Baleno or Fiesta

suman · 7th April 2006, 13:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

sorry, fiesta owners - but i find the styling of the fiesta is just average and dull, whereas the stylish-ness of a mercs is in a different class altogether. its like being even more imaginative than comparing a aveo to an optra or the NHC -ZX to a civic/accord.

Goldie, I don't see any Fiesta owners making that comparison yet...??? I did see a Baleno owner making a comparison recently though.......on this forum, comparing a Black Baleno lines with a Merc!

spadival · 7th April 2006, 13:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

the car will grow on you, believe me!

What is the point of buying a car that grows on you? IMHO buy the car you like from the begining.

suman · 7th April 2006, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by spadival

What is the point of buying a car that grows on you? IMHO buy the car you like from the begining.

Have you ever felt that you like something "more" with each passing day? That is what I was talking about. FYI, I bought the car originally because I "Liked it from the beginning"

....and, I think, so did Land Cruiser....and a few others

suman · 7th April 2006, 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

<<A Ford returning more FE than a Jap ? Improbable.

Does this have anything to do with Jap and non-Jap or does it depend on the car?

Sometimes I feel that we lose objectivity and maturtiy on the forum just to drive home the "mine is better than yours" message.

We know Baleno is supposed to have better FE but is it only to do with a Jap or non-Jap? Also FYI, I've been getting 11-11.5 consistently for city driving with AC on and I think that compares pretty well with what your figures are - that too in a car I didn't buy for FE in any case and which I'm heavy footing throughout the day in city traffic. So.......unbiased opinions please!

spadival · 7th April 2006, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

the car will grow on you, believe me!

What is the point of buying a car that grows on you? IMHO buy the car you like from the begining.

prince85 · 7th April 2006, 14:21

wow, stunning! look at the margin by which the baleno is beating the fiesta. Simply stunning. The Baleno deserves every bit of it and infact more. I still feel its under-rated in this forum even though it betters the fiesta in the number of votes that it has gathered but i feel the margin by which the baleno betters the fiesta should have been much more but then thats me, call it biased or whatever else. I got my baleno on the last day of march this year. Went for a trip to goa and back. Loved it all the way. Brilliant car. Have driven the fiesta as well when i went for a test drive but i prefer the Baleno anyday.

I feel suman's outbreak to this post is on the cards

, But chill man.

Cheers

supremeBaleno · 7th April 2006, 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

Does this have anything to do with Jap and non-Jap or does it depend on the car?

Well, actually it does. Japanese cars do tend to be more FE than American cars. American cars are known to be good at certain attributes, but FE is not one of them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

Sometimes I feel that we lose objectivity and maturtiy on the forum just to drive home the "mine is better than yours" message.

Well, however much we might deny it, that feeling will still be there. We all love our respective cars and always think it is better than the competition.
But then who lost objectivity and maturity here? There was a nice unbiased review of 3 cars by venkatrx and he pointed out what was great along with what was not, for those cars. He mentioned areas where the Baleno sucked and we agree because we know it is a fact. But then we also know that FE is not its weak point and thus brought it up. What's wrong with that ? Whether you agree or not, it is a fact that a Jap car will pip an American car when it comes to FE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

I've been getting 11-11.5 consistently for city driving with AC on and I think that compares pretty well with what your figures are - that too in a car I didn't buy for FE in any case and which I'm heavy footing throughout the day in city traffic. So.......unbiased opinions please!

Even with the 11kmpl quoted by you, it still means that the Baleno at 12kmpl is atleast 9% more efficient. Even 1km makes a big difference, when we are talking per litre figures of 10-12.
If it was 2 bikes with 60 and 61 kmpl, the difference of 1km could be negligible. And BTW, my FE figures are also in similar city conditions.

venkatrx · 7th April 2006, 15:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Venkat, nice unbiased review. Just a few comments / queries.

1. Looks : Fiesta looks like a merc, what more can i say.
<<Looks like a Merc ? What do you mean by that ? Is it a compliment or don't you like the Merc's looks? I for one, find the Mercs to be stately and impressive, as far as looks go. So, if the drab-looking Fiesta is compared to a Merc, for me it is sacrilege.

>>

Fiesta's side profile is a copy of Merc C200, and so is the rear, but the width of the rear is much smaller than Merc. With little mods in the front grill you can make it look a lot more simlar to Merc...

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

<<BTW, how did the NHC and Fiesta fare when it came to city driving ?
With the Baleno, it is like driving an AT car. No need to keep changing gears every now and then. The engine does not complain even when we are at speeds of 20-25kmph in the top gears. That is one thing I love about the Baleno.>>

Yes Supreme Baleno is the easiest to drive in city i forgot to mention that you can do 20 to 80 in 3rd gear !! City/Fiesta need frequent gear change..

But i also need to mention that NHC steering though it feels artificial and light, it can be good in city traffic......and Baleno's steering with feedback is more fun at high speed driving.

supremeBaleno · 7th April 2006, 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by venkatrx

Fiesta's side profile is a copy of Merc C200, and so is the rear, but the width of the rear is much smaller than Merc.

There was a demo car at Tidel Park a week or so ago. I did go all around it to check out the looks, interiors etc - never felt any similarity to the Merc anywhere. Maybe I'll check this out more closely the next time.

suman · 7th April 2006, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Even with the 11kmpl quoted by you, it still means that the Baleno at 12kmpl is atleast 9% more efficient. Even 1km makes a big difference, when we are talking per litre figures of 10-12.

Well, thats your way of looking at it. To me, the difference between 11.5 & 12 is insignificant, more so when we are talking about the over-hyped FE of the Baleno. If it was a 11.5 to a 14 or something (for example a NHC), that would mean something but a 11.5 (or even 11 on some occasions) to a 12 - not worth mentioning if you ask me. Thats my opinion of course.......

venkatrx · 7th April 2006, 15:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

Well, thats your way of looking at it. To me, the difference between 11.5 & 12 is insignificant, more so when we are talking about the over-hyped FE of the Baleno. If it was a 11.5 to a 14 or something (for example a NHC), that would mean something but a 11.5 (or even 11 on some occasions) to a 12 - not worth mentioning if you ask me. Thats my opinion of course.......

Guys,

sometimes i wonder why a lot of us try to defend the car of choice.

but anyways its fight like these which keeps this forum interesting......great going guys

Aditya · 7th April 2006, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by venkatrx

Guys,

sometimes i wonder why a lot of us try to defend the car of choice.

but anyways its fight like these which keeps this forum interesting......great going guys

Keep it to logical arguments. Don't let things get personal.

spadival · 7th April 2006, 19:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

Have you ever felt that you like something "more" with each passing day? That is what I was talking about. FYI, I bought the car originally because I "Liked it from the beginning"

....and, I think, so did Land Cruiser....and a few others

I think you used the wrong phrase ..Growing on you means you started liking it because you have no other choice.

v1p3r · 7th April 2006, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by suman

we are talking about the over-hyped FE of the Baleno

I don't think that's the right phrase to use. I personally know of Baleno owners who get 13kmpl in city driving with the AC on all the time. Mclaren recently managed close to 17kmpl on the highway with a fully loaded car which had not been run in. I regularly get 15kmpl in town.

No one is disputing you love your car as much as anyone else. But please think hard before making statements like that.

In the end, the Baleno doesn't need a bunch of movie stars to convince us of its worth. A few INRC and drag wins are enough for some of us. Having said that, with the homologation of the Fiesta, it could well beat the Baleno this year.

Tech · 9th April 2006, 17:28

Baleno loses out only on the looks factor to the Fiesta, however it may be possible to change the interiors looks as some dealers are doing that. Check out agmtechnologies.com and page 199 of Overdrive Apr 2006 edition
Look at what they did to Zen - http://www.agmtechnologies.com/pop3.jpg
So there may be more of such dealers who may be focussing on this. In case after 2 yrs or so, Baleno can be given a facelift then it can compete against Ford Fiesta because Fiesta voters have only looks to go by it. If Baleno gets a facelift then that factor also goes for Baleno. So who's the winner? Baleno of course and Maruti is already the customer's choice in India in terms of customer satisfaction, remember those reviews and news?
However to face competition, Maruti should be more agressive in its designing to match the current new launches. With the Swift it has started to focus on this aspect also. Probably we need to wait for better looking and performance oriented cars like the Baleno.

View Poll Results: Which car would you buy NOW?
Baleno	98	60.49%
Ford Fiesta 1.6	64	39.51%
Voters: 162. You may not vote on this poll

7th April 2006, 14:21	#201
prince85 BHPian Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 971 Thanked: 123 Times	wow, stunning! look at the margin by which the baleno is beating the fiesta. Simply stunning. The Baleno deserves every bit of it and infact more. I still feel its under-rated in this forum even though it betters the fiesta in the number of votes that it has gathered but i feel the margin by which the baleno betters the fiesta should have been much more but then thats me, call it biased or whatever else. I got my baleno on the last day of march this year. Went for a trip to goa and back. Loved it all the way. Brilliant car. Have driven the fiesta as well when i went for a test drive but i prefer the Baleno anyday. I feel suman's outbreak to this post is on the cards , But chill man. Cheers Last edited by prince85 : 7th April 2006 at 14:24.
	() Thanks

9th April 2006, 17:28	#210
Tech BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: India Posts: 216 Thanked: 20 Times	Baleno loses out only on the looks factor to the Fiesta, however it may be possible to change the interiors looks as some dealers are doing that. Check out agmtechnologies.com and page 199 of Overdrive Apr 2006 edition Look at what they did to Zen - http://www.agmtechnologies.com/pop3.jpg So there may be more of such dealers who may be focussing on this. In case after 2 yrs or so, Baleno can be given a facelift then it can compete against Ford Fiesta because Fiesta voters have only looks to go by it. If Baleno gets a facelift then that factor also goes for Baleno. So who's the winner? Baleno of course and Maruti is already the customer's choice in India in terms of customer satisfaction, remember those reviews and news? However to face competition, Maruti should be more agressive in its designing to match the current new launches. With the Swift it has started to focus on this aspect also. Probably we need to wait for better looking and performance oriented cars like the Baleno.
	() Thanks