15000 km report on Baleno Lxi. So what's new, right ?

[ram]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Add to it the fact that team-bhp is kind of "Baleno country"...

Amen to that!

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

...The fact that the in-car lighting is designed in such a way that the boot light comes on when I open any of the 4 doors (but with boot closed). Could never figure out the idea of having a closed boot lit up every time someone opened a door.

Think of it like this!

What if the Baleno were meant to be a 5-door hatchback or estate?

Then the interior light should come on, when any of the 5 doors were opened. It would then make sense to have just one light circuit with all five door switches wired in parallel.

I believe this to be the case, although what we have in India is the sedan.

It has just one single interior lighting circuit, with all four door switches and the trunk lid switch wired in parallel, and the circuit powering the common cabin light and trunk light in parallel.

This is why opening the trunk lid also turns on the cabin interior lamp along with the trunk lamp.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by ram

Amen to that!
I believe this to be the case, although what we have in India is the sedan.

If you haven't forgotten we use to have the estate versions too for sale a few years ago .. Called the altura .. Now it makes sense ..

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by shuvc

@SB, any squeaks rattles yet ?

No squeak/rattle anywhere. And that talks a lot about the car because, of my 40kms daily commute, 12kms are on almost nil roads or real bad roads. The only rattle heard in the car is from the rosary hanging on the IRVM.

Originally Posted by ram

Think of it like this! What if the Baleno were meant to be a 5-door hatchback or estate?

You have a point there. But I still feel they could have rewired it when doing it for a sedan.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

When time and duddu permits change to 14 inchers. I have changed them and havent had the issue of the bottom scrapping road humps.

Let's see. 14 inchers will gain you just half-an-inch at the rim. And I'm sure
you'd have less-than-80-profile tyres. So your gain in ground clearance
would surely be less than 1/2 inch. It is puzzling to see how just a few
mm.s (if that) makes that much difference in bottom scraping! What am I
missing here ?

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

If you haven't forgotten we use to have the estate versions too for sale a few years ago .. Called the altura .. Now it makes sense ..

Yup.. Altura is the name. In fact, saw one here in Bangalore on my way to work this morning. Although i feel the sedan version looks a lot better.

[supremeBaleno]

Update :

After months of deliberation, finally went the K&N way on my Baleno.
Due to driving daily on some 12-14 kms of dusty road, the stock air filter was really clogged and it was time to replace it. And to add to it, during the tbhp drive to Yelagiri, I found it tough to reach 160kmph which during my earlier drives to Kerala had been a breeze.

So, decided to go for a stock K&N replacement filter to help the engine breathe better. And also I figured that since I am going to keep the car for years, it made sense to use a K&N instead of replacing filters every now and then.

The car feels better to drive after the filter change, but as mentioned on the forum by many, it could be partly psychological. Anyway, I would be monitoring any effect on the FE, pickup and ease in reaching top speeds as the days go by.

[esteem_lover]

Have you tried out 160 plus after the K&N ?

[rocksterraghu]

Another Baleno owner and a total fan of it saying 'Nice report'!

About the boot light circuitry, as far as my experience goes, the circuit is different from the in-cabin light circuitry.

The reason why I say this is, the Autocop DX that I've installed was just for the doors and not the boot. I could open the boot without triggering an alarm when the car would be locked with the Autocop remote. I got the Autocop wired differently to protect the ICE in my boot and that is when I realized that the boot has a separate circuit.

Correct me if I've made a wrong assumption.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Have you tried out 160 plus after the K&N ?

Did not get a chance yet, to venture out of the city. Will try it out soon.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Did not get a chance yet, to venture out of the city. Will try it out soon.

Maybe time for a meet/drive then. Moonraker, here we come.

[akroy]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Have you tried out 160 plus after the K&N ?

Well, Let him check the FE first... otherwise he might end up with lower FE...

Abhi

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

cool review mate....comes straight from the heart. One comment though- 15K and still on stock tyres!!!! dude, get them changed please! Got mine changed to 185/70 R13s at the showroom itself. didnt have money left or would have gone in for 14 inch alloys with 14 inch rubber.

I bought my midnight black Baleno Lxi on 15th March 2005. have clocked 34000 Km till date and still on stock tires(165/80/R13)... it seems that I am pushing my luck too far. :-)

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

have clocked 34000 Km till date and still on stock tires(165/80/R13)... it seems that I am pushing my luck too far. :-)

Not really. While I agree that wider rubber is definitely welcome, it is not as if the stock tyres are unsafe (unless you are on the race track). I throw the car around at corners (ofcourse within the permissible limits in city), and have not felt unsafe.

But if you are the real reckless kind, I think you would be better off with wider tyres. Depends on what kind of a driver you are. For me, the stock tyres are more than enough. I am reckless only when drunk - so i avoid mixing drinks and driving the car.

Ofcourse, from what I read here on the forum, tubeless tyres might be safer than tubed ones. So, that might be an option for you to consider. Again, having driven for 20 years on tubed tyres without any issues, I am kind of ok with them. But that's just me.

[bottle]

nice write up sb, and seeing your spic and span car in motion on the expressways made me rethink my opinion on balenos cheers

also hope to see your car in action with the new filter.. i think acceleration was better than my car on the drive back from elagiri since i thought i needed a bit of effort to keep up

ps: if its not too rude, may i ask how old you are ? 20years with a m800 plus 2 years with a baleno and maybe 15-20years before you started driving pegs you a lot older than i thought you were hehe

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Maybe time for a meet/drive then. Moonraker, here we come.

hehe glad you liked the place, wasnt too sure when i recommended it

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by bottle

nice write up sb, and seeing your spic and span car in motion on the expressways made me rethink my opinion on balenos cheers

Thanks. You being an owner of a new black car, I am sure you will soon know how tough it is to keep it that way. ie. unless you have someone wash/clean it for you.

Originally Posted by bottle

also hope to see your car in action with the new filter.. i think acceleration was better than my car on the drive back from elagiri since i thought i needed a bit of effort to keep up

I had a problem only with the top speed. Had no serious issues with pick-up or acceleration otherwise. Yes, let me see if the 3.5K spent on the K&N was useful or went down the drain. You were actually doing pretty good, always on my tail.

Actually, on the drive, I had a manual speed-governor sitting beside me (my wife), who kept howling every time she felt I was doing too high a speed. Anyway, she was a sport to come along. If not, I would have not been able to enjoy the meet/drive, as I would have felt guilty of leaving her all alone at home on a weekend.

Originally Posted by bottle

ps: if its not too rude, may i ask how old you are ? 20years with a m800 plus 2 years with a baleno and maybe 15-20years before you started driving pegs you a lot older than i thought you were hehe

Nothing rude about asking a guy's age, I guess. I am 36 yrs young. Started driving at 15 on Dad's M800-Type1.