The Indian automobile market is filled with so many options and the competition is becoming tougher day by day. Specially for the compact SUVs segment the competition has become all the more intense because in this segment some SUVs getting highest monthly sales. So why you should buy Renault Duster 2026 when there are other options as well? we will discuss it today.
What is the engine of the new Renault Duster 2026?
We will talk about the Engine in detail in this article but first we see the history of old Duster and compare it with the new 2026 Duster. The old duster became popular due to its high ground clearance, off roading character and 4X4 capability that could challenge most of the terrains in India. The old duster was famous for its dCi 110 Diesel Engine. Renault made some of the mistakes neglecting the old Duster car.
In 2012 Renault worked very hard in building its Duster car’s Body structure and its suspension also so that this engine can handle Indian road conditions. This car also got a mid life update in 2014 when the company provided AWD option. But later in 2020 due to the BS6 norms the Diesel engine was discontinued. And at this time the first generation Duster started declining because large share of the sales of Duster car was contributed by its Diesel engine only. Then later when globally 2nd generation Duster was launched it was not launched in India. Between 2020-2022 only the facelift version of the old duster was being sold. In February 2022 Renault stopped production of Duster in India.
Which engine is used in the new Duster?
We will today talk about the engine, the transmission and technical specification of this New Duster 2026 in detail. The new Renault duster comes with 3 engine options (One Hybrid engine is going to be launched later by the end of 2026).
- Turbo TCe 100- 1.0L Turbo Petrol engine. This engine is 999CC a 3 cylinder Turbo Charged engine, which produces 101PS power and 160NM torque. It is an MPFI, DOHC, 12valve, Dual VVT engine.
- Turbo TCe 160- 1.3L Turbo Petrol engine. This engine is 1333cc a 4 cylinder Turbo Charge engine, which produces 162PS power and generate 280NM torque. It is TGDI, DOHC, 16Valve, Dual VVT engine.
- Hybrid E-Tech 160 (To be launched)- 1.8L GDI Petrol engine. This engine is 1789cc, 4 cylinder Naturally Aspirated GDI engine, which produces 162PS power and generate 172NM torque. This is a Hybrid engine which comes with an 1.4kWh EV motor and is being trained for Indian condition. It is a GDI, DOHC, 16valve, Dual VVT engine.
Renault Duster 2026 Engine Specs India
- Two engines 1.0L turbo petrol and 1.3L turbo petrol are tuned for India.
- The 1.3L engine comes with 6 speed MT and 6 speed DCT gear box.
- While in 1.0L engine only 6 speed MT is available.
- In 1.8L Hybrid engine only DHT gearbox is available.
Renault has used a Racing Category Turbo in this engine which gives a very good boost to it. Also there is Integrated exhaust is provided which is an improved version of old duster. So there is no exhaust manifold rather it is casted with the engine. This type of integration improves the turbo lag and also improve the Engine warmup time. So to use this technology more appropriately the ECU has been trained for better thermal efficiency. Due to which the ECU is able to utilize its dual VVT technology effectively and accordingly the exhaust is redesigned.
Finally to support the engine technology a better efficient gear box EDC wet clutch DCT is used. For better smoothness and performance the company used Bore Spray Coating as well. Which is known as Mirror Bore Coating.
Nissan Machining and Roughening Coating is an internal process which is used to spray Molten IRON for mirror like coating. This coating is only 0.2mm thick and replaced the need of cast Iron block to be placed inside the cylinder. Actually the engine blocks are made up of Aluminum and which has a property of getting damaged. So to protect it steel iron or cast iron sleeve is used. But Renault used IRON mirror coating here which reduces its drag, reduces NVH and increases fuel efficiency too. This technique also help in reducing engine weight to some extent.
The 1.0L 3 cylinder engine is shared with the KIGER although Kiger is available with a CVT option. But in Duster this engine is available with Manual Transmission only. One of the reason is to keep its cost low.
The 1.8L GDi engine will be an Hybrid engine which will not be having Turbo charger. It has integrated EV motor which is 1.4 kWh. This motor is way more efficient than Grand Vitara, Hyrider and Victoris hybrid motor. This engine gives more linear performance to this car which do not have any kind of Turbo lag and also gives better fuel economy. The engine will come as imported option only so there is a delay in launching it. With this engine Renault claims that in city driving this car will run 80% on the battery only. It will come with a DHT gearbox also. Renault has to see feasibility and the demand in the market for this engine. Also this engine is not completely developed by Renault group. A Chinese company GEELY hold a good share in building this engine. So it will be imported as of now. DHT gearbox is adopted from f1 racing cars which is super smooth and snappy, having fast gear shifting. But this gearbox is expensive too. So all in all this 1.8L Hybrid engine is not going to be cheaper.
Also Read: Tata Revotron 3 Cylinder Engine Reliability
What is the rating of Duster 2026 in Bharat NCAP?
In BNCAP new Renault Duster 2026 has achieved 5 star safety rating. The main safety features of this car belongs to its robust platform. Renault is using its new Renault Group Modular Platform for new Duster 2026. This is an updated version of the old platform. For Indian condition this platform has been updated up to 80-90% in its structure. This platform is robust and can support petrol, hybrid AWD feature very efficiently. This car has ADAS L2 and adaptive cruise control with sign board reading capability. 360 degree camera is also given in this car.
