Renault Duster enters new era without diesel engines

The big news around the all-new Renault Duster’s local introduction was the discontinuation of the venerable diesel engines. The Citizen's Jaco van der Merwe looks at how the crossover is gearing up for life after diesel.

- 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 1,2l turbo petrol engine with 48V mild hybrid technology, which produces 96kW of power and 230Nm of torque. It is offered alongside the 113kW/250Nm 1,3ℓ blown petrol mill that also serves on the Renault Captur.

A big setback, though, is the omission of the 1,5l oil-burners, which has gone out of production.

THREE MODELS

Built in Romania alongside the Dacia Duster, the Renault-badged crossover/ SUV is offered in three models locally. The 1,3ℓ models, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that sends the twist to the front wheels, are available in Zen and the top-spec Intens.

The mild hybrid, which features a 0,84kWh battery, is only offered in the Zen spec. It is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and comes standard with four-wheel drive (4WD).