Renault Duster facelift, Honda BR-V and Hyundai Creta: Specifications Comparison

Renault recently introduced the facelift version of its flagship Duster in India. First revealed at the Auto Expo 2016, the SUV gets some clever changes to the exterior such as revised headlamps and tail-lamps, new front bumper and grille and better equipment on the inside. The talking point, however, is that the Duster now comes with an option of an automated manual transmission.

Moreover, the facelift gets the addition of a base Standard trim and a mid-RxS trim, which brings the total number of trims to five. The AMT transmission is available on two trims; the mid-level RXL and the top RXZ. 

Renault will be banking on the facelift version of one of its most successful models to revive volumes, which have slowed down in the past few months. The carmaker has sold over 1.4 lakh units of the SUV since its launch in 2012. Bookings for the Duster facelift commenced from March 3, 2016.

The facelift Duster will go up against the Hyundai Creta, which is has not only proved to be a successful model for the Korean carmaker, but is presently the top-selling SUV in the country, ahead of the longstanding Bolero. Also anticipated to give the Duster and the Creta a run for its money is the Honda’s soon-to-be launched promising BR-V crossover.

Here’s how the Duster facelift stacks up against the other two other SUV’s on paper.

Dimensions

In terms of the dimensions, the Duster is the tallest of the lot at 1,695mm and also has a longest wheelbase (2,673mm), albeit just by a narrow margin of 13mm, when compared to the BR-V. The SUV measures 4,315mm in length and 1,822mm in width.

Length-wise, however, the Honda BR-V is the longest in the segment. The SUV measures 4,456mm in length, 1,735mm in width, 1,666mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,660mm. What will also toughen up the competition is that Honda will be the only carmaker to offer a seven-seater in the small SUV or crossover segment when the BR-V goes on sale.

Underlining the Duster’s capability as an off-roader is the 205mm ground clearance, largest of the three. The BR-V comes second at 201mm. Although the Duster scores higher on paper with respect to most dimensions, both the BR-V and the Creta also boast spacious cabins.

Under the hood

The Duster facelift is powered by the same petrol and diesel engines as the outgoing model. While the petrol engine has an output of 102.5bhp, the diesel is a 1.5-litre common rail direct injection motor which comes in two states of tune – 84bhp and 108.5bhp. The petrol and the 84bhp diesel engine come paired with a five-speed manual gearbox.

Among the petrol variants, the Creta is the most powerful with an output of 121.3 bhp followed by the BR-V at 116bhp. The BR-V makes more power than the Duster but makes around 5bhp less than the Creta. The BR-V and the Duster have similar torque figures, while the Creta scores here as well, albeit without much difference.

Honda has not yet revealed the actual power figures for the diesel powertrain. Honda says it is working to improve the performance of the 99bhp diesel, but we understand it is unlikely to get a significant bump in power.

The Creta is again the most powerful of the trio in terms of diesel engines. The 1.6-litre diesel in the Creta develops 126.3bhp - 17.8bhp more than the Duster and 27.7bhp more than the BR-V.

We’ve taken the power figures of the 1.5-litre diesel motor that powers the Mobilio for purposes of this comparison.

Talking about clutchless comfort, the Duster gets a six-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) as an option with the more powerful 108.5bhp diesel. However, the AWD variant is only available on the top spec 110PS RXZ manual variant.

Hyundai currently offers the Creta with a six-speed automatic gearbox on the 1.6-litre diesel and the BR-V for India is likely to also come with a CVT auto gearbox on the petrol variant.