LET’S GO ON A ROAD TRIP
Adventure, excitement and family time are few of many thoughts that come to mind when you decide to go on a road trip. You build up the excitement in your head then your rational brain kicks in with the following words, petrol price, long drive and I don’t have the right car. Let me introduce you to the Renault Duster.
The Renault Duster has all the features you need to make your road trip not only manageable but very enjoyable too. Fuel efficiency, boot space and comfortable drive are 3 very important aspects when travelling on the long road and the Renault Duster excels in these areas among others.
We took this road trip in partnership with Renault South Africa to show you that even with the petrol price increase, driving to Durban as a family with kids, is much more affordable than flying. In June 2022, Comair went down and the only low-cost airline flying to Durban was FlySafair and the prices were exorbitant at an average of R6,000 return flight per person without checked-in bags.
So what are the specifications of the Renault Duster and why did we select this car for the road trip?
FUEL EFFICIENCY
Currently with petrol prices on the rise almost on a monthly basis in South Africa, fuel efficiency makes for a very popular conversation and also a deterrent for using our cars. In fact its becoming expensive just to drive to the petrol station to fill up 🙂
The Renault Duster is powered by a 1.5dCi Turbo Engine. It produces 66kW of power and 210Nm of Torque. We test drove the automatic transmission. The gearbox type is an EDC dual clutch gearbox which provides increased fuel efficiency and make it comparable to its manual version. With this turbo engine and great power you would think that you sacrifice on fuel efficiency. Indeed this is not the case as our round trip from Cape Town to Durban which spanned over 3,600km we managed to achieve a combined fuel efficiency of 5.3L/100km! You need to see this to believe it. Here is a picture below.
BOOT SPACE
Now that fuel efficiency is ticked off and we can get to our destination in an economic way. The next question is can we carry all the luggage we need. The answer is a DEFINITE YES! The boot of the Renault Duster provides 478 litres of capacity and you can definitely fit whatever you require. This size boot in this compact SUV segment is absolutely remarkable. Have a look below at how we managed to fill the boot. Bear in mind that we achieved this 5.3L/100km fuel efficiency with a packed boot and a total of 5 passengers on our departure trip and 6 on the return trip.
COMFORT
We ticked off fuel efficiency (5.3L/100km) and boot space (478 litres) but what about the driver and passengers. Can we all endure this long drive and be comfortable? Can we sleep if necessary? As the driver of the Renault Duster I was extremely comfortable. Even though the seats were fabric and not leather, from all the cars I have driven these are definitely the most comfortable non-leather seats I have sat in. Together with the comfortable and well positioned arm rest you can easily get into a very comfortable position and drive for hours, which is exactly what we did.
The passengers were equally as comfortable and there were no complaints. Even though the front passenger did not have an arm rest they could get into a comfortable position and also have a few good naps along the route. The rear passengers were 3 young kids aged 9 and below and they slept quite a bit on the drive. In fact the drive was so smooth that none of their sleeps were broken due to any blemishes on the road as the Renault Duster handles these quite well.
OVERTAKING
Being a fuel efficient car and a turbo engine you would think that some power must have been sacrificed to achieve this great fuel efficiency on the Renault Duster. But I assure you there is no lack of power and overtaking those trucks on the long road is an absolute breeze. Over such a long distance you lose count of how many trucks you overtake. Even in this case the fuel efficiency does not deteriorate.
PRICE AND SPECIFICATIONS
Based on the above it really seems like the Renault Duster is a great pick for families. Is the car affordable? We drove the top of the range Intens model in automatic transmission which will cost R390k. This price is comparable to some of the smaller cars in the upper end of the B segment, making this Renault Duster great value for money.
Other features include the following:
– 17 inch wheels for that extra ground clearance (205mm)
– 8 inch infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple Carplay
– 2 USB ports
– It also comes with a 5 year/150,000km mechanical warranty.
– Cruise control
– BSM (Blind Spot Monitoring)
YOUTUBE REVIEW
To get a visual picture of this car and to see a comprehensive review detailing the exterior, interior and drive performance, watch our YouTube review below: