individual charging points, but charging of your device in the second row is done through the port provided on the left edge of the parcel tray.

Interiors Details

• Boot Space

  The Renault Duster has a boot space of 475 litres with the second-row seat in position

• Speedometer

  The Renault Duster gets a three-pod analogue-digital instrument cluster with a analogue speedometer with speed-marking up to 210 kmph

• Gear Lever

  The Renault Duster has a easy-to-hold floor-mounted gear lever on all variants including the AMT variants

• Cup Holders

  The Renault Duster gets front-centre cup holders as standard while some variants get cup holders for the second row passengers on the rear centre armrest

• Glovebox

  The Renault Duster has a large glovebox with some variants fitted with separate illumination for the same

The 2016 Renault Duster retains its simplistic yet brawny design cues from the outgoing model. The broad shoulder lines, aggressive front fascia and a no-nonsense rear has been untouched. That said, the earlier version did look dated. So, new headlamp and taillamp clusters with decent chrome elements thrown in on the radiator grille and the rear, contrasting skid plates, blackened-out fog lamps and rear reflector housings really compliment the SUV and add more colour on the rather dull paint job in the outgoing version. Combined with new colour options, the Renault Duster  will come the silver skid plates and black schemes for the lower section of the compact SUV and new gun metal alloys that look very sporty. The ‘Kayak Roof Rails’ on the face-lifted version do add more SUV-ish character to the vehicle.

Exteriors

The 1.5 litre diesel engine come with two states of tune - an 85PS version and a 110PS. The former has a rated fuel efficiency of 19.87 kmpl while the latter returns 19.6 kmpl. The all-wheel drive version in the RxZ trim returns 19.72 kmpl which is very impressive.

Along side the oil-burners, a petrol engine option is also available. The 1.6-litre, 104PS motor returns a rated fuel efficiency of 13.06 kmpl

Mileage Running Cost

The 2016 Renault Duster feels rock solid at high straightline speeds and when thrown into a corner. That said, there will be considerable intrusion of the stability program function that would want you to either slow down, even at 65 kilometres an hour on the highway while taking hard turns. The interference from the system is not much but there is a pronounced feel in the steering feedback and there will be reduced confidence to negotiate turns at those speeds. In the all-wheel format, there is a switch to turn the traction control and electronic stability off, but for the AMT, this system is always on. Coming to the ride quality, it is extremely comfortable on all four seats with a commanding position and great visibility to the driver and passengers. Add the immense ground clearance offered by the Duster to it, what you get is a package that can gobble up pot-holes of the size of craters with no effort. There is negligible feel in the cabin about any undulations on the road.

This is courtesy Independent MacPherson strut with coil spring up front and Trailing arm with coil springs and double acting shock absorber at the rear. The top-trim all-wheel drive is more planted since a separate setup of Independent Pseudo McPherson is used  at the front and Multilink at the rear.

Comfort and Suspension

The workhorse units in both fuel options remains unchanged on the 2016 Renault Duster and the oil-burner being the major player in this segment. The AMT unit has been offered by Renault in the diesel guise only with a 110PS configuration that we tested. There are two states of tune in the aforementioned engine namely an 85PS power version and a more powerful one pointed earlier. Both the engines get options of a 5- and a 6-speed manual transmission. The AMT  is the country's first to have six-gears to the diesel engine and both compliment each other  very well. However, one must consider the fact that this is not an automatic transmission but a manual converted to one. So, the refinement levels will not be as good. That said, the gearbox is reasonably smooth as we found out during a claustrophobic evening traffic. Gear changes with a light foot were seamless, but jerkiness is more pronounced with a heavy input.

The 1.5-litre dCi THP unit is capable of reaching a top speed of slightly over 160 kilometres to an hour (limited). A very reasonable speed considering the Duster in its AMT guise is rather heavy (1,806 kilograms). The six-speed unit has a very good low and mid-range, but that said, there is no point of revving this compact SUV hard. Shifting to the manual mode on the move in this unit is also seamless in case you want the feel of changing gears yourself. Pull back to shift up a gear and push to downshift.

Out on the highway, the vehicle did three digit speeds while cruising on the Mumbai-Pune expressway with excellent high speed mannerisms. One grouse here was the high wind noise, but that said, NVH is well under control for its segment. Another nice addition is an ECO mode - a switch placed under the HVAC unit that reduces engine responsiveness and improves fuel economy by almost 10%. The rated fuel efficiency for the AMT version is 19.6 kilometres per litre which is impressive considering the Duster being shy of the two-tonne weight mark.

Engine Performance

The compact SUV feels rock solid at high straightline speeds and when thrown into a corner. That said, there will be considerable intrusion of the stability program function that would want you to either slow down, even at 65 kilometres an hour on the highway while taking hard turns or want you to go straight. The interference from the system is not much but there is a pronounced feel in the steering feedback and there will be reduced confidence to negotiate turns at those speeds. In the all-wheel format, there is a switch to turn the traction control and electronic stability off, but for the AMT, this system is always on. Coming to the ride quality, it is extremely comfortable on all four seats with a commanding position and great visibility to the driver and passengers. Add the immense ground clearance offered by the Duster to it, what you get is a package that can gobble up pot-holes of the size of craters with no effort. There is negligible feel in the cabin about any undulations on the road.

This is courtesy Independent MacPherson strut with coil spring up front and Trailing arm with coil springs and double acting shock absorber at the rear. The top-trim all-wheel drive is more planted since a separate setup of Independent Pseudo McPherson is used  at the front and Multilink at the rear. All Renault Duster models in the diesel engine options come with Anti-locking Braking System (ABS) with EBD & Brake Assist  and driver airbag starts from the RxL trim and the top-spec gets dual front ones. Electronic Stability Program is also present in the AMT version of the RxL variant and the top end RxZ trim.

Brakes and Wheels