Renault India have launched a special ‘Explore’ edition of the Duster from Rs 9.99 lakh, with a whole set of goodies to promote the explorer in you to go out and, well, explore.
The term ‘crossover’ meant little to the world before the Duster first arrived, but then, when it did, it delivered the goods and then some: car-like handling thanks to incredible suspension and sorted dynamics, together with all-weather even all-road capability thanks to a high ride height and all-season rubber. When it came to India, it was a success story Renault would be happy to tell you over and over again. Building on its success, comes its Explore avatar.
The Duster Explore is a special edition which packs some cosmetic and functional upgrades. First up, the most noticeable is the bull-bar with auxiliary lamps, which adds to its off-road cred big time. The dark-chrome grille and smoked headlamps further elevate its butch character. The contrast stripe across the bonnet, side decals, and orange wheel centre-caps further scream ‘Explore’, though they may get splattered in mud somewhere down the line.
Inside, the orange contrast accents on the seats, air-vents, dials, and floor-mats breath new life into the otherwise dark-theme interior, as does the orange stitching on the steering wheel. There are more chrome accents too. The space, comfort and ergonomics, needless to say, go untouched.
The Duster Explore is available in both dCi85 and dCi110 guises, with the former getting a five-speed manual, and the 110-PS version getting the six-speed manual. Both have front-wheel-drive, with no AWD version of the Explore on the cards as yet. The dCi85 costs Rs 9.99 lakh, while the dCi110 costs Rs 11.1 lakh, both ex-showroom, Delhi.
Story: Jim Gorde
