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As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, I am facing the exact issue after 2nd service. During the service, the wheels were rotated but WA and WB were not done.
Strangely off late, I feel the steering becoming ridiculously light, all of a sudden, at 110-120 kmph range and I have no control whatsoever on the car. I lose confidence at this point. Really not sure whether I can attribute this behavior also to WA and WB. Experts can help me, please.

5k km on the odo and a 9 lakh rupee car behaves like this.:Frustrati
Just to reiterate, this was not the case before the wheel rotation.

I always make sure that alignment and balancing are done every time when tires are rotated. Generally, prefer doing this from outside shops than trusting ASS. Take the car to a tire expert and get it checked and remember to check the air pressure regularly.

Just 5k on odometer, it’s still a virgin and a peppy car to drive :)

If the feeling of lightness is only at the centre position which requires constant input from you in a straight-line but is ok in the corners, then it is not the case of wheel rotation gone wrong or wheel balancing and alignment not done, it is the actual way in which the steering of the Baleno behaves which has now come to its own after the 2nd service and 5k km mark.

I faced the same thing on my swift and as a remedial measure I tried everything anybody can think of, WA, WB, WR, including upgrading to Bridgestone AR20 tyres with an upsize, re-calibration of the steering. Nothing worked to completely eradicate the problem but it all contributed to make the car hold its line at high speeds with constant inputs from me.please:

Nonetheless, if the problem with your Baleno is more serious than just the dead centre, then you must get it checked as per the suggestions of the experts.

Planning to change the Apollo Alnacs to switch to softer tyres. Tyre size is 195/55/R16. Do not intend to change size. Please suggest options. Michelin does not have the size. Bridgestone has B290 but it is also available for budget cars 145 mm onwards so not very sure how comfortable it might be.

Do have a look at Continental tires. My friend recently changed his Punto's tires to continentals(probably the same size as yours), and he is very happy with his choice.

Regards,
Shashi

I have them on my Alto. They are medium hard compound. Steering weighed up significantly post the tyre change from JK Tyres to B290. Good for handling, long lasting and the tyre does survive some serious thrashing. But, do not expect an improvement in ride quality.

If you are looking to improve the ride quality, I would not suggest anything beyond Michelin XM1, Yokohama Earth1 or Apollo Alnac.

I would suggest Continental MC5. I swapped them on my Ritz last week and have driven close to 200kms. I find them really good.

And, its available in 195/55 R16 too :)

So, the Premium Urban Blue shade on Baleno & S-Cross.



And, that's the front view :)

It does sound like the infamous dead centre of maruti steering. Its the same case in almost all maruti steering. Its there in the swift as well. The steering suddenly feels light once you cross the stated speed and the confidence does drop for someone who's new to the vehicle

For once, check the Air Pressure too. If already set to recommended number, reduce that by 1 or 2 and try it out.

If you are only witnessing this "off late" as you mention, it's something else and not just the steering.

After much research I have zeroed down the baleno Zeta petrol and figo aspire diesel (trend). Though two have different characteristics I want opinion from fellow owners on the below points:

1. How is the rear seating comfort. This is very important as it will be occupied by my mom, wife and 2 year old daughter. Added to that we have some worst roads at our location.

2. How is the car aging ? Rattles, squeaks ?

I can think of these two right now which are very important evaluators.

Please suggest

I swapped my Apollo Alnacs with Michelin Primacy 195/60/R16. It has made a whole world of difference. Wonder why I took my car out of the showroom without the switch and why I was driving on the Apollos for 3 months. Very satisfied with the switch.

The cars you have selected seem to be the best in that price range. I too had finalized these same cars in December 2016 post which I bought the Baleno.

1. Rear seat comfort is good in both the cars. The Aspire's seat is a bit wider & more supportive. While the Baleno scores on better knee room.

2. Baleno is from Maruti, so I expect rattles to appear over period of time. While the Aspire will mask those, if you consider build quality, the Aspire is better then Baleno.

So, both are equally good, but the conclusion is very simple. If you want a Petrol car, Baleno is the one you should opt for. If Diesel, Aspire is the best choice.

Friends, Thanks for all the inputs and insights.
Got the WB and WA done at MASS yesterday and drove the car today to test it. I can feel the difference and in a good way too. Vibrations are gone and the car feels more planted at legal speeds just to the north of 100kmph. I regret my decision of not going for WA/WB as at MASS as soon as the wheel rotation was done :Frustrati

Interesting thing here. I had experienced this "no control" drive on the infamous NICE road ( I am sure you would know of a separate thread here in our forum on the NICE road engineering), during my commute to office in last 2-3 weeks.

Incidentally today, part of the NICE road is being relaid and that part of the road is really fresh without any bumps or potholes. The car, driven today after WA/WB on these road, held up very nicely without a hint of bumpiness which had bothered me earlier.clap: . Not sure what caused the problem in car earlier- if it was the wheel balancing issue or the NICE road itself.


The standard tyre size is 195/55R16 if I remember correctly. 5% increase would result in ~19 mm increase in the side wall profile. Overall height of the tyre would raise by ~4 cm. Wonder what effect it would have on the overall performance. If experts could throw some light on this topic. Kindly correct me if I am wrong.