[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

My mantra is simple now : Unless you're buying an exotic, expensive car, petrols are not worth it. Get a diesel. Your mind as well as heart will be happy.

Looks like you've not driven a good turbo petrol. A remapped Polo TSI or Abarth will run circles around any diesel you can buy in that segment or even the segment above.

The same is true in the premium segment. There's the BMW 2 liter turbo, the Ecoboosts in the Jaguars, the 306 HP twin charged Volvo S60.

If you go to the performance segment of 3 liter+ engines, the performance gap gets even bigger.

[navdeep.rana]

Really didn't liked what they did to the alloys. I mean, they were already not very good looking. So instead of improving them, what Maruti did is paint them with PlastiDip or something?

And with the new Swift coming, I think it would be a no no for many customers.

[Prodigy07]

I still can't digest the fact that Baleno RS comes with Rear Chrome spoiler on the boot and Chrome door handles.

Why didn't Maruti think of Blackening the spoiler and providing Body colour door handles?

For the additional 1.5 lacs they could have provided leather seats and added illuminated door sills too!

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by GTO

Out of curiosity, which is the other engine you rank highly?

Honda 1.2 ivtec.

Good point. But I'd be wary of turbo-lag. Any remap for more power will bring lag to this small 1.0L...something I hate. You really have to live with a car suffering from poor low end torque (e.g. the Civic) to know what it's like. I spent a lot of time & effort improving <2,000 rpm power delivery (RaceDynamics, intake, exhaust); don't think I'd ever get a mod that does the opposite.

True. But if the Boosterjet has an electronically controlled wastegte (im not sure if it has) the low end can also be fixed to some extent. Thats the advantage of turbo petrols with ecu controlled boost. If not there's manual boost controller which is inexpensive.

In a normally aspirated engine so there is a limit what a chip or remap can achieve on stock hardware, even with minor external breathing mods.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Sankar

True. But if the Boosterjet has an electronically controlled wastegte (im not sure if it has) the low end can also be fixed to some extent. Thats the advantage of turbo petrols with ecu controlled boost. If not there's manual boost controller which is inexpensive.

Yes, the mod potential of 1.0 booster jet is obviously more than 1.2 NA petrol, unless you go all out with forced induction which is too expensive.

Regarding remap, we are not sure which ECU the car has. I checked the vehicle compatibility lists of leading ECU remap tool manufacturers and Baleno 1.0 booster jet is not listed. I guess it would take some months to crack the protocol etc.

[raichoudhury]

Contrary to the advise of a number of stalwarts, today I took delivery of the Baleno RS.

The initial impressions are really good and hope it would actually as a perfect foil for my Black Jetta (read white elephant). Expecting Peace of mind for the next few years!

Will try to put up a detailed review soon

[d3mon]

I went to take a test drive of the RS today. Mostly because I had a free morning with not much to do.

To be honest, I went in with zero expectations. I was totally prepared for a lackluster engine, marred even further by loads of turbo lag. But boy, was I in for a surprise!

To begin with, the engine is quite peppy even under 1500 RPM - and starts pulling rapidly post that 1500 RPM mark. And then continues to pull all the way to the redline. The redline, BTW, is very irritating and arrives out of nowhere - As soon as the torque barely starts to drop off, you suddenly get your fuel cut off from your injectors, and the car does a very primitive power on-off on-off transition as the rev needle bounces off the redline over and over again. Maybe you'll get used to it in some time.

I even slowed down on purpose in 4th gear and tried to accelerate - even under 1500 RPM, it had plenty of pull and once past that, it seemed effortless.

So while it may have a million flaws (cough, price, cough), the engine and tranny combo, especially with its low weight isn't one of them. And it will end up surprising a few folks, even on a hot summer day, in its detuned form.

[Dr.Naren]

@d3mon : The performance is not at all bad. But when you drive 1.2 NA Baleno and 1.0 booster jet back to back, there is not much difference to excite the driver. 1.0 Booster jet feels like slightly more powerful NA petrol and that turbo petrol fun is missing.

[bhphog]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Looks like you've not driven a good turbo petrol. A remapped Polo TSI or Abarth will run circles around any diesel you can buy in that segment or even the segment above.

Sorry but I beg to differ.

A good turbo diesel is as good as a turbo petrol.
A Figo 1.5 Diesel, which is no where as race spec'd as an Abarth, is only a quater of a second slower to the Abarth in any track.
The S-Cross 1.6 is another diesel monster.

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but isn't the Figo 1.5 the fastest car under 10 lakhs OTR?



Shed some light, guru.

[chncar]

Originally Posted by bhphog

Sorry but I beg to differ.

A good turbo diesel is as good as a turbo petrol.
A Figo 1.5 Diesel, which is no where as race spec'd as an Abarth, is only a quater of a second slower to the Abarth in any track.
The S-Cross 1.6 is another diesel monster.

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but isn't the Figo 1.5 the fastest car under 10 lakhs OTR?



Shed some light, guru.

I think the reference is not to 0-100 numbers but to the general 'feel' of the engine and the driving experience.

I drive a diesel car myself, and while it is better than the underpowered petrol alternatives, it is a utilitarian engine that is no patch on a powerful petrol engine - either a larger NA engine or a good turbo petrol like the Fiat or VW.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by bhphog

Sorry but I beg to differ.

A good turbo diesel is as good as a turbo petrol.
A Figo 1.5 Diesel, which is no where as race spec'd as an Abarth, is only a quater of a second slower to the Abarth in any track.
The S-Cross 1.6 is another diesel monster.

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but isn't the Figo 1.5 the fastest car under 10 lakhs OTR?

Performance figures on paper convey little in terms of actual experience of driving the car.

There are explosive diesel cars out there, like the Jetta / Octavia, Cruze, S-Cross 1.6 and even the Figo. And whilst they are incredibly quick off the mark, they are best left cruising at 120 km/h on highways - munching miles and sipping fuel. In the real world, these cars don't enjoy being revved, and tend to get gravelly and coarse beyond 3.5k revs.

On the other hand, petrol engines, whether small-capacity turbos or larger naturally aspirated engines love being revved, the latter even more so. For instance, I routinely rev my Polo to 5k / 6k RPM but i would never do that in a diesel car.

It's all about your priorities at the end of the day.

[shibujp]

I find it odd that there is not a single official road test review out yet from any forums or magazines. Is it that Maruti is not making vehicles available for such tests or just that they are still being compiled.

While track tests are good as an initial indicator only a road test would convey how good the car is in real road conditions.

Initial reviews are confusing with some indicating good in gear acceleration and some not finding much of a difference between the RS and the standard 1.2. To me I would look at in gear acceleration figures rather than flat out numbers. If they are anywhere near that of the 1.6 TDI VWs I will be a happy camper.
Drive on,
Shibu.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by bhphog

Sorry but I beg to differ.

A good turbo diesel is as good as a turbo petrol.
A Figo 1.5 Diesel, which is no where as race spec'd as an Abarth, is only a quater of a second slower to the Abarth in any track.
The S-Cross 1.6 is another diesel monster.

Correct me, if I'm wrong, but isn't the Figo 1.5 the fastest car under 10 lakhs OTR?



Shed some light, guru.

The numbers in that OD review are highly suspect. In the autocar review done on MMST, the Polo was 3.5s faster (2:16 vs 2:19.5) than the Diesel Figo.

However its a moot point. Paper figures are one thing and real world experiences are another. In the real world, the polo will be faster in a straight line (9.7s vs 10.3s) and also will be much quicker in the gears due to the lightning fast DSG. Try driving both back to back and then say that the Figo is faster .

[H_Dogg72]

Power figures don't speak everything. Even if they are the same, the means of delivery is different in diesels and turbo petrols. They are very different to drive. Drive a 1.5tdi and then a 1.2 tsi. Low speed behaviour and redline experience is all different.
I would not be buying a diesel car after having experienced the TSI.
UNLESS the diesel is the only powerful version, eg A4 with a bad 1.4 petrol (then again, I won't buy the damn thing in the first place )

[techieaditya]

Its amazing to see maruti trying really hard to please the enthusiasts with their engine offerings, and it has somewhat worked for the S-cross with their 1.6L option. But for Baleno, I feel that maruti should also focus on improving the overall build quality of the car. The steel feels paper thin and I have seen too many balenos with deformation somewhere or the other, which kind of is a big question mark on the quality department. I have also seen many friends kick out baleno out of their list of prospective cars only because of its pathetic build quality.