[BUXX]

^^ seriously ?? a difference of <300 rpm to reach the ton is gonna matter?

@ GTO; any idea when you guys would get to test the 85?

to the new owners: hows the clutch?

[raul]

The 110 will obviously drive better, that's physics. But why 85 vs 110, In the city even a 200 BHP and 100 BHP are matched. An AStar will be as zippy as anything else. Its only when you need the extra power that the 110 will become useful.

The 85 is adequate, the 110 has that extra punch. For enthusiasts the 85 will be a compromise, for more sedate drivers who never cross 120 the 110 is a needless expense. The decision will be made on economics, the other factors are marginal.

[himadrimondal]

Here goes my set, RxZ woodland brown. Had a bit of clear sky today.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

@ Himadrimondal - congrats for your new ride. Looks amazing, my favourite colour in this car. What mods/accessories planned? Enjoy many miles with the work horse.

[idofsuresh]

Originally Posted by sathyaprakash

Well, if that's the case why can't we buy a automatic Activa for short errands and call an call taxi for city use using the interest saved from the entire 13 lakhs in this way you need not drive at all

Friends, here we are talking about an diesel SUV which can go anywhere, accommodate 5 people in peace with loads of boot space along with an unmatched suspension and finally a pride in owning an SUV but not an small hatch back.

In that case we could walk/cycle/city bus. That's not the point. Inside city a small auto hatch will provide equal value to many people as Duster. Inside city I don't need a go-anywhere, loads of boot space, 5 people at peace or SUV pride. To each his own. Let's agree to disagree!

Originally Posted by Rigid Rotor

[*]Notice that the French Duster's Euro-V engine with particulate filter actually develops 240 Nm of torque at a far lower 1750 RPM, compared to our Duster's engine which develops 248 Nm at 2250 RPM.[*]It would therefore be reasonable to presume that the turbo-lag issue would have been removed entirely in the French version of the engine.[*]Step-motherly treatment or wot??[/list]

For sure. I had vented my frustration about lack of ESP earlier and now this turbo lag. Will Renault do a Fluence with Duster and fool the early birds ? The initial Fluence had the lag and they fixed that in the new Fluence. More I see the Renault's attitude towards Indian customers more I am inclined to skip Duster. I had booked one and mine will arrive in the first week of September. Yet to decide whether to pick it up or not.

[sameer sultan]

@Himadrimondal and @DRIVENTWEEL Many congratulations to both of you on one of the first Duster's in Team BHP. Looks too good in the Woodland Brown. Very nice pics of the interior there.

I have booked the black though. Planning to upgrade the tires and Alloys like Driven Tweel. The more pics I see of the Duster the more I am loving it's clean and simple looks.

Spotted the first Duster in Chennai roads a while back. It was a silver. Surprisingly no number plates on it. RTO specifies a car should not leave the Showroom without number plates here in Chennai. Just wondering if the silver Duster was delivered without registration as read in this thread that some issue was going on with regards to the clearance from RTO.

[johy]

Originally Posted by raul

The 85 is adequate, the 110 has that extra punch. For enthusiasts the 85 will be a compromise, for more sedate drivers who never cross 120 the 110 is a needless expense. The decision will be made on economics, the other factors are marginal.

Raul, the 85ps, do you think it will pull up hills with 5 seated + weekend luggage comfortably?, without straining and/or panting?

[sathyaprakash]

himandrimondal @ That was looking gorgeous good color choice. How about an review about the BT plus audio output?

There has been a lot of confusion in this thread about the selection between 85 & 110 and major auto magazines have covered 110ps reviews including in our forum by GTO but have omitted 85ps is this an deliberate manipulation created by Renault to confuse the general public?

I would like to know from our experts to give a final call on this selection process as lot of my friends and others have not been able to take an decision because of the Renaults choice of offer where 110ps with airbag comes along with the rear AC (awkward positioning) and too much priced but at the same time in Chennai both 85Rxl(o) with airbags and 110Rxl without airbags cost same.

Now which one to pick from the below mentioned:

# Is it wise to compromise airbag for performance & rear space?-[110Rxl]
# or compromise rear space & pricey for performance & airbag?- [110Rxz]
# or compromise performance for airbag, rear comfort & VFM?-- [85Rxl(0)]

I request humbly to GTO once again to do the official review of 85ps soon for the benefit of our forum member's and make a final choice.

[werfish]

I have upgraded from a Indica Turbo which had turbo lag below 2000 RPM and i had got used to handling that over the period of time.The 110 RXL also has the same lag,will take some time to get used to.
When i went to fill fuel,the attended asked me to move to a dispenser with a smaller knob saying that fuel cap was small.
The music system is average ,not bad.The wiper did a good job when it was raining last evening and did'nt make any noise while doing it.
The turn indicators are not visible in daylight.

[vibbs]

As much as I am surprised about the lack of reviews on the 85 PS Duster, I am equally surprised on the step motherly attitude been shown towards the Petrol variants by Renault. None of the Auto mags seem interested in reviewing the petrol. Yes in today's age a diesel makes much more sense, but there are some of us who would still love the refinement of a petrol, people who don't have too much of running to justify the additional premium on a diesel variant.

Just a few years ago it was the diesel that was getting this step-motherly treatment and now it seems the tables have been turned. Isn't it criminal not to offer safety features in a car retailing at over 7 lakhs even as an option? When will we Indians get to buy stuffs we want rather than stuffs that the manufacturers want to sell?

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by raul

The 85 is adequate, the 110 has that extra punch. For enthusiasts the 85 will be a compromise, for more sedate drivers who never cross 120 the 110 is a needless expense. The decision will be made on economics, the other factors are marginal.

Pardon me, but my decision was based purely on availability.I dont have a chance in heaven of getting a 85PS RXL(O), which was my first choice, in chennai before next month, and I'm a pre-booking customer
What are my choices.So RXL 110 it is.
@ idofsuresh. My question might seem lame, but is there any chance to program or remap the present 110 engine to match the performance in the new fluence, or is there any hardware change required?
Heard from someone that Renault is very happy with the sales figures of the PULSE. So, I dont think that they will be bothered to address our concerns regarding duster, even though they are very much aware. Let's face it guys, despite us knowing that renault is "OPPORTUNISTIC", what other sane choice do we have, other than try to be patient (like that is going to work) and wait for competition to come up with their offers, forcing Renault to have a rethink, just like they did with LOGAN.
From a profit point of view, the manufacturing cost difference between a 85 and 110 is not much.So the more 110 Renault sells, the more profit they rake in. That's my theory at least for not making the 85PS readily available.
Anyways, Look at me and Sathyaprakash and console yourselves. We are pre-booking customers based in Chennai of all places, having to pay more than most of you guys, and still have to wait longer. Wonder what's next.

Originally Posted by srgntpepper

boy, you are creating new physics in each post. If you can prove this, you could win the nobel for physics.

PS : apologies for stretching this off-topic, but this was just egregiously wrong.

@ srgntpepper- buddy, peace. I was wrong about the acceleration due to gravity stuff and that is why I removed it from my post immediately.Physics was and is never my strong point. Now, driving cars and knowing them intuitively, that's my strength.

[MAS]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Courtesy the spec sheet shared by srgntpepper earlier, I have prepared the RPM Vs Speed for the 85ps & 110ps versions of the Duster, if both are running on the highest gear. The table clearly shows that having an extra cog makes the higher powered version cruise at 100 kmph, when the engine is just under 2300 RPM (2260 RPM to be precise), whereas for the 85ps version you have to rev the engine just under 2542 RPM to get to the triple digit speeds. The 110Dci is no doubt a good cruiser for highways

Attachment 964907

The 85 BHP Duster is surely short geared. The 100 BHP may look better suited for Highways, but is still short geared when compared to other 6 cog cars in the market.

Verna/i20 Diesels cruise at 100 kmph at 1900-2000 rpm. My All new Fiesta touched 100 kmph at 2050-2100 rpm with 5 cogs. Same is the case for Etios with 5 cogs.

[srgntpepper]

Originally Posted by BUXX

^^ seriously ?? a difference of <300 rpm to reach the ton is gonna matter?

@ GTO; any idea when you guys would get to test the 85?

to the new owners: hows the clutch?

This thread has I think exposed how little we understand about cars. Maybe the real experts can start a separate comparison thread as a case study of how much horsepower ratings actually matter.

@Buxx. the 300 rpm might matter, because the noise will start becoming irritable over a certain level, from there additional each rpm might make it worse. I am not sure how Autoindian extrapolated the numbers, but lets say for a certain speed in 5th gear the engine is at 3000rpm, then in 6th gear it needs to be only at 2700.. you will certainly feel the difference.

Again, i think the key point it is not the extra 20 bhp, but the extra gear.

Engines in both trims, at a given speed, will produce the same horsepower. This is because the engine is simply fighting against internal + road friction and wind resistance. Which we can say will be almost the same for both. Based on the data, it looks like for the first 5 gears, both engines will be at similar rpms to generate that level of power. * Note that this power will not be anywhere close to the max 85 or 110 hp that the engines can produce.

However, in the 110 when you slip into the 6th gear, the engine will drop revs that will make a difference in terms of feeling of refinement.

The only occasions when the differences will become apparent are when the engines are reved to their peak power limits of 3750 rpm +. and that will happen only if you are doing 0-100 times or executing a desperate overtaking manoeuvre. both situations will not arise very often i'd think.

*couldn't find the power/torque curves, so can't predict the effect on the two engines at higher rpms due the difference in turbochargers used.

[raul]

Originally Posted by johy

Raul, the 85ps, do you think it will pull up hills with 5 seated + weekend luggage comfortably?, without straining and/or panting?

Johy - the only way to find out is to try it, however I do feel 85bhp with 200nm for a 1200kg car should be adequate and competent. The 110 will be less strained across usage scenarios. Most folks are making this decision on budget, and like Neil mentioned, sometime forced to due to availability issues. The 110 is clearly the better choice.

The Sunny is also the same engine and it seems to be doing well enough with no complaints on lack of power. The Logan was even less powered and we haven't heard issues with power on that.

[sathyaprakash]

Originally Posted by raul

Johy - the only way to find out is to try it, however I do feel 85bhp with 200nm for a 1200kg car should be adequate and competent. The 110 will be less strained across usage scenarios. Most folks are making this decision on budget, and like Neil mentioned, sometime forced to due to availability issues. The 110 is clearly the better choice.

The Sunny is also the same engine and it seems to be doing well enough with no complaints on lack of power. The Logan was even less powered and we haven't heard issues with power on that.

I don't understand your logic you are saying the 85ps with 200nm is more than adequate and competent and the sunny has proved with the same engine there is no lack of power along with the lesser 75ps logan but still say 110 is clearly the better choice please bring clarity in your post.