Baleno Review after 2 years

[akas_chauhan]

I own this car since two years and i'm the single owner. Yes it's a 2007 model VXI and purchased it in March 2007.

I've crossed 20K and here is my thoughts.

Positives:
1. Awesome power. You can overtake almost anybody on highway and definitely all other cars in the same segment. Top speed i've achieved is around 185 KMPH. NO performance modifications done.
2. A/C is real Kewl.
3. Space is good. 4 people can sit comfortably and 5 people with little trouble.
4. Do not feel fatigue even after a very long drive. Maximum i drove this car 1620Km in 25 hours without any power nap. But couple of breaks for cig,tanking up etc. In this sense very reliable.
5. Automatic climate control ( in VXI model).

Negatives:
1. Ground clearance. Trust me if you think it might kiss the bottom in speed breakers(big one) it'll definitely, no matter how cautiously you drive.
2. Dashboard is dull
3. No safety (NO airbag, no ABS)
4. Fuel economy ( I usually gets 8.5-9 KMPL in city ride) and 12-13 on highways.
5. The head light is 55/60W and it's not good enough for night drive on highways. I've changed it to 95/100.

Conclusion:

With all these demerits still i luv this car and i've plan to keep it unless it says "Dude go for a new car. I'm going to die soon."

[prince_pervez]

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

Positives:
1. Awesome power. You can overtake almost anybody on highway and definitely all other cars in the same segment.

I can vouch for this one. It can give a safari a run for its money(highway).
All the very best for your future endeavours with this beast.
Hope to see a 40K Kms review soon!
Drive safe.

[madhukar_n]

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

4. Fuel economy ( I usually gets 8.5-9 KMPL in city ride) and 12-13 on highways.
5. The head light is 55/60W and it's not good enough for night drive on highways. I've changed it to 95/100.

Conclusion:

With all these demerits still i luv this car and i've plan to keep it unless it says "Dude go for a new car. I'm going to die soon."

FE - get it checked. I definately get a lot more than you get. mine is 50K. i get almost 14.(normal commute- 70% city and 30% highway)
headlight also put some relays and then user a higher wattage bulb.

[akas_chauhan]

Originally Posted by madhukar_n

FE - get it checked. I definately get a lot more than you get. mine is 50K. i get almost 14.(normal commute- 70% city and 30% highway)
headlight also put some relays and then user a higher wattage bulb.

When i say 8.5 to 9 it's mostly on one of the Bangalore congested area where you mostly need to press clutch. But still on highway i get less. I'm an agressive driver and i usually like to drive on top speeds.

As i said i changed the bulb and obviously you need to put a relay to make that 95/100 W work here.

[ashish22]

i agree its a great driver's car and fun to drive on highways. I really have fun with my OHC dragging with balenos. Sometimes i win sometimes i loose. But i have respect for this car!

[predatorwheelz]

@akas - I drove a friend's (second hand) Baleno Vxi at Bangalore a few months back. It was late night, and we were doing good speeds. The car felt lovely to drive. But 2 issues I felt during the drive were:

1) The car was running 165/80 tyres. While they cushioned the ride well, they gave me no confidence whatsoever while cornering hard at speed. My friend said this was the OEM size for all Balenos, except for a few later models which came with 185/60s and Alloys. Which size is your car running? In case its the 165s (and considering you admit to be an aggressive driver) dont you feel the same problem while cornering?

2) There were 4 people on board (2 of us and our wives). The car bottomed out twice on speedbreakers on 80ft road. According to my friend, this was a common occurence with the car when fully loaded. He was looking for replacement springs to increase the ride height. Do you face this problem too?

[revtech]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

1) The car was running 165/80 tyres. While they cushioned the ride well, they gave me no confidence whatsoever while cornering hard at speed.

yeah totally agree with you.thats why i switched to 195 from day one.makes it a much more stable ride.

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

2)The car bottomed out twice on speedbreakers on 80ft road.

thats typical of a baleno with full load.


rev

[akas_chauhan]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

@akas - I drove a friend's (second hand) Baleno Vxi at Bangalore a few months back. It was late night, and we were doing good speeds. The car felt lovely to drive. But 2 issues I felt during the drive were:

1) The car was running 165/80 tyres. While they cushioned the ride well, they gave me no confidence whatsoever while cornering hard at speed. My friend said this was the OEM size for all Balenos, except for a few later models which came with 185/60s and Alloys. Which size is your car running? In case its the 165s (and considering you admit to be an aggressive driver) dont you feel the same problem while cornering?

2) There were 4 people on board (2 of us and our wives). The car bottomed out twice on speedbreakers on 80ft road. According to my friend, this was a common occurence with the car when fully loaded. He was looking for replacement springs to increase the ride height. Do you face this problem too?

Totally agree with you on both points.
1. Since my car is 2 years old i got alloy wheel with 185.
2. Yes it got low GC. so with full load speed breaker is an issue.

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

I own this car since two years and i'm the single owner. Yes it's a 2007 model VXI and purchased it in March 2007.

Was it sold till march '07? I thought its production was stopped in jan'07.Anyways, so when was Baleno's production ceased?


MY review(at 25k kms)
Dad bought an Oct'06 Baleno Vxi (black) for my birthday.It was the bset buy then due to great discounts.Costed around 6.4 lakhs on road i guess.Ever since,i have loved the car,it never fails to impress me everytime i drive it.

Reasons i Love it
1)Awesome performance,it outdrags almost every new sedan from this segment,many of them with ease.
2)Handles very well.(My car came with 185/60 on alloy rims)
3)Terrific AC (with climate control).Yet to see such a great AC in any other car of upper C segment.
4)Good ride and space for for four people.
5)Well built for a Maruti,25k kms on,no squaks/rattles.
6)Great driving position.
7)AWESOME LOOKS!!! No,dont be surprised,a black baleno vxi with the stock spoiler,and matte silver stock alloy rims looks stunning,not just to me,even my friends who own NHCs,Esteems,Optras cant stop wondering about there surprising and sudden love for baleno's exterior.And yeah,mine has a webasto sunroof as well which adds to the appeal.
8)Good economy.14kmpl with AC in sparse traffic when driven with a light foot,Worst i have managed is 9kmpl during the drags and speed runs.
9)Great service from the local maruti service centre.
10)Excellent music system,for a stock unit.it has a kenwood FM/wma/mp3 player and the 4 puny stock speakers give good bass and quality sound.
11)Front handrest,that has a can storage,adds to the comfort in long journeys.
12)Cheap spares as compared to City/fiesta and the likes.

Things i dont like much:
1)Small door pockets which are almost useless
2)as pointed out by others,due to the low clearence,car bottoms out on some speedbreakers,but i dont mind it much considering the great dynamics.
3)No ABS-EBD,otherwise it would had made braking alot more confident.
4)Cheap looking dials,with exposed screws,reminds me of alto,even the odo is not digital,when even m800 sported one.!!
5)Grey floor carpets started wearing out as soon as 5k kms,look worn out now,wont last till 30k kms.
6)Rear visibility isnt great as the stock spoiler hampers it.

Thats it i think.
& this is one car I guess I wont ever part with.

[akas_chauhan]

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

Was it sold till march '07? I thought its production was stopped in jan'07.Anyways, so when was Baleno's production ceased?


12)Cheap spares as compared to City/fiesta and the likes.

Yes it was bought in march and i guess i bought the last piece from dealer. My purchase price is more than 7 lakh though.

I do not agree with cheap spares. I had an accident with a honda city. Both of us had to replace Front head lights. Baleno's cost 11K and Honda city around 6K (Each car 1 head light)

[YC.BALENO.CHD]

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

Yes it was bought in march and i guess i bought the last piece from dealer. My purchase price is more than 7 lakh though.

I do not agree with cheap spares. I had an accident with a honda city. Both of us had to replace Front head lights. Baleno's cost 11K and Honda city around 6K (Each car 1 head light)

More than 7 lakhs?

Which honda city are u talking about? OHC or NHC?
I recently replaced the right front fender,both the headlights,front bumper,and got rid of a dent on the hood ,although all of them could had been repaired/refurbished I thought it was better to get the parts replaced.I claimed the insurance,and the bill was a mere Rs.7500.All repairs from MASS.
Whereas,a person i know had to get the bumper,headlights and a fender replaced of his fiesta1.4 around the same time,and the bill after the insurance was around 11K bucks.
I am not sure about the NHC,but I guess each headlight costs near about 10k bucks.

[akas_chauhan]

I replaced it around 2 years back and it was roughly 11K. I was talking about NHC.

Originally Posted by YC.BALENO.CHD

More than 7 lakhs?

Which honda city are u talking about? OHC or NHC?
I recently replaced the right front fender,both the headlights,front bumper,and got rid of a dent on the hood ,although all of them could had been repaired/refurbished I thought it was better to get the parts replaced.I claimed the insurance,and the bill was a mere Rs.7500.All repairs from MASS.
Whereas,a person i know had to get the bumper,headlights and a fender replaced of his fiesta1.4 around the same time,and the bill after the insurance was around 11K bucks.
I am not sure about the NHC,but I guess each headlight costs near about 10k bucks.