Renault Duster

Renault has launched the Duster facelift in India. The facelifted Duster comes with a host of cosmetic changes along with a range of new and updated features. This is the second major facelift for the Duster SUV in India, and it's expected to keep the Duster brand relevant until Renault is ready with the third-generation model, which will arrive in 2023. And although the next-gen model will be petrol only, the 2019 Renault Duster facelift continues to come in both petrol and diesel engine options.

Visually, the facelifted Renault Duster borrows its styling cues from the new, Euro-spec Dacia Duster, which is largely evident from the new three-slat chrome front grille, called the new tri-winged full chrome grille. It's flanked by a set of all-new headlamps equipped with both projector lights and LED daytime running lamps. The SUV also gets new dual tone body colour front bumper which features muscular skid plates and black housings on either end with new round foglamps. One of the main visual highlights is the new 16-inch Everest Diamond Cut alloy wheels, along with other visual bits like the kayak roof rails, body coloured ORVM, matte black tailgate embellisher and Waterfall LED tail lamps. The Renault Duster facelift is now also offered in two new colour options - 'Caspian Blue' and 'Mahogany Brown'.

The cabin has also gone through a host of changes, along with the new Midnight black interior theme. The dashboard has been heavily restyled, featuring a new three-spoke steering wheel with soft-touch buttons for music, telephony and Cruise Control among others. The SUV also gets a new centre console with glossy silver inserts on either side and new central air-con vents with chrome bezels. The dashboard also features the Duster lettering on the front passenger side with a new blue styling element. The interior door panels are soft-touch material and come with contrast Blue stitching that can also be seen on the leatherette seats.

Renault has also added ice blue graphics for the instrument cluster with a multi-information display (MID) unit offering all vehicle information. The gizmo list also includes a 7-inch touchscreen display with MediaNAV Evolution that comes with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, voice recognition and EcoGuide - a system that monitors driving patterns and provides guidelines to improve efficiency. Other features include a fully automatic climate control, illuminated and cooled glovebox and more. In fact, the new Duster offers a range of 38 different categories of innovative accessories. As for safety features, the updated Duster is compliant with BNCAP front, side & pedestrian crash norms and adheres to the new, more stringent safety norms. It also comes with ABS with EBD, driver and passenger airbags, rear parking sensors, seat belt reminder & speed alert as standard, along with optional bits like - Reverse Parking Camera, Electronic Stability Program (ESP) and Hill-Start Assist.

Under the hood, the 2019 Renault Duster features the same 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engines, but unlike what we had expected they are still BS4 compliant. The petrol engine is tuned to churn out 105 bhp and develop 142 Nm of peak torque and comes mated to a 5-speed manual and an optional CVT automatic transmission. The 1.5-litre oil burner, on the other hand, continues to come in two states of tune - 84 bhp and 108 bhp, developing 200 Nm and 245 Nm of peak torque respectively. While the 84 bhp version comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox as standard, the 108 bhp model comes with a 6-speed manual and an optional AMT (automated manual transmission) unit. The Duster continues to be the only SUV in its segment to offer an all-wheel drive (AWD) system.