Renault is going to drive in the much-awaited Duster SUV on 4 July, 2012. Renault Duster SUV bookings have just kickstarted across India; one can get this SUV by paying a sum of Rs.51,000.
The French auto major officially proclaimed that it is going to roll out five passenger vehicles by the end of this year; out of these five Renault has already rolled out Fluence, Koleos and Pulse (petrol) and now it’s time for Renault Duster to break covers. Renault Duster is sold in the global market under Dacia badging. Duster is spawned on B0 platform and comes with an overall length of only 4.3 metres.
It’s got the measure of its competition, which for now consists of just the Mahindra Scorpio and the Tata Safari. Not too small and not too big, the Duster won’t be a parking nightmare for sure. This five-seater from the stables of Renault will come with two engine options-104 bhp 1.6-litre petrol and a 105 bhp 1.5-litre diesel and will be available in three trims.
Renault Duster 1.5L diesel engine will come mated with a 6-speed manual transmission gearbox, whereas the petrol trim will be adorned with a 5-speeder. The SUV will be available in two wheel drive and four wheel drive options and will be priced between Rs.8-10 lakh.
On the outside the Duster grabs your attention. It isn’t pretty, but it’s got the right elements. Lots of chrome, good presence and chunky alloy wheels, you also get the option of steel pressed wheels on the lower versions.
The Duster is offered with either two-wheel or four-wheel drive. The 4×4 variants make use of Nissan’s all-wheel drive system which allows the driver to choose from three different driving modes: Auto, in which the front/rear torque split is calculated automatically as a function of available grip; Lock, whereby 50 per cent of torque is consistently fed through the rear axle, and 4×2 where the transmission is locked into two-wheel drive for maximum fuel efficiency.
The more powerful 108.5bhp engine features a variable geometry turbocharger and intercooler and only recently received upgrades to improve in-city driveability. With 25.3kgm of torque produced at 2250rpm, there’s a fair bit of turbo lag and you need to wait for the engine to rev to 2000rpm to get a serious move on. The SUV works best in its comfort zone of 2000-4000rpm.
This, and the Duster’s light 1308kg kerb weight, means real-world performance is actually quite good. When tested with our data acquisition device, the Duster took 11.01 seconds from 20-80kph in third gear and 11.92 seconds from 40-100kph in fourth, which makes it quicker than the significantly more powerful XUV500! The inclusion of a sixth gear makes the 108.5bhp Duster a very able mile-munching SUV.
All versions will run with 215/60 R16 MRF Wanderer tyres with pressed steel wheels for the lower trims and alloy wheels for the higher trims. A lot of ‘Indianisation’ has been done, especially with respect to use of trims, features and making the Duster more refined and efficient. It is understood that the 1.5 dCi version could have an ARAI fuel efficiency figure from 19.5 to 21 kpl for both power ratings, while the petrol version will be under 14 kpl for the same.
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