[chandra1]

Booked Delta in ray blue in Delhi. Have been promised delivery in maximum 4 weeks. Don't know if they made false promise just to close the booking. Hoping for the best.

[Crazy_Bean]

Originally Posted by avishar

Went to check out the Baleno at Nexa Bangalore with a friend who considering an upgrade to his Santro. Posting some pics first. I will post my friend's impressions later since we TD'ed the Baleno diesel and Figo diesel back to back.

Hi avishar, Looking forward to your comparison of the Baleno and Figo Diesel. I am helping out a very close friend and she is also stuck between Figo and Baleno, both diesel.

She is looking at the Baleno alpha and Figo Titanium

Figo ++ Engine, driving feel, size (she prefers smaller size), 1 lac saved
Baleno ++ Maruti ASS, features and some more, HID lights, upmarket feel

Right now its about getting a better feeling car or a pocket rocket (I know I am exaggerating :P )
Thanks

[Jeevith]

Originally Posted by dZired

Do let me know if you are able to get your hands on the pricing of these projectors. I too will talk to the SA here.

Originally Posted by volkman10

Sorry guys, they will not offer projector lights/HID as an accessory for S Cross for its lower variants ( Sigma, Delta, Zeta). Confirmed.

Similar will be the case of Baleno too.

Hey Guys, so I booked the S-cross today (Zeta Variant) at Pratham NEXA (near St Marks Road, in Bangalore). He said the Projector head lamps can be made available and would cost me around 35k.

I did mention to the RM that I had read about this not being possible due to different wiring harness on the Alpha variant. He said that wouldn't be a problem.

Nevertheless, this is just an FYI considering I didn't opt for the Projector headlamps (35k was a little steep for my liking). So maybe Volkman's right about it not being available.

[invidious]

I booked the Alpha variant of the Baleno earlier today. Out of curiosity, asked the SA about the break-up of bookings so far -

1. Approx 25 bookings/day at this Nexa outlet
2. Most bookings in Alpha Variant
3. 15% of bookings for the CVT
4. The Blue is the most demanded color.
5. The CVT is expected for testing on Monday

He has said he will throw in some accessories. I wonder what will be on offer.

[aaggoswami]

My friend is about to buy a new car which shall also run quite a bit as he is establishing his own business.
Nexa was on our list for S-cross, but Baleno was not off the radar thanks to relatively VFM pricing.

The points related to Baleno :

1) Rear space is impressive, much more than Swift

2) Apart from being considerably more spacious, rear seat is not at all claustrophobic unlike Swift where rear passengers wont be happy after 2-3 hours.
A fortnight ago, I did a 1000+ kms. trip in my Swift ( Vadodara-Mt. Abu-Bali in Rajasthan-Vadodara ) and on second day it was a 650 kms. journey. Left Bali at 3:30 and reached A'bad at 9. Rear Passengers were very uncomfortable just after 180 km journey from Mt. Abu to Bali, they spoke after I reached Ahmedabad. My mother has seen two surgeries in left leg and she could barely walk after such long journey in Swift's rear seat. I am mentioning details to indicate that highways were not exactly bad. But still.

Baleno will be a more comfortable option in this regard over Swift.

3) Red color looks smashing and rather narrow radiator grille looks more than contemporary.

4) DRL are very bright, a nuisance in my view. We in India, atleast in Gujarat, dont need these DRL.

5) Indicator in front headlight assembly is too small, easily over-dwarfed by bright DRL.

6) Rear sags too much with load, but had similar observation for my Swift.

7) With 5 adults and rear-end sagged down, Baleno from rear looked very low-slung from my Wagon R.

8) Boot is huge!

9) Plastics,etc. could be better and somehow I feel the dash could have been more creative and have used available space more wisely.

10) Dashboard is not as high-set as Swift, and as a result, front visibility is nice.

11) Petrol is very refined, and I think K12M is the best Naturally Aspirated 1.2 in the country as of now.

12) Engine bay has a lot of free space. Could house the rumored 1.5 in-house designed diesel. I think Maruti can easily put in 1.6 diesel in Baleno.

13) Build does not seem poor, specially considering the weight.

14) Hood is not super light; I expected it to be light as kerb weight is less.

15) Boot loading is very high, almost impractical if you ask me. The boot shape, however, is well designed.


Overall, its worth the money, specially considering the prices. Infact, I felt bad as just bought in Swift 3 months ago. For the price of Swift VXi ( plus I put on new Bridgestone 185-section tyres ) and a bit more, I could have had Baleno with Airbags and ABS. Baleno has what it takes to shake up small car segment. Only real concern is limited Nexa network which is heavily loaded and leading to disappointment among potential buyers.

[Distant Second]

I test drove the baleno today and here is my feedback towards the much awaited hatchback.

The exterior looks interesting. It has a large footprint. From the front can almost look like a sedan. The rear is also designed aesthetically.

The problem starts with the interiors. Even the alpha variant with all its magnificent MID cannot hide the truly weird shape of the front console and the dismal quality of plastics on the front dashboard. The current swift dash looks wayyyy better even if it is not class leading. From the inside this reminds me of the liva category honestly especially with the base trim Sigma having only a lone speedo sans rpm meter and a proper mid.

I went with a chequebook in hand to book there and then if it gets my attention as I am planning to replace the swift vdi 2008 with this car, but I really couldn't justify the flimsy plastics on the front dash, the rear door plastics and overall feel which seems less than premium I swear. These could be the deal breaker for me to not go for the Baleno and wait for the Brezza - The compact SUV from Maruti expected to be launched in 2016 Feb

[Sebring]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for the effort. Yeah, the traffic in the heart of the city takes away the joy of a beautiful test drive. Why have showrooms on busy roads I wonder, as people will certainly drive to the outskirts for a non-impulse purchase!

This color looks gorgeous in flesh. Note the traffic jam on the surrounding roads. If you are heading to Nexa St Marks road, go on a weekday.

[WRXXX]

One suggestion for people test driving from St Marks Road on weekday is to go around Malya road and take a big U from corporation circle and you will get one huge straight and then take a left in to cubbon park at the junction of kasturba road and beginning of mallya road to test car's handling through some light twisties in the park. Yes all this if you are lucky.
Another option is Nexa Mandovi which is situated right next to Airport road with numerous sweepers and straight stretches and few roundabouts to test the car.

[Satishtv]

Went to Kalyani Nexa showroom in JP Nagar to check out the Baleno today.

The crowd was humongous. I could not even get to sit in the car. The second picture shows the people waiting for test drive.

Interestingly - I looked for an RM every where and could not find an RM anywhere

Looks like the whole Nexa experience is getting lost. There is still time, Maruti should send the Baleno to the normal showrooms and bring Ciaz to the Nexa fold.

[Mad Max]

So much for that exclusive experience. I am happy that it's attracting so much attention though. It's a well designed car and I am sure it will set the charts on fire.

Regarding the reviews and experiences, one trend I saw was not many liked the interior quality. IMO, that's quite easily fixable. Even door padding / feel of plastics can be changed quite easily and more often than not, people eventually get something of their personal taste for interiors. For another 20-30k, I am sure it can be quite luxurious inside.

We can argue why Maruti put a not-so-good interior on this car but hey! the price is very attractive and I am sure they intend to keep it that way.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

We can argue why Maruti put a not-so-good interior on this car but hey! the price is very attractive and I am sure they intend to keep it that way.

+1 to that!!

Additionally I would like to point out that if one looks at the features distribution, it is evident that Maruti has opted for a practical set of features which one craves for and these are something which can't be fixed in the accessory store(like ABS,Airbags in all variants , rear wash wipe and ACC in delta and onwards). The base sigma lacks a rear power window but is loaded where safety is concerned. Delta has everything a Swift ZXi boasts of, except alloys. They had a formidable opponent to face, and at the same time provide safety features in all their variants- it is obvious they had to cut corners somewhere.
Now till the time crash test results are out, we can only hope that they haven't messed around with the structure. If the structure is also safe, I can only say-Kudos Maruti !!
We can't expect all the good things in the world. Maruti had to price it lower, and specially after the S-Cross blunder, I must say they have done an awesome job with the Baleno.

Having said that, the interior plastics will feel a lot downgrade when compared to Elite i20. But the Jazz has more or less same fit and finish. The features in the Baleno do make up for that. My only grouse is that Baleno deserved a 90ps diesel, but again there is a twist-it might have killed the already limping S-Cross.

Regards,
Shashi

[WRXXX]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

+1 to that!!

Additionally I would like to point out that if one looks at the features distribution, it is evident that Maruti has opted for a practical set of features which one craves for and these are something which can't be fixed in the accessory store(like ABS,Airbags in all variants , rear wash wipe and ACC in delta and onwards). The base sigma lacks a rear power window but is loaded where safety is concerned. Delta has everything a Swift ZXi boasts of, except alloys. They had a formidable opponent to face, and at the same time provide safety features in all their variants- it is obvious they had to cut corners somewhere.
Now till the time crash test results are out, we can only hope that they haven't messed around with the structure. If the structure is also safe, I can only say-Kudos Maruti !!
We can't expect all the good things in the world. Maruti had to price it lower, and specially after the S-Cross blunder, I must say they have done an awesome job with the Baleno

Well said.
Even the delta variant sans alloys directly competes with Swift Dzire in feature and pricing.

I have a feeling Maruti has other plans for Swifts and may equip the diesels with SHVS and feature loading them further for petrol variants going forward.

Looking at the september monthly sales data though(thanks to user @t0m) i wonder what kind of dent is expected in the next month. It is still at an amazing 18k.

I heard new swift will be built on the same Baleno platform.

[kpzen]

Had an extensive drive of the Baleno DDIS today.

Observations as below

Exterior : " Beautiful "

• Alpha projector headlamps are stunning. Works well too.
• UV tint glasses look cool.
• Paint finish seems to be a level up compared to other MSIL cars.

Drive :" Mature "

• Drivability is nice with minimal Turbo lag, almost same as Swift.
• Linear pull throughout the power band. Nothing violent though.
• There wasn't any noticeable power difference due to the weight advantage.
• Ride was nice and balanced.

Interiors : " Disappointed "

• Loaded with almost all the features you can think of in a sub 10lac car. Well done MSIL.
• NVH inside is too much, all the gizmos fail to distract me from the noise.
• Front seats are comfy and spacious, quality of fabric is far from premium.
• Dashboard design looks fresh, however, space design could have been better.
• Overall plastic quality is ordinary.
• Rear seat is not all comfortable for long journey, no grip/thigh support whatsoever, feels like sitting on a bench and its narrow for 3 people.
• Rear passengers have ample knee space even with front seats pulled back to max.
• One of the rear doors was rattling, the TD car had only done 800 kms.

Overall :

• MSIL has a winner here, Faridabad Nexa has over 190 bookings in the 1st week, of which, 95 is for alpha variant.
• But MSIL, if you are listening : Please do something about the rear seats and the fabric, its clumsy. Sort it out, you will have one more customer.
• Nexa experience was wonderful.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by kpzen

[*]But MSIL, if you are listening : Please do something about the rear seats and the fabric, its clumsy. Sort it out, you will have one more customer.[*]Nexa experience was wonderful.[/list]

I don't think the rear seats will be changed anytime soon if their love affair with those power window switches is taken as a precedent.

I puzzled here as there seems to be a tonne of legroom in both Ciaz and the Baleno, that Maruti could have easily fitted a large seat bench that is accommodating to the user's thigh.

Nice observations BTW; keeps people satisfied till the big boss arrives

Also if you are listening Maruti, please make the UV-cut glasses as accessories. It will be a boon for all who buy anything less than the Zeta. I would say, it should come standard in cars sold in our country (at least the ones starting from 5L).

Originally Posted by humyum

Off topic a little, One of the things I absolutely dislike in my Swift too. with 4 people and luggage on long trips, the rear looks sagged making the front look like its about to take off, but there is a solution to this and I am going to get it.

Doesn't it sort of happen with every car sold here but for the SUV's?

[humyum]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

6) Rear sags too much with load, but had similar observation for my Swift

Off topic a little, One of the things I absolutely dislike in my Swift too. with 4 people and luggage on long trips, the rear looks sagged making the front look like its about to take off, but there is a solution to this and I am going to get it.

Spring buffer inserts or coil spring adjusters as its called. Sits in between the springs and resists the suspension from going down on loads. GTO had done it for his Civic. Will change the rear look of the Swift and Baleno too quite a bit under load.