Bold all-new Renault Duster

DESIGN: BIG VISUAL IMPROVEMENT ON OUTGOING MODEL

- Jaco van der Merwe

The roll-out of the all-new Renault Duster marked a big milestone as it became the French carmaker's first local model with a new energy powertrain. The pioneering powertrain comes in the form of a 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine with 48V mild hybrid technology which produces 96 kW of power and 230 Nm of torque. It is offered alongside the 113 kW/250 Nm 1.3-litre blown petrol mill that also serves on the Renault Captur.

A big setback though is the omission of the 1.5-litre oil-burners, which has gone out of production.

Built in Romania alongside the Dacia Duster, the Renault-badged crossover/SUV is offered in three models locally. The 1.3-litre models, which are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission which sends the twist to the front wheels, are available in Zen and top-spec Intens guise.

The mild hybrid, which features a 0.84 kWh battery, is only offered in Zen spec. It is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and comes standard with four-wheel drive (4WD).

The hybrid is claimed to only sip 5.7 litres of petrol per 100 km and the 1.3-litre models 6.5 l/100 km.