Checked out the new Duster at a couple of times and test drove the turbo petrol manual in Iconic guise.
I find the design of the new Duster to be one of the most appealing facets on the vehicle. It's not surprising though given that the Triber and the Kwid facelift look very nice too.
Design
Head on, the Duster logo written out across the front grilled bookended by the slim led headlights grab your attention followed by the faux bullbar in silver trim that enclose the lower grilled element. The vertical black trims at the edge of the bumper may be mistaken for fog lamps, however the fog lamps are little cubes and the bottom of the bumper. Very susceptible to damage in case the lower bumper hits a rock or something. The ground clearance is a boon... however I would preferred a higher location.
At the rear, the Duster has thankfully not gone along with those featureless rears of KIA, Tata Sierra and the new Maruti Victoris. Designers seems to have no clue what to do with the real estate freed up by slim led tail lamps. The tail lamps of the Duster actually look substantial and the connected black trim give the rear hatch some character, as does the rear diffuser like element finished in silver trim.
From the size, the doors are well proportioned and now where do you see a vast expanse of sheet metal no knowing what to do. The cladding looks good and the plastic gives off a feeling of toughness. The 18 inch wheel fill out the arches well too. I saw the Techno variant as well with the 17 inch alloys and that looks pretty good too.
Interiors
I did flirt with buying the Duster back in 2017 and one of the biggest turn offs was the archaic interiors. Nothing like that in the new Duster. Good quality plastic finished with soft touch material, very contemporary design and a well integrated screen that felt good. I didn't play around much with the screen though. The Duster has enough physical buttons and as long as basic screen functions like navigation,calls, and music work well i really don't pay much attention to screens. One particular peeve I have is a dislike for screen that just out considerably over the dashboard surface. I love how the new Taigun has integrated the screen. The Duster screen doesn't pop up over but I can live with that.
The iconic upholstery rocks and the seats feel very comfortable. While the rear has enough legroom, seating three abreast will be a challenge.
The interior color combination for the variats other than the Iconic didn't impress me though. a sort of dark brown fabric, paired with dark grey for the middle of the seats and whalebone colored inserts in dash and door pads. Underwhelming.
Boot space is very good and while Renault doesn't provide a spare the enclosure looks big enough to keep one of your own if needed. Puncture repair kits are such a shortsighted feature in India. One cool feature of the electric boot release mechanism is the ability to stop it at any height but pressing the close button as it is rising up.
Ride and Handling
Handling was impressive. I drove on a stretch that had a mix of long sweeping uphill corners and tight curving decents. The Duster was very comfortable hustling into and out of the corners with the brakes very effective at shaving off the speed before the curves. The four wheel disc brakes were really good.
Ride while providing a sense of toughness is not a magic carpet ride like the previous Duster. Navigating through a rough potholes section the Duster did reveal the hard edges of it's suspension and did rock from side to side. Nothing uncomfortable though but it didn't faltten out the rough terrain as expected.
Engine and Transmission
The 1.3 turbo petrol is a beauty, eager to rev and picking up speed in no time. Coupled with a marvelously light clutch shifting up and down the rev range was effortless. However below 1500 power drops significantly and the turbo lag makes itself evident which means that you get busy with the gear lever having to go down a cog more than you expect. But above 1500 the engine comes alive reving freely and providing a delightful mid range punch. Reminds me of the first generation Swift diesel that woke up after 2000 rpm.
All in all a very impressive package and if in the market for an new car today, i would strongly consider this. It offers a refreshing take over the regular run of the mill shapes that crowd this segment. The 1.5 lakh km or 7 year warranty does give a peace of mind though TVS service remains to be proven.
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