[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by schakravarthy

Attachment 1434422
Attachment 1434423

Ewww, orange peel effect!

By the photos, it looks like these are on the exterior, probably the fender. Not a good finish coming from a manufacturer's paint shop. ASCs themselves do a better job.

I only hope that customer's cars have been through stricter QC.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by schakravarthy

My friend said these were near the bonnet edge and that the defect was very obvious to the naked eye.
Not sure if it is from the factory or a dealer level 'touch-up' job.

Ah, a dealer-level touch-up sounds like a more reasonable explanation. Though the quality of work seems like a touch up with a brush! And not a proper panel repaint.

[schakravarthy]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

By the photos, it looks like these are on the exterior, probably the fender. Not a good finish coming from a manufacturer's paint shop. ASCs themselves do a better job.

I only hope that customer's cars have been through stricter QC.

My friend said these were near the bonnet edge and that the defect was very obvious to the naked eye.
Not sure if it is from the factory or a dealer level 'touch-up' job.

[Motard_Blr]

I had a very short test drive of the Baleno petrol yesterday and I have listed below my observations. I have not commented on anything subjective like looks.

1. The ergonomics for someone 5'10" tall are good.

2. The seating is quite low so I think that short drivers may have limited visibility or feel more claustrophobic.

3. Visibility at the rear is quite poor. Especially with 5 people in the car. Parking in reverse without sensors or a camera would be tough.

4. The A pillar blind spot is average.

5. The door inside panel is a little flimsy. Moving the mirror adjustment knob, visibly deforms the panel.

6. Shoulder room in the rear for 3 people is good. The floor hump isn't too bad.

7. The engine performance is adequate in city conditions.

8. Throttle response is average. An interesting thing I noticed was that the throttle lag. This is the time it takes for the throttle to respond to accelerator inputs. Throttle OPENING lag is minimal - so pressing the accelerator gets a quick response from the engine. This is as expected. But I also noticed a significant throttle CLOSING lag - taking your foot off the accelerator does not close the throttle immediately. The throttle closes slowly. This smoothes the driving experience in stop-and-go traffic but the downside is that you can't control your speed with the throttle alone and have to use the brake as well.

9. I felt that the suspension was good but the test drive was too short to really get a good impression of it.

10. The gearshift is very smooth and slotted into gears easily and accurately.

11. The brakes were predictable and smooth with no grabbiness. Typical Maruti brake pedal feel, not VW or Hyundai feel.

12. The lightness of the car is felt in a good way in agility and willingness to change direction.

The build quality and finishing were noticeably a step or two lower than the S-Cross standing next to the Baleno.

All in all, the Baleno is a car that I would buy. I definitely prefer the Baleno over an i20 petrol. I have not yet driven the Jazz to have an opinion on it.

[redindian]

So here are my impressions after a longish test drive and spending coupe of hours with the car over 2-3 days.

Background : We have a 2008 Swift VXi ( 1.3L engined one) that my wife uses as her daily commute ( about 30-40Kms /Day ) , given its been almost 7.5 years we decided to replace it. My wife wanted a compact, but premium & fun to drive car - so we have been systematically considering / test driving pretty much every thing in that price bracket.

Test Drove

- Tata Zest XT (Petrol)
- Elite i20 Asta ( Petrol)
- Fiat Abarth Punto (Petrol)
- Figo Aspire 1.5 ( Diesel)
- Honda Jazz SV ( Petrol/Manual)
- Baleno Alpha ( petrol )

Considered but rejected with out even test drive
- Xcent, Dezire & Amaze
- Bolt
- Punto ( diesel)
- Polo GT ( Since VW has now stopped doing deliveries )

Here is the impression of the Baleno Petrol Version ( Alpha )

Engine , Steering & Gearbox

Of all the 1.2L commuter petrols ( except for the turbo charged Zest), the Baleno was the most responsive & fun to drive engine - with an exciting midrange. The car is very eager after 2500 RPM and keep it in the 2500+ RPM band and you wont complain about the engine response.

It also had a pretty good steering response and feedback - despite being super light ( compared to our old 1.3L Swift - which was probably a hydraulic unit? ), had pretty good weighted-feel once you speed up and an extremely small dead center. Compared to the i20 this was miles ahead (The i20 we drove felt like it was a toy steering), but definitely not like the old Swift or the new Punto. I, infact preferred this to the Ford Figo Aspire.

Gear shift is where the swift retains its edge over every other car i have driven, its not just smooth , but has a nice sporty slotting feel and *click* to it. For me this is really important - no other car I drove in the above list had a gear shift which felt that nice to me.

Breaking is pretty good, but really can't say much since the max speed we hit is only 100 kmph.

Features & Gadgets

For the sub 8L on road price ( of zeta petrol model) , the baleno has way more in this department than any other car. Music System with bluetooth, alloy wheels, airbags, abs/ebd & automatic climate control - check , check and more checks! and then some more - fancy graphics display on the speedo area, electronic IRVM, auto head lamps & keyless start/stop. Feels good !

The sound system feels good as well, with very good quality speakers - something that most OEMs including Maruti used to compromise on ( My 16L XUV has really bad speakers compared to the Baleno at half its price! )

Cabin Space , Ambience & Fit & Finish

While the interiors are much better than most Marutis - it is definitely not segment benchmark. The door panel plastics flex considerably,Dashboards do not have any soft-touch or dual texture finishes - it seems good but not great! I also felt maruti could have made the rear seats more deeper, added a bit more under-thigh support and some contouring. But if you are planning to use it for daily commute then as a driver's car you won't complain.

Build Quality & the sheet metal complaints


Now for the much debated, burning issue - is this car badly built and a tin can on wheels ? The answer is no, definitely not !

Granted its no Fiat Punto ( The bonnet in Punto easily feels like it weighs as much as my XUV) - but its not bad either. Maruti has done some bits well, but missed out on small stuff that could have made this question irrelevant.

The interiors have well screwed together dashboard bits, rubber beadings on both sides of the door etc. - The doors do close with a *thunk* , which is a slightly muted version of the Punto's *THUNK* - but way better than the Figo aspire's metallic *CLANG*

The door is light but *not* hollow - It feels light if you compare it to a SUV or a really heavy car like the Punto, but felt no different to me from a regular swift or i20 - remember Maruti also makes the swivel action smoother and that makes people feel that doors in other cars are of heavier metal. What really leaves you in the dump is the annoyingly hollow sound from the door open lever's recoil action , banging against the door - metal and metal clanging makes you feel like there is a lot of hollow metal.

The rest of the body panels are no different from most other premium hatchbacks, save for the punto in my opinion. Bonnet did not flex even with a lot of pressing and some thumping ( got a lot of stares in the showroom though ) , body panels gaps are even and acceptable in most places in the showroom car & the rear boot feels nice to open and close.

B,ut there are the odd bits that Maruti did not focus properly on - for e.g. the driver seat height adjust lever is a plastic stuck to some hard metal as an after thought - feels super cheap, ready to break off if you force it slightly ! Not cool maruti , not cool ! They could have also added some damping material to the door open levers to prevent that hollow clanging sound every time you open the door form outside.

On an otherwise, extremely well put together car, this lack of extra 5% effort shows up .

Final View

The Baleno seems like a pretty good car, something I would put my money on and buy it. Sporty looking , peppy petrol engine, lots of space & tons of gadgets for convenience and feeling pampered - this one is my top pick in the sub 4 mt category.

Also, having owned a maruti for 7.5 yrs - can't believe the resale value it commands. Now before people start jumping on me for bringing up the resale word while buying a new car - let me mention why I am impressed with this.

I bought my swift VXI in 2008 for 5.4L on road, after 7.5 yrs - maruti showroom is willing to pick it up for 2.7L ( It shows its age with scratches, dents and worn out tires). On the price of a new baleno zeta - I need to pay less than 5L + my 8 yr old swift and I get a new baleno , better specs and more spunk - I wish other cars would hold their value so much after 8 yrs.


In the absence of a comprehensive team-bhp review, I am going to rely on this thread and my own observations ( honed by Team-bhp reviews) and go ahead and book one !

[blue_pulsar]

I visited Nexa Kalyani (JP Nagar, Bangalore). Test drove both Petrol and Diesel.

Some observations on the car:
1. The car looks good, apart from the front. They had the Alpha on display. The front was already looking so 'Swift'. Not sure how the lower variants will look like.

2. Massive rear legroom and boot space in a 4m hatch. I think this hatch will take the crown for being most spacious 4m hatch. Headroom is a little limited but not bad. Those who are upgrading from WagonR or Ritz will feel quite a bit of difference.

3. The ride quality is better than the Swift. I deliberately put the car into some potholes and the shock was noticeably lesser. However I didn't feel the same flat ride at the rear, but don't take my word for it.

4. The diesel feels increasingly sedate with every iteration of ARAI tuning. The turbo kick has marginally reduced from my '13 swift. But the clutch felt lighter!

5. The petrol might have lost a little bit of steam as well. But it is delightfully refined as it always used to be.

6. The interior plastics are better finished than the Swift, but only slightly.

7. Doors shut with a light sound.

8. Engine bay has huge space unused.

9. Alloys are ok, not great.

Some observations on the NEXA experience:

1. The showroom was crowded on a Saturday morning, which is quite expected after the way a Baleno is priced.

2. When I walked in, I immediately started checking out the cars. NO sales executive approached me and asked me what I wanted. When you walk in at most Maruti showrooms, they greet you and ask you what you were interested in.

3. The ONLY thing that feels more upmarket here is that they offer you a half litre (or was it smaller) Bisleri bottle. A boy came at frequent intervals and served water. At a Maruti showroom, they serve you water in a glass.

4. They were offering 1/2 km test drives. Even on request, they denied a longer test drive. How much more premium can a showroom experience get?


Overall, nothing so premium about the NEXA showroom. And nothing so premium with the car as well. Baleno is a Swift loaded with more gizmos and has more space.

[avishar]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

3. The ONLY thing that feels more upmarket here is that they offer you a half litre (or was it smaller) Bisleri bottle. A boy came at frequent intervals and served water. At a Maruti showroom, they serve you water in a glass.

4. They were offering 1/2 km test drives. Even on request, they denied a longer test drive. How much more premium can a showroom experience get?

They were smaller, those pink Indian Railways/Airline mini bottles. I picked up one since i was so exasperated waiting. I did see some other customers were offered tea/coffee. I think you get that only if you hand over the booking amount.

Regarding TD cars, at the Museum Road outlet they too were offering only 1/2km drives around the block but they did request us a number of times to drop by on a weekday and take the car for 10km ride. So after we took the mini TD, the SA told us to give our contact details and they will call us on Tuesday for a long test drive. After that he scooted off somewhere else. When we walked up to the desk to give our details, the lady behind the desk gave us this vacant expression when we told her to take down our contact details. She then asked us to give her a minute while a few more customers crowded around her desk. So another 15mins of waiting for them to take our details.

In the middle of melee one irate customer pretty much shouts across the showroom,

"Will someone please attend to our request for a Test Drive?"

SA and what looked like the showroom manager " Sir, there is a 2hr wait for a TD"

Customer:" Yes i heard that its a two hour wait, thats all i have been hearing for the last half an hour. But can you atleast register our names?"

SA: " Sorry, sir it will take some time.."

Customer:" I am willing to wait 2 hours but can you atleast take down our names?!"

A minute of awkward silence in the showroom during this shouting match. Then back to being a fish market.

[volkman10]

Here is Baleno's accessory list.

http://www.nexaexperience.com/accessorise-car.html

[MetalBuff]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Here is Baleno's accessory list.

http://www.nexaexperience.com/accessorise-car.html

Doesn't seem to be going beyond the page. Regardless of which car I click on, the S-cross gets displayed. Only me? Seems like a temporary glitch.

Cheerio,
-Shivang Gandotra

[volkman10]

Originally Posted by MetalBuff

Doesn't seem to be going beyond the page.

It works, example for the roof carrier you get this!

[chncar]

Originally Posted by blue_pulsar

4. They were offering 1/2 km test drives. Even on request, they denied a longer test drive. How much more premium can a showroom experience get?


Overall, nothing so premium about the NEXA showroom. And nothing so premium with the car as well. Baleno is a Swift loaded with more gizmos and has more space.

I guess you could say that test drives were at a premium then

Proves that Nexa is indeed 'Premium', after all you don't get served caviar in the same quantities that you get served onion pakoras!

On a more serious note, there are actually a lot of customers who, given a choice don't even take a test drive and book based on reputation, or who are only interested in a short test drive. Every time I have asked for a longer test drive I get a questioning stare from the salesperson and have to justify why it is needed.

[Arjun Reddy]

Just did a 3 km test drive.

Space is just awesome for a sub 4 meter hatch.

The car looks larger than a sub 4 meter.

The lights are awesome and light up well. Was able to drive with them I'm an underpass. Though the lights came on in auto mode at 4:30 pm. Yes Bangalore is a little overcast.

MID is great looking and displays a whole lot of stuff. The torque and power graphics is a nice party trick. Can Maruti somehow get away from those ugly scroll sticks for the trip meter settings and mid functions.

AC is a chiller. Fan a little noisy past the first 2 speeds.

The drive was just ok. A little jerky in the first gear.

NVH levels at idle is excellent for a diesel and it lasts only till you put the car into gear. The engine is very audible in drive. Maruti could have done better here.

3rd gear 4000 rpm and the car is out of breath. Could test the top end performance.

I heard a lot of rattles from the rear. Not sure if there was something loose in the boot.

Steering is light and the car itself is and feels light. Not sure how this will behave at highway speeds. Cross winds could probably catch the Baleno out.

The doors have zero feel to them. Felt extremely light and tinny. Not sure on how it would react to minor dents. Will they get magnified?

Suspension is set up pretty firm and the potholes and bumps do filter in.

Found the Gear box a little Notchy.

Seat fabric is poor and not well stitched either.
Missed the adjustable hand rest for the front and none for the rear.

My 2 cents.

The Nexa experience is now gone. With over 300 booking from Nexa JP Nagar no one seems to care.



The Nexa display car. Water for thought?

Chrome at the rear. Eeks.

[WRXXX]

Visited Nexa Kalyani in JP Nagar for the fourth time in 5 days, this is closest to where I work and stay. And requested the RM that I need relatively longish ride to assess the car(and this was more to do with the terrain and various driving conditions than sheer distance) and RM kindly obliged. And I should say Nexa people didn't expect this kind of rush into their showrooms. So, we have to give them some room to recover and may be after few weeks, things might be much better in terms of Nexa experience.

There was a person from the showroom who accompanied me for the drive and he had nothing to say and that is perfectly fine, as back in the showroom had fairly long chat with the RM. I Agree that for people expecting premium experience with Q/A needed during the drive things could be little cold! But I stuck to my schedule to checkout various aspects of the car and here it is.

First part, Untestdrive : There was a lady and a guy who wanted to accompany me in the test drive as they are in their last minute decision making to cancel the Swift Zxi and I knew I can't do the real test with them in the cabin, and after a fairly very short drive regained controls over the car to do the real test drive. I think this is one thing that should should have been avoided from the showroom guys.

The test drive car was Baleno Alpha 1.2 Petrol.

Exterior of the car:

• Looks great from outside and the DRLs look terrific on the car and I should say they nearly look like headlights from far in twilight and have a premium appeal.
• Rechecked various parts of the car and there are places where the car feels hollow and solid in other places and I should say the quality is nearly same as Ciaz or modern day Swifts.
• Car has a really low and wide stance, iconic hatch looks and looks great even as a silhouette.

Interiors of the car:

• While I like the interiors a lot because of their uncluttered design, the plastics are hard and do not have a premium appeal by touch. But people who can ignore these it won't be a big problem. I am personally going to ignore these shortcomings.
• Steering feel and grip is nice but the Suzuki horn layout in general is weird and requires some getting used to, with the steering gripped it is tough to reach the horn for example.
• Front windshield space is on the shorter side I should say, and houses an unusually wide IRVM.
• Drivers seat has a really commanding view of the road and I should say this is the best place to be for drivers who love to see only the road. I can even go very far to say that it has near sports car feel in terms of road view. At the same time people expecting SUV kind of high and clear view of the road will be disappointed from this car.
• Instrument cluster is unobtrusive while driving but at the same time pleasant to look at if you decide to glance at it once in a while.
• Rear seats have humongous space, meaning leg room but this is more like rigging the system for benchmarks alone. I think Maruti should have increased the bench width slightly too to provide under thigh support.
• Boot is large but as noted by everyone has high loading lip.

Engine and Gearbox:

• Adjusted the seats and got familiar with the controls and fired the engine up and I should say the petrol is super refined and quiet. Took the engine to 5k and can hear nice and balanced throaty hum. Gearbox is equally driver centric, shifts without hassles and accurately. Sound from the engine is heard only after getting past 3500rpm and staying in the same gear and this is not the rattle or noise this is purely engine communicating with the driver and feels very nice.
• Engine needs to be nicely revved like any other Suzuki to extract any life. But it seems to do well on low speeds with light throttle too.
• However, I do feel a more powerful engine in this very same car is going to be a blast.

Steering:

• Steering feels quite easy in slow speeds and can be literally moved around without car making any adjustments to its slow speed coasting angle but at the same time weighs nicely when one tries to manoeuvre at around 100kph and doesn't loose composure to quick steering movements and avoids the obstacles as the driver commands.
• Two "U" turns gave fairly weighted feedback to complete them without having to do mid turn corrections tells the feedback is fairly accurate to the driver and not confuse him.
• Took a fairly tight and quick 3-point U turn and the steering gave the correct feedback throughout the manoeuvre.

Ride and handling:

• Most important part of my evaluation: With a near mute Nexa personal next to me started my evaluation. For people who have seen Nexa Kalyani it is clear that location is at a place where an underpass begins, and is always prone to a lot of confusion. To my good luck and the fact that we decided to wait, got a free stretch till the next "U" turn and pushed the car to good speeds and tested out the composure by steering out of road undulations. And I am impressed by the composure car kept during the entire run and kept a straight line during hard braking too without any drama. Although car quickly moves in lower gears the chassis begs for a powerful engine to give you any thrill beyond a point. But people who expect Swift/Dzire like experience won't be disappointed.
• Took a big detour from the main road and could tunnel the car through a bad patch of roads and pot holes and nowhere it lost composure.
• Handling is spot on too and turnings while not as sharp as Swift or my old car it is quite acceptable. I could make several acute turns and sharp 3-point turns and car never felt Wallow and shaky.
• I also took it through few largish road humps and ditches nowhere the bottom scraped or car felt out of control.
• Reat seat ride could be slightly bumpy depending on the speeds and the load of the car, but nothing to get worried about.
• Rear visibility could be a problem for some but I don't think there is any overhang that you need to give buffer to. Alpha trim might help alleviate this issue but other trims do require getting used to. And this could be the case with any hatch around of this shape.

My views:

• Day to day city commute and occasional highway drives this is a great car.
• Great car if you can compromise on slightly inferior plastics inside.
• A very good drivers car and my thumbs up and worthy of upgrade those who didn't like the looks of the Dzire!
• A great looker from any angle, looks extremely sexy with the DRLs
• Petrol engine is very refined and brings smiles on your face.

What it needs:

• Better quality plastics
• Wider rear seat bench at the cost of the rear leg room(not sure which is better for people for short and long drives)
• Begs for a powerful engine option for those who want it (BoosterJet or the K14B please).
• Steering reach for the horns needs some improvement, may be a smaller steering will help here?

Overall, I am very positive about this car and hopefully this meets the international safety standards then you have an unbeatable car for some time to come in this segment.

I really appreciate those who read through this report and these I should say what I could come up with my limited experience and knowledge. And lot of these points could be entirely personal view on the car, so please do treat it as such

[MercFan]

Originally Posted by SRK

Another interesting thing was at the Andheri showroom I saw two guys with Hyundai printed in small letters on their shirt. They were checking the Baleno inside out and clicking many pics. Probably could be from the showroom that is close by. Their seniors must have sent them in to investigate how they can convince the customer to go for the Elite i20 over the Baleno. And by the way, I went to two Hyundai showroom and they don't have the i20 for display, when I inquired I was shown the Demo car parked outside, which was dirty and had damaged buttons and parts.

After Scross, Suzuki/Nexa seem to have learnt a lesson or two on the pricing aspect. They have gone back to their tried and tested formula of good looking cars with average build quality combined with great pricing.

If Scross 1.6 was anywhere around the 14L mark, it would have taken the Creta out of the equation.

[RYP]

Baleno Official Accessories list is out now

• ORVM garnish
• Bodykit – front and rear lip spoiler, side skirts
• Door visor
• Mud flaps
• Roof luggage carrier
• Alloy wheels
• Halogen Bulb
• Seat covers – fabric or leather
• Floor mats
• Front armrest
• Heads Up Display (HUD)
• Mobile charger and holder
• Interior light kit
• USB charger
• Glovebox lamp
• Cool/Warm box – 8-litres
• Aftermarket head unit – Kenwood, JVC and XAV
• Garmin Navigation Device
• ECX, ESX, HCX and HSK speakers and sub-woofers
• HCP amplifiers
• Child Seat
• Gear Lock

Source: http://www.motorbeam.com/2015/11/car...list-revealed/

[WRXXX]

Prospective Zeta and Delta owners would be already aware that this render of the YRA by an artist is what swept the net and at least made me and lot others out there to wait for it! So it is possible to make this car look nice even without the projectors, all you need is a nice set of alloys and bit of chrome at the right places I suppose.