Went and sat and crawled all over a desperate Duster today.

WOW!! Impressed - at the sheer value for money. The build quality, too, was quite impressive.

Next step is to test drive it, and then, if a favourable P/X of the 4*4 'Berb is achieved - it'll be decision time.

It is economical, has lots of usable space, is 4by4, decent to set eyes upon - and unless it is totally crap to drive ... ... ...

Went and sat and crawled all over a desperate Duster today.

WOW!! Impressed - at the sheer value for money. The build quality, too, was quite impressive.

Next step is to test drive it, and then, if a favourable P/X of the 4*4 'Berb is achieved - it'll be decision time.

It is economical, has lots of usable space, is 4by4, decent to set eyes upon - and unless it is totally crap to drive ... ... ...

 

Went and sat and crawled all over a desperate Duster today.

WOW!! Impressed - at the sheer value for money. The build quality, too, was quite impressive.

 

 

build quality in Duster??? come on...

build quality in Duster??? come on...

Yeah! I was surprised too!

Go try it for yourself, and check it out - and report bck here!!! Obviously not of Yeti standard, but nonetheless impressive, especially given the face price of the car.

Yeah! I was surprised too!

Go try it for yourself, and check it out - and report bck here!!! Obviously not of Yeti standard, but nonetheless impressive, especially given the face price of the car.

I'm not quite sure why we're discussing Duster build quality or buying in a Nissan thread.... But yes there is nothing wrong with a Duster's build quality. The people sitting in high horses claiming a Duster is badly built are the same people saying how crap IKEA furniture is, yet they've never bothered to build a bit of IKEA furniture to find out just how well they are engineered, made and fit together.

Now back on topic: noticed the huge similarity between the new QQ's tail and that of the new Suzuki SX-4?

And side on it's incredibly similar to the CX-5, especially over the rear wheel arch.
These cars sell very well so it's no great surprise they all copy each other back and forth, plus they are all working with the same aerodynamics which pushed them in the same direction.

The same thing happened 15-20 years ago with euro-box saloon cars - they all ended up the same shape.

Apart from lowering the suspension the front seats are also mounted MUCH lower and at a proper height. The Japanese designers wanted the current QQ's seats mounted high up to give the impression the car is a real SUV you step down from to get out. Fine and well but also meant most people's heads touched the ceiling inside. Daft and a huge reason why I never got on with the current QQ.

+1 on the headroom issues - interesting to see that might be improved.

Also interesting to compare the QQ engine range vs the Yeti - 1.2T/1.6T vs 1.2Tsi/1.4Tsi/1.8Tsi, and 1.5Dci/1.6dci vs 1.6Tdi/2.0Tdi(110/140/170).

+1 on the headroom issues - interesting to see that might be improved.

Also interesting to compare the QQ engine range vs the Yeti - 1.2T/1.6T vs 1.2Tsi/1.4Tsi/1.8Tsi, and 1.5Dci/1.6dci vs 1.6Tdi/2.0Tdi(110/140/170).

 

I might be old fashioned but I want a 2,0 under my bonnet and not a super stretched 1,6 when towing...

VAG's 1.6 TDI with only 105 bhp and 5 gears is really lagging behind the competition quite badly now.

Plenty of other companies can get a good deal more torque and power from the same capacity, not to mention providing you with the correct number of gears.

VAG's 1.6 TDI with only 105 bhp and 5 gears is really lagging behind the competition quite badly now.

Plenty of other companies can get a good deal more torque and power from the same capacity, not to mention providing you with the correct number of gears.

 

The gearbox is ridiculous for the engine.

It could easily carry a 6th gear and i suspect another 25bhp without a problem.

It feels like it is hobbled on purpose (possibly something to do with CO2's).

I always assumed it was as a second differentiator between the 1.6 and 2.0 for marketing reasons.

It's easier to upsell people to the larger engine if you can say "45bhp *and* an extra gear".

 

My bravo weighs the same as a Mk2 Octavia and has a 1.6 TDI with 105bhp and a similar number of torques and that's just fine with a six speed box.

I could have had a 120bhp 1.6 instead, but that wasn't in the £30 road tax bracket at the time.

Edited 8 November, 201312 yr by Dr Zoidberg

I'm not quite sure why we're discussing Duster build quality or buying in a Nissan thread.... ?

Nissan -> Renault -> Dacia -> Duster -> legitimate comparator methinks, perhaps?!

Besides, this IS on the Yeti forum where stuff does just sometimes, a little bit, wander away off on its own down unforeseen avenues of dubious linkage.

And anyway, nine million, when did you become an old schoolma'am, eh? (Since getting that caravan, I bet!!). I'll forgive you for wagging that finger at me in admonishment!

Nissan -> Renault -> Dacia -> Duster -> legitimate comparator methinks, perhaps?!

Besides, this IS on the Yeti forum where stuff does just sometimes, a little bit, wander away off on its own down unforeseen avenues of dubious linkage.

And anyway, nine million, when did you become an old schoolma'am, eh? (Since getting that caravan, I bet!!). I'll forgive you for wagging that finger at me in admonishment!

 

 

Two big smilies for that.... :)   I did just, vaguely, start to think about considering whether or not t to wonder about raising a tiniest hint of the very extremity of an eyebrow at J's discipline above....but, not being one to cause a fuss (as you well know), decided against it.

 

So where would you, politely, suggest I stick my reference to the forthcoming Ford EcoSport which the Ford salesman reminded me, yesterday, would be introduced soon and which he suggested might offer competition to the Yeti and Captur, among others?      

 

http://www.motorbeam.com/cars/ford-ecosport/european-ford-ecosport-pictures-details/

 

At least the cost to extend the warranty to 5 yrs was a very modest £240

It does seem that more and more cars are being given that kicked up rear side window behind the C pillar. OK it does look pretty from the outside but clearly is not as good as the Yeti greenhouse design for seeing out of. Other than that I quite like it but as Johann stated no 2.0 oil burner looks like it may rule it out.

 

As for the 1.6 VAG oil burner 'only' having 5 cogs and 105 horses, well I had a Seat Ibiza with that engine and gearbox and OK it was smaller and lighter than the snow monsters but it did go when it needed to. The gearbox was quite long in spacing compared to the 6 speed for the 2.0 box (as you would expect) but pulling yet another higher gear at motorway speeds? Well I didn't think it needed one. Just my view.

 

Now interestingly only 4x4 models have the multi link rear suspension, this makes a lot of sense as the 4x4 is not compatible with the current twist beam designs. I would think Yeti II (post FL) will follow suite when it gets the MQB VAG platform to prowl around on.... But that is some years away yet. I'm not sure under day to day driving that you would notice much difference between twist beam and multi link rear suspension anyway unless you push on with a tad more spirit on the twisties.

Here again is a prime example of why I don't like Japanese car interiors much.  They patronise me.  This is the new QQ / X-trail centre dash:

 

 

Why does it say VOLUME? Why does it say PUSH? Why does it say ON-OFF? What does it say BACK next to the back arrow? Why does the left arrow have a minus on it? Why does the right arrow have a plus next to it? Argh...  I'M NOT AN IDIOT. On my "German" car none of those obvious buttons are labelled in this way.

And breathe...........................

Do you know how many radio knobs I've Twiddled left and right ,over the years ,to turn the radio On/Off?

My BMW 5 series owning days came to an abrupt end when they fitted i-drive,making all the on board systems inoperable to me.

I need all the Patronising they can give ,Johann...

My dad is a typical Nissan Note owner, and if it didn't have everything labelled very clearly with words and symbols he'd struggle even more than he does.

Here again is a prime example of why I don't like Japanese car interiors much.  They patronise me.  This is the new QQ / X-trail centre dash:

 

Why does it say VOLUME? Why does it say PUSH? Why does it say ON-OFF? What does it say BACK next to the back arrow? Why does the left arrow have a minus on it? Why does the right arrow have a plus next to it? Argh...  I'M NOT AN IDIOT. On my "German" car none of those obvious buttons are labelled in this way.

 

This is one of the reasons that pulled me off Japaneses cars - interior, it just sucks...

QQ was on my list when I bought my Yeti. One simple reason for discounting the old QQ: rear door doesn't open as high as competition so I banged my head walking towards the rear (I'm 6'4"). Even the salesman admitted he had done this but apparently you don't do it more than once!

 

Had to go around all the other contenders again to see if I had missed that problem but no the QQ was the only one. Such things help make the decisions. Quite liked it but the permanent headache was going to be a downer.

QQ was on my list when I bought my Yeti. One simple reason for discounting the old QQ: rear door doesn't open as high as competition so I banged my head walking towards the rear (I'm 6'4"). Even the salesman admitted he had done this but apparently you don't do it more than once!

Had to go around all the other contenders again to see if I had missed that problem but no the QQ was the only one. Such things help make the decisions. Quite liked it but the permanent headache was going to be a downer.

That is one of the biggest fights my friend's team (that is an engineer at Nissan) had with Japan. They were told countless times the hatch door doesn't open high enough but they refused to change it. The other huge battles are about the logic of the electronics - how doors lock and unlock as you start to drive, etc.

New Yeti competitor due 2015, baby Land Rover Discovery price £24,000....

 

 

Quite like that.

Just lose the wheels and the Bling though.

New Yeti competitor due 2015, baby Land Rover Discovery price £24,000....

 

 

 

 

It's well known that the Freelander nameplate is dying.  So this is just the new Freelander that will, from this model on, carry the Discovery branding as well.

New Yeti competitor due 2015, baby Land Rover Discovery price £24,000....

 

 

 

The version you get for £24k won't look like that though, which is a shame.