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-   -   Maruti Baleno : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/171209-maruti-baleno-official-review-86.html)

Hey Debajyoti, I am not an expert on the Baleno variants, I am assuming that Alpha is the top variant and this one is with the chrome part wrapped in black.

Personally, I hate the Chrome decors in the front and rear on the top variant and this treatment is probably the best way to camouflage the shiny bit!!

If you zoom in, you could see the sensor of Auto dimming IRVM, so it might be an Alpha.
Better confirmation would be to check Request sensors on door handles or Blinkers on Mirrors !!

PS :If the masked vehicle registration number is available, Check vehicle details at https://parivahan.gov.in

Yup. It has to be the Alpha variant. On looking closely, you can see the rear seat headrests and rear wiper as well which confirms that it is the Alpha variant. Looks like someone swapped the front grill with a Sigma owner. How i wish those sweet looking projectors and DRL's were available as an official accessory for the lower variants.

Yes it is indeed the Alpha variant, the owner swapped the grill at an authorized service center. Sadly there is no way to get those projectors on lower variants. Plan B: smoked headlamps of the Dzire in the Baleno lower variants? stupid:

Had some time to kill this morning so decided to go test drive the 1.2 MT and the Figo/Aspire 1.5 DCT, both showrooms being almost next to each other. Since I took almost the same exact test route I thought it would be a good comparison to post.

1. I felt the Baleno had better shut lines than the Aspire, and the doors closed with a firmer thud.
2. On the metal thickness test, I gently pressed the door and roof of both and felt both gave quite a bit compared to my 2005 Swift.
3. I felt the quality and texture of the plastics on the Baleno were better than the Aspire. I just hated the color of the beige on the Aspire, but it seems the Figo comes with an all black interior which I found far nicer.
4.The instrument cluster is a no contest, the Baleno looks nicer and is easier to read. The Aspires was just too small.
5. I felt the quality of the action of the stalks on both to be inferior to my Swift. They just didn't feel as crisp.
6. AC's on both cooled about the same rate. I felt the Aspires fan to be a bit louder than the Baleno's.
7. Found a nice comfortable driving position in both without any trouble. If it had been an issue it would have registered, but since it didn't they both must have been ok.
8. I forgot to get into the back seat of the Aspire, but the Baleno is huge compared to my Swift.
9.Both steerings are significantly lighter than my Swift, but I found I enjoyed the Baleno's
slightly more. It just seemed more accurate to me.
10. The ride on the Baleno was surprisingly plush and level compared to the Aspire (I have a feeling air pressure was the culprit) because I got significant cowl shake when going over a bad patch of road. The Aspire just felt nervous going over expansion joints.
11. I am going to compare the drivability/throttle response of both compared to my petrol Swift, as my brain is wired to the reaction/acceleration I get when I press down a certain amount with the right foot.
Aspire: I found I had to modulate the accelerator very very gently from a stop start if I wanted to get a smooth take-off. If I pressed even a tiny bit harder the car would lunge and then pull back, which could get scary for some novice drivers. I don't know if this a common problem but found it in the TD vehicle that had done about 11K. On the move the gearbox was nice and seamless, but this is not an engine that likes to be hurried. Throttle response was poor compared to my Swift.
Baleno: I found the 1.2 surprisingly peppy and actually enjoyed pushing it. Throttle response was better than the Aspire, but still not as good as my Swift. Bottom end is a little weak. Engine sounds sweeter than the Aspire's under acceleration.

Overall I found the Baleno a much nicer car to drive and am looking forward to TDing the RS when it's launched.

On a side note, while waiting for the TD car I was watching the staff prepare a Baleno for delivery (Pratham Nexa). I can't tell you how many people went over the car inside and out to make sure it was perfect for delivery which was nice to see.

Cheers.

I have a Delta petrol Baleno.
A thing that I have noticed is that the Baleno has virtually no self straightening of the front wheels while coming out of a turn - the castor effect - as compared to my Esteem.
As a result, I have to consciously turn the steering to the center position.
Have other esteemed members also noticed this or is it just my car with this issue?

Which year esteem did you use before? Older esteems used to come with hydraulic steering with very good road feedback. None of the electronic steering models are comparable to that. Regardless, you can try a wheel alignment if there's zero return of the steering

What milage does the Baleno Zeta CVT give? City & Highway?
I have booked one. The waiting continues.

Thanks in advance!

Zeta mileage should be same as Delta cvt.
12.5 in city
14 highway

Thanks for the double reassurances. First for the car itself and secondly for the show room, as I am going to take delivery from Pratham Nexa in a fortnight or so. It is heartening to hear from you that they are taking good care of the customers.

Mod Note : Please quote ONLY the relevant bits of a post. Quoting a full, long post inconveniences our mobile readers.

Thanks!

A 1997 model Esteem, no power steering!
But I found it a joy to drive because of great ergonomics.
The snappy self centering of the steering made it very easy to manoeuvre through traffic.
Thanks for your suggestion, evidently you do experience self centering in your Baleno.

Hi!
We have a non power steering 2004 model WagonR and an EPS equipped 2014 model Swift.
What I can feel is that our WagonR has a very aggressive self centering steering as compared to the Swift.
It's still present in the Swift though but happens in a very slow and gradual way.

You can test drive another Baleno and compare with your car to rule out any mechanical problem or show it to Maruti but my guess is non power steering equipped car will be more aggressive in self centering as compared with EPS equipped ones.

Yes; I noticed the same with my Baleno when I bought it. It had very minimal self-centering. Over time, I have now grown used to it and do not notice it until I drive another car. Other Baleno owners have also reported their observations within this forum and others. It was also reported on a few media reviews - I could retrieve this one from The Hindu (refer last sentence on fourth paragraph from end of article):
" the steering doesn't return to the centre position, and hence you have to turn it back yourself."
http://www.thehindu.com/features/met...cle7866647.ece.

I got my Baleno Delta Silver Petrol on the 31st of December 2015. Had booked it on around 1st of November and got it within a period of 2 months from Sai Services, Lower Parel Mumbai. Yesterday after almost 7 and a half months of usage I have clocked 10,000 kms and would like to share my experiences of using the vehicle. Hopefully this might help people in some way or the other.

What I liked

• Very refined engine. No vibrations in the body while idling and silent crusing in at till 80kmph. The engine is so silent that I have had a valet and a Service Centre guy hit the self while the car was still running. Make sure to turn off the engine before handing over the car keys to somebody, they will surely crank it on while its still running
• Engine!!! The petrol engine is outstanding with amazing fuel efficiency, refinement and the sound. Take the car above 4000 RPM and you can here the sound which is soothing to the ears.
• Good driving dynamics, I have thrown it across nasty bends at speeds and it can take them with grin on its face as well as mine.
• Loads of space. I have had 3 six-footers sit in the vehicle ( I am 5'10") apart from me and neither of them felt cramped up.
• The dials of the Instrument cluster is very clean, very stylish and very informative. Gives me all the information I require from Distance to Empty, Average, Real time fuel efficiency.
• The factory fitted music system is actually pretty good. I listen to all genres of music ranging from EDM, to Heavy Metal to Techno to Bollywood to the classics and it handles all of them superbly. I have had people compliment me for its superb sound clarity and of course, good song collection :P
• 4 bottle holders, 2 cup holders, 2 mobile chargers. Also very easy to understand controls of the music system.
• Integrated bluetooth telephony with steering mounted controls and good voice quality of the microphone.
• I doubt many cars can beat it in terms of air-conditioning. The climate control system is amazing. I recall I asked the Sales guy that i20 has rear AC vents and Baleno does not. He replied, Sir i20 might be needing it, the Baleno does not :D . And he was true.
• Fuel efficiency. I honestly do not believe on the on-screen fuel consumption displays and I prefer the traditional tankful-tankful method. I generally travel against the traffic even during office hours also so around January February when the temperatures weren't high and I never revved it had during the running-in, I used to get around 17.1kmpl in Mumbai with AC always on. Later with summers arriving and AC compressor kicking in a lot often, the average went down to about 16.4 kmpl which I was getting consistently. With the rains and heavy traffic and engines running because of stop-and-go traffic, the fuel consumption has come down to around 15.5 which are the latest figures. It runs around 500kms for me in around 30 litres of petrol with 75% city 25% highway driving bringing the cost of fuel to around 4-4.5/- per km.
• When I bought it I had people stopping and looking at it. Loads of people giving me thumbs up and 3 instances where I was stopped on the roads and signals asking me how is the car. Now it won't happen as it's becoming common now :P
• Great windshield washer, 3 nozzles per wiper blade gives some amazing smooth wash. Add some shampoo+water and it does a great job.

What Maruti could have done better

• This waiting time is a pain. I don't think anybody going for his first car would ever wait so long for it. There are plenty of options in the market which are equally good. Such a waiting time would only be considered for those who already have a car at home and this will be the second one.
• Small glove box. Just to give you an idea, Nexa provides a leather cover for the ownerbook and manual and the dashboard fills up just with this stuff in it. Also the build quality of it is so Alto that it kind of rattles under the weight of the things kept inside it. Not always but a slight rattle is audible on jerky roads.
• Rear windshield. It's so small that had they not provided parking sensors you could never figure out if there is a bike parked behind your car.
• ORVM - The auto ORVMs open and close at different speeds :D Also they do not cover the entire area and if you are in the middle lane, you will miss out on the vehicle in the first lane about to overtake you.
• Boot loading lip. Now I frequent the airport a lot and trust me lifting 23kilo bags up till your waist to put in is a pain. Although its pretty big.
• Tyre noise creeps in quite a bit along with the air noise at high speeds. Or probably its because of the door visors that I have put which add to this effect, not sure.
• If your music is running from your phone via bluetooth and if somebody calls, then after the call is over the audio does not resume. It resumes for a second and pauses and you either have to turn it on from your phone which is a hazardous task while driving or you have to toggle through Media->AM->FM1->FM2->Media and it resumes. Don't know why is it so but its very annoying.
• Noisy suspension. Although suspensions are very good they are very noisy. So at any speed if you hit a pothole the noise is nasty making you immediately go for the brakes. Have seen similar noise in Mumbai Santro taxis which have clocked over a lakh kms. Probably better noise insulation was needed.
• I purchased this car from Nexa which is a premium dealership of Maruti, had 2 servicing done via pick up and drop service. Went for the third myself and was sitting in the waiting room with Uber cabbies and Ritz kaali peeli drivers who were busy discussing what Modi is going to do for them. I don't want to be perceived as shallow but where is the premium feel Maruti??
• Horrible horrible service centre guys. My car has a left rear door deep scratch that can only be removed via touch up and a right rear door handle paint chip, both happened at the service centre where the reckless mechanics just open doors of other vehicles without looking if it hits other vehicle or not. Thank god I got a silver, these things would have been clearly evident in a blue, red or gray shade.
• The steering was suddenly becoming super light after 120kmph. So it would weigh up properly till 120 and after that the steering became super light and it was a nightmare. Complained to Maruti directly, car was called where they said they haven't received any similar complains so the fix will be mostly a hit-and-trial thing and they did a wheel balancing of all the wheels again. Recently I tested and the problem seems to have gone. BTW the car is capable of going to around 170, I have pushed it to 160kmph and it handles it fine. I am not promoting or suggesting anybody to do it, just an fyi.

Some advices for owners and would-be owners.

• The showroom guys will push you for a Nexa card which costs 1000/-. Say no to it straightaway and no matter how hard they try to convince you don't get it. It's an absolute waste of money.
• Just get the basic accessories from the showroom. I would suggest only the mudflaps to be honest. The aftermarket has much better collection of each and everything that they offer at half the price. I foolishly got mudflaps, floor lamination, door strips, door visors from the Showroom and was robbed of around 7000/- for this. Mudflaps around 700/-, lamination around 4000/-, door strips + door visors for around 2000/- + taxes!!!!!!!!
• Get a clear coat paint over the car. Adds to the glossiness as well saves the paint from damage. I parked my car in the basement parking for over a week unused. During heavy rains, the seepage from the ceiling of the parking kept dripping on my car. One week later I was horrified to look at the damage because of that limestone + distemper water on my car. Looked everywhere for a solution, only solution visible was an attempt to use rubbing compound or waxing or else repainting. Brought lemons from market, cut them and rubbed them on the limestone deposits and washed them. And they were reduced to almost 5% of what they were originally. The shine is still there, luckily only the clear coat paint was damaged I guess.
• Before going for a service, get the service advisor to take a look at every nook and corner of the car so that post the servicing, if there are any new scratches and all, you can point it out.

Final advice for anybody going for it or planning to go for it ---- Go for it
Provided below are some pictures of the Delivery time. The car is beautiful and the lighting at the showroom makes it even more.
P.S. You can see the Door visors and Door strips present during the delivery. I feel they add some character to the vehicle.

Request inputs from my fellow BHPians with Baleno.
My Alpha Petrol has done around 500 Kms on the ODO. After about 100 kms, I started to feel a shudder or, say a sort jerk, while shifting from 1st to 2nd gear. As soon as the clutch pedal is pressed fully, before I slot the lever from 1st to 2nd, I feel an awkward jerk. This happens while moving from 2nd to 3rd as well, but with a less intensity. Nothing of this sorts in other gears.

I am also in a desperate need of a body cover for my car. Can anyone suggest on the same, whether to buy it from NEXA or online or any particular shops in Bangalore.
PS: I had bought a body cover online, from Polco for my other car GETZ, but the size of the cover they sent was incorrect. It did not fit at all.