[lamborghini]

i own an ikon and have sat in the baleno
the ikon is an awesome car for a spirited driver in stock form in comparision to the baleno but a modded baleno then the ikon has no chances
if ypou plan to buy stock and no upgrades then go for the ikon but if you dont mind spending on the car then go for the baleno
its very simple really
but for me its an ikon. i love the engine but FE is abnout 8.5 in city with a.c while balenos is 9 - 9.5 in city with a.c.
a baleno with cool alloys and tyres will be good for you

[revtech]

dude .... as i have said before....baleno with bout 14 or 15 inchers....and thicker rubber.....will be the best.......

[skandyhere]

thanks guys, i'm quite surprised with the readiness to respond here. i'v been on this site for a few weeks now, but this was my first post. this is simply a great forum to hang on to. thanks again. this confirms my own bias.

another question - how do alloys help? surely not just the looks right? and how much would an upgrade to alloys, a free flow mod, and decent tires cost in all?

[RJK]

nother question - how do alloys help?

They reduce the unsprung weight & help in better cooling of brakes. There are more but these two came readily to my mind.

[skandyhere]

i just saw an unanswered question by someone "what's wrong with the indigo?"... apart from the fit and finish, and the refinement, isn't the indigo a good buy? how about the diesel that is said to be quite peppy (by diesel standards, of course)

it's a little bad to see that nobody's talking about the indigo (after all, it IS india's first own car...) remarks please?

[lamborghini]

the indigo is a good car but we are assuming your brother would like to enjoy driving a bit too .
i have no problems with the indigo and a few months ago i was planning to buy one in diesel form .
also the indigo is worth buying in diesel only .
the petrol isnt all that great .
only its price makes it a worthy competitior .
in the used car market the indigo diesel would have surely been abused while the petrol is quite rare and it wont exactly fit your requirements (performance + FE )

some performance upgrades you could consider -
alloys (15 - 20 k ) - what rj said + marginal increase in FE + looks
tires ( 15 - 20k ) - better handling + looks + marginal decrease in FE
K n N filter (3.5 - 5k) - better performance + beter FE + cheaper in the long run
FreeFlow - (8.5 - 10k) - better performance + decrease in FE + lots of noise which we all love + cops fines

enjoy

[GTO]

i just saw an unanswered question by someone "what's wrong with the indigo?"... apart from the fit and finish, and the refinement, isn't the indigo a good buy? how about the diesel that is said to be quite peppy (by diesel standards, of course)

The Indigo does make for some good reasoning : Read more here - Case for the Tata Indigo

GTO

[Shan2nu]

Go for the Baleno. All it needs is better rubber. It's got good torque at low rpm and the fact that it's lighter than the other mentioned cars gives it that edge.

In a straight line, it'll take the others even with those skinny tyres. On the twisties, unless you're on good rubber, you can watch the Ikon fly by.

Shan2nu

[islero]

Just to introduce another dimension, Shan2nu, how would the City Vtec fare against a standard Ikon and a Baleno with good tires?

[lamborghini]

well the VTEC would blow the ikon away in stock form and there was a race between shan2nus VTEC and his uncles baleno
read it

[Shan2nu]

Just to introduce another dimension, Shan2nu, how would the City Vtec fare against a standard Ikon and a Baleno with good tires?

Frankly speaking, this is one dimension, nobody wants to enter. LOL

The Ikon was faster than the City 1.5 in the 2001 slalom test conducted by OD, the Vtec should better the City 1.5 in the slalom, thanks to it's bigger wheels with lower tyre profile.

The Vtec and Baleno have never been tested against each other. Yup, the last time my uncle tried to keep up on the twisties, his Baleno suffered major understeer (due to those skinny tyres). Vtec vs Baleno with equal rubber should be interesting though.

Shan2nu

[Shan2nu]

On 2nd thought, there was one instance where all three cars were performance tested on the same day, under the same conditions.

It was during the Overdrive 0-100-0 test.

Here's how they fared.

Ford Ikon (175/70 R13)
0-60 - 5.68
0-100 - 14.15
0-100-0 - 18.70
Overall standing - 15th

Maruti Baleno (running 185/60 R13 - on that day)
0-60 - 5.02
0-100 - 12.77
0-100-0 - 16.68
Overall Standing - 7th

City Vtec (175/65 R14)
0-60 - 4.41
0-100 - 10.12
0-100-0 - 14.54
Overall Standing - 3rd

Here's the complete test review - Overdrive - 0-100-0 - Ultimate 17 Car Test.

Shan2nu

[iceman91]

well..i was kinda surprised with 0-100 figure of the baleno...thats a little tooo slow. and also that it has better stopping power than a honda!!!!

[Shan2nu]

well..i was kinda surprised with 0-100 figure of the baleno...thats a little tooo slow. and also that it has better stopping power than a honda!!!!

Well, the stopping power is due to the 185 tyres that car was running on. With the stock 165's a Baleno would take a while.

As for the acceleration, the Ikon and Vtec were tested under the same conditions and yeah, the Vtec itself is slower by 0.2 of a sec, compared to the 9.92 it managed during it's road test.

So based on that, i think the Baleno's time should be around 12.5.

Shan2nu

[lamborghini]

the ikons time is a bit too slow
its way faster im sure
and the brakes are quite good ...
should be 3 - 4 secs less