Team-BHP - The Baleno Makeover

^^ Truth to be told, we too felt that the end can looked like a sore thumb at this stage. Considered (and the option is not ruled out) putting a dummy end can on the other side to balance it out. Shifting it to the left, a fin space, was not too good an idea given the nature of the linkages to the body, and the owner also didnt want to disturb the expansion chamber / can set up after spending decent money to get this system installed.

If the position of the can was to be changed, we would have considered a custom exhaust pipe liner in the centre. Dropped that idea for the same reason of not wanting to disturb the tuned exhaust system.

However at the end of the day the singleton also started looking good once the painting stage was reached. And we still have kept the option open to add the dummy on the other side.

The drama starts to heighten when the front bumper with the putty work is mated to the new nose of the car.The interesting looking side vents are not really vents at all.

The putty work also covers the other parts of the car. The white mono tone starts bringing out the rear face of the car a lot more clearly. With a bit of imagination one can now perceive the dramatic difference from the stock Baleno's rear. The next dramatic change opportunity comes with painting and the lights.

The car is now adorned with a Jaguaresque coke bottle shape. It may already be apparent that the 'wild' rear with it's diffuser fins is matched in spirit by the muscular bonnet bulge up front.

With mildly enhanced wheel arches which will complement the future bigger footwear play their part in making the car look bigger and more muscular that the stock Baleno which ICEMAN was more or less earlier.

Ramesh - I am speechless man!!! The front looks incredibly wicked. I wish you had a got a picture from head-on. Are you using Mitsubishi headlight casings? Looks very Evo-esque. The hood lip overhang looks a bit weird from the front angle you have taken, but I'm assuming a wicked black mesh grill up-front is going to take care of that. Or are you going to go the Mustang way, with smaller headlamps near the front grills? Please tell me racing stripes are going to find their way onto this car...

I am so incredibly impatient on this thread - I need to see how this turns out pronto!!!

@ Anarchy83, thankyou, and yes the front nose with it's dramatic bulge does get a full frontal snap later on down the line on this thread. Well when you see it from another angle it is quite different from the EVO or the mustang look.
The headlights are not a Mitsubishi's nor are they like the Mustang :)
The Grille mesh is stainless steel and is set quite deep inside and the bumpers are prominently sculpted.
The intended use of the car by the owner is for work and play so we opted for a restrained but elegant look in the interest of suitable street cred..so no racing stripes. However I must add that after seeing the car post painting, Racing stripes could look quite at home here.

@infotech58 thankyou, and I must reiterate that it does not really have an EVO look as you shall see further on. The colour choice by this stage had narrowed down to
- Black
- Metallic Navy Blue
- Ferrari Red
The headlights are an aftermaket version of the Civic Gen 5 actually. And even this does not show through fully as I wanted narrow eyes (headlight openings) with an assertive look to go with the muscular bonnet and wheel arches.

Another angle of the front shot now with the bumper on indicates the final look from the front minus the grille/ decals, headlights and DRLs...

Just to give it a slight custom twist, a couple of 'teeth like canine tips' were added onto the central bumper bar. A bit of fun remembering the bat mobile. It is amazing how much of the difference the headlights and grille can make to the overall front face.

The first stage of painting is the base coat. The final body surfaces are becoming apparent here. The front nose looks dramatically longer than it actually is. Maximum a couple of inches ahead of the old bumper though the bonnet is quite a bit longer. As can be noticed here the glass opening (DLO) looks smaller here giving the car that sporty hunkered down ready to sprint look adding speed to the design.

The rear bumper gets it's base coat too. The undertray fins can be clearly seen here along with the numberplate box. Again the next level of drama happens during the application of the paint scheme - which as I mentioned earlier is more towards restrain and elegance rather than outright loud, given that this is an aggresive overhaul to the styling design that the Baleno starts off with.

Hey Rudra, so nice to connect with you after ages - Hope you are well. After sitting in your black beauty the Amby (any more updates on it?) and the elegant black Optra, I can understand where you are coming from when it comes to elegance and restrain in design.

However after seeing the car post painting I can say that we'd have it no other way. A good paint combination can work wonders in subduing or highlighting various elements and the fins have been purposefully subdued to a nice visual texture on the rear face.

As regards following a this thread without making comments, I see a marked difference between when people were following the Logan makeover thread and this one. Many seem to be quietly observing and not saying anything. We all felt the vehicle came out a notch higher than the Logan project but the thread seems poorly viewed. Was a joy to have so many people participating in that thread - was also encouraging. Was enthused to present the pics but here at times it feels like people are not so interested or are a lot more busy now.Anyways it is nice to have people participating and I'd wish there'd be more of it on this thread too :)

One more thing about the vertical fins - I wanted to purposefully move it away from an affable but anonymous design to something that looks 'custom' and yet not too loud. These fins are bold, too bold at the moment but the answers will reveal themselves...

@raj_5004 Thankyou, actually the rear undertray detailing (which is loud) has been intentionally made OTT for now, to balance out the rest of the plain and simple upper rear face with round lights. We wondered too at this point but stuck with out gut feeling. 'We' meaning the owner(a friend) and I. we found it working out just right post painting.

The sculpting of that plain number plate free surface is what brings out the drama as it reflects the road markings when the car passes you by. This is because the spoiler lip is angled downwards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.K.Ramesh (Post 2595234)

I see what you mean about the front being markedly different...this is turning out quite good. I do not understand why the fins are getting negative reviews. As far as I'm concerned, I think the fins complete the look. What I mean is, you cannot have the bulging hood and the extra mean front grill with the "angry eyes" headlight look without integrating some form of balance at the rear as well. A plain rear bumper would make this project look a bit "under-powered". Of course, I'm also suggesting balancing the end-cans. A single would not do at all - in fact it might look like something is missing.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the standard "block" design at the rear bumper. The one you guys are doing gives it quite an interesting look - but then again, this is my opinion, as others are entitled to theirs. Kudos bro - I'm eagerly waiting for this thread to be completed. Rest assured, I'm checking your thread nearly everyday...though I might not comment all the time.