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View Poll Results: Petra 1.6 ELX or Baleno LXi ?
Petra 1.6 ELX 64 47.06%
Baleno LXi 72 52.94%
Voters: 136. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 30th July 2005, 17:42   #166
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imjimmy
Take Fiat global -it's going nowhere. I doubt it has a future globally, much less in India.
Frankly I'm tired hearing about Fiat shutting shop and going away. Infact whatever news we are hearing is the opposite. Infact its become like the Tata's are launching their CRDi safari

Lets wait n watch !
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Old 30th July 2005, 22:35   #167
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I agree that this thread is not adding much value now. But let me put down my thoughts on some recent comments :

1. There are quite a few Petra owners and who bought it recently, the number may not be as high as Baleno. e.g. Myself, TypeO, Sivdas, rahulmd just to think a few.
2. The sales number can't say how good a car is. Palio is clearly a winner among B segment, but it doesn't sale much. Doesn't make it bad car.
3. I am going to get much fire for this last comment, but I fail to understand how Baleno is free revving engine than Petra? (Most talked about advantage of Baleno). It only "feels" free revving, since the car is far lighter than Petra. If you put same engine in a Petra chasis, it would feel damn sluggish. So, it has more to do with the weight of the car than engine. I suspect, most assume it to be "better and more refined", simply because it is japanese and Petra engine to be not refined because it is italian. I personally find very less merit in this argument. One advantage with Baleno is that generates the torque at lower rpm, but Petra has higher absolute torque figure.
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Old 30th July 2005, 23:37   #168
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Baleno does 100kmph in 2nd gear..so thats the point about a free revving engine.....has 82 cms of rear seat legroom compared to Petra's 77, is 169 cms wide compared to Petra's 162. Is longer at 422.5 cms compared to Petra's 411.3 cms.
It is a driver's car...the car just wraps around the driver....
After driving Petra with the heavy hydraulic clutch... (the slave cylinder of which btw is prone to frequent failure)...the light foot required on the Baleno clutch somewhat more than makes up for the rubbery Baleno shifter...
all in all, Baleno is faster, more fuel efficient, wider, longer, more spacious (ok...Petra has a 400 litre boot compared to Baleno''s 356 ltr..but still I never sat there... :-) ) and has an all indepedent rear suspension compared to Petra's rear torsion bar...so rear seat ride of Baleno may be better than Petra's..
agree that Petra can swallow better crators...but then so does Mahindra CJ series....

Last edited by Buffetfan : 30th July 2005 at 23:41.
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Old 31st July 2005, 00:01   #169
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Quote:
Baleno does 100kmph in 2nd gear..so thats the point about a free revving engine
Stretching to 100 kmph in 2nd gear doesn't make engine rev happy. How much a car can do in 2nd gear is rather a function of gear ratios. And would vary depending on taller or shorter gear ratios. I have not dug data for Petra, but I am sure it would be very much comparable.

Let me not go into other details such as handling/space and Petra's solid build, safety, stability etc, since they have been chewed more often than one would like.

Quote:
all in all, Baleno is faster, more fuel efficient, wider, longer, more spacious
Faster: Hardly make any difference. 0-100 are almost the same. While Petra has higher speed. So, even in academic discussion, Petra would have edge.
Longer/wider : Yes. It is. But I am yet come across anyone who is complaining about inner space in Petra. And, Petra has 500 lt boot and not 400ltr.
Ride: if you are driving alone, Petra may be stiff on rear, but the moment you have 4+ people on board, the ride becomes a glide. Experience it and tell me. It is not for no reason that it's ride is compared with Mercs. It says a lot, doesnt it?

Quote:
agree that Petra can swallow better crators...but then so does Mahindra CJ series....
As you wish, go for Mahindra then Joke apart, I need that sort of ride for sake of Pune roads..err..potholes. I guess, All Pune members will agree on that part.

Last edited by RX135 : 31st July 2005 at 00:06.
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Old 31st July 2005, 00:02   #170
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buffetfan
Baleno does 100kmph in 2nd gear..so thats the point about a free revving engine.....
this is a very big misconception u have.it does 100 in second gear because it is geared like that.i find that the 1.6L Fiat engine is a very good performer and offers excellent shift feel(only the clutch is a little hard) and lowend torque.it also easily revs into the 5000rpm band if u push it.Performance wise both cars match each other(no one is the winner).baleno has lower output but lesser weight so it equals things out.

and yes baleno is a bigger car than the Petra because it was supposed to be positioned in a segment above the Petra(against the lancer and OHC).
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Old 31st July 2005, 00:16   #171
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Forgot to mention another myth. About Petra being Fuel guzzler and Baleno being super-efficient. Both offer same FE (I would say Petra, in fact, gives better FE based on personal experience, but then I dont own a Baleno). Both give around ~10 kmpl in city. This despite Petra being a heavier car. I get around 11, but then my route gets couple of free stretches of roads.
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Old 31st July 2005, 00:24   #172
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Please dig deeper..... Gearing is a function of driveability....if the engine is NOT revv happy...the second gear cannot be geared such that it takes regular duty @5kmph with good amount of torque on tap... and then takes the car to 100kmph...most engines run out of breath much sooner (70-90 kmph)..and cannot do these varied tasks in the same gear..... the kmph range is directly proportional to rpm in a particular gear....
I have no data from Petra apart from a 4 year old sienna 1.6 report by ACI....and hence cannot compare the revv happy nature of this engine...

Last edited by Buffetfan : 31st July 2005 at 00:26.
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Old 31st July 2005, 00:36   #173
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RX,
I am not critisizing Petra here...have used and stil own a UNO 1.2 for 5 years and driven quite a few Palios..they are more solidly built compared to Japanese vehicles....in fact coerced friends in buying Palios (three of them) when it was launched....

and you have a good A/S/S support in Pune in Ashwmegh....which BTW is non existent elsewhere. Fiat are good solid cars with gr8 highway stability...somewhat carelesly put together and serviced though...more of a manufacturing practice / servicing then a design issue....

Baleno has a handling / FE edge though....just try a hustling a Baleno with 185+ tyres through corners..and maybe you will agree with me...in fact Baleno's have been winning most of the team MRF rallies recently...

The FE of my Baleno is now generally similar compared to my Uno....(Poor lady is 5 years old though...cant blame her)

A/S/S and resale of a fiat is another big issue...and yes Fiat is in profits of ~ 200 mn this quarter but dont forget they booked, this quarter, a 400mn gain of cash paid by GM to them so that GM can bow out of the contract to buy fiat....next quarter may be another story....!!!!
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Old 31st July 2005, 10:39   #174
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I am not too worried about Fiat's A/S/S. I still own a Matiz, and don't regret Daewoo's demise (except for the resale value). Parts were never a problem.

I don't even want to get into which is a better car. Because both have strengths in different areas and depending on ones needs one can choose a car.

Two areas where the Baleno has an edge.
1. Baleno is simply a bigger car and a car belonging to the next segment. I know people who have upgraded from the likes of Ikon and Esteem to a Baleno. And Petra belongs to the Ikon segment.
2. The 'greatness' of Petra is not well communicated to the buying public because of poor marketing. And because of the current problems associated with Fiat, people will think you are a fool if you go and buy a new Petra. You might be able to convince those who ask you your reasons for choosing a Petra. But what about those who don't ask (and silently think in their mind what a fool this fellow is?)
Cars are status symbols. When you buy a 6L car, people say wow he has got a 'xxxx'. With Balenos you get more wows than with a Petra.

M
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Old 31st July 2005, 10:40   #175
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Surprise
Since you have voted for Petra, What about you first?
Ok... I guess I'll choose a s/h VTEC over both of them
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Old 31st July 2005, 13:52   #176
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Buffetfan
RX, I am not critisizing Petra here...have used and stil own a UNO 1.2 for 5 years and driven quite a few Palios..they are more solidly built compared to Japanese vehicles....in fact coerced friends in buying Palios (three of them) when it was launched....
I know you are not critisizing Petra and neither do I think that Baleno is an inferior car. In fact, till I test drove a Petra, I was almost about to pick up a Baleno. But, I feel that your opinion is slightly biased due to your experience with Uno. I can not blame you for this, but as I wrote earlier, Palio had far lesser quality issues than Uno. I agree with a/s/s part, but many times it is issue with dealer than company. I can vouch that Fiat service in Pune is absolutely top-notch. And based on your and Satish_apsani's experience, it is below par in Hyderabad.
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Old 31st July 2005, 17:05   #177
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speedsatya
except FE and ASS ,its the petra that wins in all departments.
I would disagree .. i think Petra looses out in Interiors & Looks also...

I like the looks of Palio and not Petra..
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Old 31st July 2005, 17:35   #178
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Quote:
I would disagree .. i think Petra looses out in Interiors & Looks also...

I like the looks of Palio and not Petra..
yes me too. I think the Petra looks as Paio rebadget with a boot. Palio is much better looking.

Petra,atleast from the outside does not quite give the Big Sedan Luxurious look.
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Old 1st August 2005, 11:48   #179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imjimmy
yes me too. I think the Petra looks as Paio rebadget with a boot. Palio is much better looking..
It may be, but with a better design than cars like Indigo. Petra very much looks like Skoda little Brother, I am sure many of you would agree with this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by imjimmy
Petra,atleast from the outside does not quite give the Big Sedan Luxurious look.
Because it is not a Luxurious big Sedan. still I am very happy that people are comparing it to the cars like Baleno and NHC which is said to be in C+ segment. that clearly potrays Petra merits.
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Old 20th October 2005, 21:06   #180
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Hi Guys!

I have recently joined this excellent forum.... was looking for an affordable midsized
car, so went through some reviews on mouthshut and this site. No wonder, I found
myself landed into petra-baleno dilema! (needless to say, performanace/ride/handling
matters the most to me)

I was wondering about a few things about these two cars, so thought of putting it here
in this rather big post...

- Does that all-aluminium engine of baleno contribute to lesser total weight as against
petra? How fair is it to attribute the whole difference in weight to lack of safty
in baleno (and sturdiness of petra)? I believe aluminium being much lighter than any
form of iron/steel, can make the engine more "love-to-rev" type due to lighter
moving parts(??)

- Aren't anti-roll/sway/stabilizer bars all one and the same thing? If so, I find it
surprising to hear people complaining about excessive rolling in Petra in spite of specs
claiming "stabilizer bars" on both its front and rear suspension...

- Both petra and baleno are said to be "torqey" machines, but which one is flatter, and
how much? I am seriously getting carried away by balenos power delivery in entire rmp
spectrum, especially extreme low revs. I am concerned about torque curves because good
peak power/torque numbers are practically useful only if there is consistency in the
performance across wide and usable rpm range, otherwise it is just on paper. For example,
following review on mouthshut reveals that impressive max. power of 100+ PS of
ford-fusion is achieved well ABOVE the redline!

http://www.mouthshut.com/review/Ford...n-80781-1.html

Also I have read somewhere on teambhp about over-claims about accent's power... ridiculus.
Would love to see torque curves "at wheels" as explained in my posts in an another
thread, which can be found here- (...better before making the purchase!)

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showpo...4&postcount=48 and
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showpo...3&postcount=49


- Another minor problem I noticed in petra- front visibility in the driver's seat wasn't
good, like indica...(I am average indian 5-7") Height adjustable seat would be much
better.. any thoughts? but then wish list is never ending!!
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