Greetings from the Netherlands!

Paxcon · 28th September 2020, 04:17

Hello!

I've found this forum through some searching on google for my car. I found it to be friendly place to chat and learn one or two things about cars. Having been a master mechanic (roughly translated) for a couple of years and having owned a 200SX and currently a baleno on which i do all the work myself, i decided to sign up to learn and share knowledge.

My current car is a 1999 Baleno 1.8 GTX. This is probably a model that wasn't sold in your regions, at least not in this spec. It has the J18A engine couple to a 4sp A/T transmission. It also has SSCS, the suzuki suspension control system. It has roughly 180k (km) on the clock and everything works flawlessly. The only thing i'd say is a downside is fuel consumption. She's thirsty.

I'd love to learn more about this engine and transmission. I've already learned that these engines tend to react nicely to in and exhaust mods, so a decent CAI (not the crappy warm air intakes you see alot!)and somewhat more freeflowing exhaust should do wonders. I've seen a baleno gti (same engine) pushing 140hp on the dyno with those mods, that is without tampering with the ECU. Stock, so mine, is 120HP.

As far as my car goes, the engine is strong, smooth and silent. I'm actually very impressed by it. The A/T transmission works better than expected, but the shift points suck. It shifts too early when you're flooring it, making it ''drop dead'' for a moment when it shifts. Since the j18 delivers its power mostly in the upper rev range, this is in ''issue'' and i would love to tweak it.

Furthermore, i wish anyone who reads this a good day and lots of safe miles.

Pax.

SPIKE ARRESTOR · 28th September 2020, 10:04

Welcome Pax, good to have you here. Apart from things automobile, do share with us sometime about life and things in the Netherlands.

I lived some time in Aachen and used to travel to Den Haag, Leiden often with friends. Have lovely memories from your country, especially the sea food. Every Sunday's, when all shops used to close in Germany, we used to walk down to the border town in Vaals for shopping.

See you around !

Spike

haisaikat · 28th September 2020, 10:54

Welcome to the forum Paxcon. Netherlands is a very beautiful country, as I recall from my work related visits to Rotterdam and Amsterdam during the autumn of 2007, yes it was W-A-Y back. The fall colors around were stunning.

My father (he is no more), used to work for Philips India and we had plethora of Philips devices in our home, the same reason why I wanted to visit Eindhoven to see the Philips Research headquarters but time did not permit.

The Suzuki Baleno sedan was sold in India for a few years starting from 1999 along with a not so popular wagon version. The sedan was a great one and well ahead of its time in features but the powertrain was 1.6 litres petrol coupled with a 5 speed manual transmission. One of my relatives who purchased the car in early 2000 sold it only 2 years backs, it was such a great machine to own, only let down by the cost of spares in the last 10 years due to imports.

Jeroen · 28th September 2020, 11:30

Hi, welcome to the Netherlands, good to see another forum member living in the Netherlands!

Jeroen

gtonsing · 28th September 2020, 13:31

Welcome to the forum! Do share more about your lovely country. I have a friend who has adopted your country too!
The Baleno sedan was probably on of the best cars that came out of the Maruti - Suzuki plants. It was fast(-er) than other cars at that time, drives like a dream. It was my dream car then. Unfortunately the later avatars of the same car never lived upto its name.

the_real_slager · 29th September 2020, 18:13

Hello Paxcon,

Welcome to the forum. I live in Antwerp and my partner is from Tilburg. We have family across Holland and we spend most of the time there.

See you Around.

BlackPearl · 29th September 2020, 19:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paxcon

My current car is a 1999 Baleno 1.8 GTX. This is probably a model that wasn't sold in your regions, at least not in this spec. It has the J18A engine couple to a 4sp A/T transmission. It also has SSCS, the suzuki suspension control system. It has roughly 180k (km) on the clock and everything works flawlessly. The only thing i'd say is a downside is fuel consumption. She's thirsty
....
Furthermore, i wish anyone who reads this a good day and lots of safe miles.

Pax.

Welcome to the forum Pax! You are right, the Baleno 1.8 was not sold in India. I had a 2005 Baleno 1.6 LXi for 3 years and it was a fantastic vehicle. I still miss it. I had installed headers and free flow exhaust from Elektra performance and it was really good. The performance was visibly better and it sounded great.

Here is a small video taken by another Bhpian in one of the meets -

https://youtu.be/Wv4cFM0ovhA

I had put up an ownership thread on Team-Bhp, but I am afraid that it was not very informative. The link to the thread -

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...0-000-kms.html (Baleno 50000 Km in 3 Years 2 Months - Review (Now clocked 50,000 kms))

Sorry to hijack your thread, but could not resist to post a few pictures of my beauty. Hope to see some pictures of your car as well.

28th September 2020, 04:17	#1
Paxcon Newbie Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Velp Posts: 2 Thanked: 12 Times	Greetings from the Netherlands! Hello! I've found this forum through some searching on google for my car. I found it to be friendly place to chat and learn one or two things about cars. Having been a master mechanic (roughly translated) for a couple of years and having owned a 200SX and currently a baleno on which i do all the work myself, i decided to sign up to learn and share knowledge. My current car is a 1999 Baleno 1.8 GTX. This is probably a model that wasn't sold in your regions, at least not in this spec. It has the J18A engine couple to a 4sp A/T transmission. It also has SSCS, the suzuki suspension control system. It has roughly 180k (km) on the clock and everything works flawlessly. The only thing i'd say is a downside is fuel consumption. She's thirsty. I'd love to learn more about this engine and transmission. I've already learned that these engines tend to react nicely to in and exhaust mods, so a decent CAI (not the crappy warm air intakes you see alot!)and somewhat more freeflowing exhaust should do wonders. I've seen a baleno gti (same engine) pushing 140hp on the dyno with those mods, that is without tampering with the ECU. Stock, so mine, is 120HP. As far as my car goes, the engine is strong, smooth and silent. I'm actually very impressed by it. The A/T transmission works better than expected, but the shift points suck. It shifts too early when you're flooring it, making it ''drop dead'' for a moment when it shifts. Since the j18 delivers its power mostly in the upper rev range, this is in ''issue'' and i would love to tweak it. Furthermore, i wish anyone who reads this a good day and lots of safe miles. Pax.
	(12) Thanks

28th September 2020, 10:04	#2
SPIKE ARRESTOR Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 2,854 Thanked: 1,532 Times	Re: Greetings from the Netherlands! Welcome Pax, good to have you here. Apart from things automobile, do share with us sometime about life and things in the Netherlands. I lived some time in Aachen and used to travel to Den Haag, Leiden often with friends. Have lovely memories from your country, especially the sea food. Every Sunday's, when all shops used to close in Germany, we used to walk down to the border town in Vaals for shopping. See you around ! Spike
	(2) Thanks

28th September 2020, 10:54	#3
haisaikat BHPian Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Kolkata Posts: 981 Thanked: 4,748 Times View My Garage	Re: Greetings from the Netherlands! Welcome to the forum Paxcon. Netherlands is a very beautiful country, as I recall from my work related visits to Rotterdam and Amsterdam during the autumn of 2007, yes it was W-A-Y back. The fall colors around were stunning. My father (he is no more), used to work for Philips India and we had plethora of Philips devices in our home, the same reason why I wanted to visit Eindhoven to see the Philips Research headquarters but time did not permit. The Suzuki Baleno sedan was sold in India for a few years starting from 1999 along with a not so popular wagon version. The sedan was a great one and well ahead of its time in features but the powertrain was 1.6 litres petrol coupled with a 5 speed manual transmission. One of my relatives who purchased the car in early 2000 sold it only 2 years backs, it was such a great machine to own, only let down by the cost of spares in the last 10 years due to imports. Last edited by haisaikat : 28th September 2020 at 10:55.
	(1) Thanks

28th September 2020, 11:30	#4
Jeroen Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Delhi Posts: 8,101 Thanked: 50,872 Times View My Garage	Re: Greetings from the Netherlands! Hi, welcome to the Netherlands, good to see another forum member living in the Netherlands! Jeroen
	(2) Thanks

28th September 2020, 13:31	#5
gtonsing BHPian Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 484 Thanked: 268 Times	Re: Greetings from the Netherlands! Welcome to the forum! Do share more about your lovely country. I have a friend who has adopted your country too! The Baleno sedan was probably on of the best cars that came out of the Maruti - Suzuki plants. It was fast(-er) than other cars at that time, drives like a dream. It was my dream car then. Unfortunately the later avatars of the same car never lived upto its name.
	(1) Thanks

29th September 2020, 18:13	#6
the_real_slager Newbie Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Ravels/Goirle Posts: 23 Thanked: 101 Times	Re: Greetings from the Netherlands! Hello Paxcon, Welcome to the forum. I live in Antwerp and my partner is from Tilburg. We have family across Holland and we spend most of the time there. See you Around.
	(1) Thanks