[dipen]

Originally Posted by farooq817

The car can comfortably cruise at 100kmph in 5th gear at less than 2500 rpm.

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

In my Swift K12, 100 comes up in fifth gear at well over 2000 RPM, closer to 2500 RPM.

Could you both please try to post to a snapshot of the rpm @ a steady 100 km.
Drove a Dzire and Baleno back to back and both came up with the below rpm numbers
80 km in fifth gear @ 2100 rpm
100 km in fifth gear @ between 2600-2700 rpm
Both numbers are with Auto AC ON @ 23 degrees running 15" 185/65 tyres.

[redbaron91]

Hello farooq817,

Congrats on your new car. Happy motoring and wish you lot of miles with it.

I'm also in the market looking for a diesel premium hatch. Short-listed Baleno Zeta (for AS service/features) & Punto 90HP.(for solid build and nice powerful 90hp MJD)

I'm little concerned about Baleno's light weighted character. TD the car in city, but am largely unaware of its behavior and performance on highways.
Could you please drop some light on it, hoping you have clocked some miles in highways.

[farooq817]

Originally Posted by dipen

Could you both please try to post to a snapshot of the rpm @ a steady 100 km.

Thats gonna be a tough one because I dont have any highway trips planned in the near future where I can put the car at that speed. I will anyhow give it a try.

Originally Posted by redbaron91

Congrats on your new car.

Could you please drop some light on it, hoping you have clocked some miles in highways.

Thanks a lot. I didnt get a chance to drive the 90HP Punto but from what I have heard, it is a good car. Coming to your question on the highway handling. I have driven a few kms on the highway but I felt the swift handled a notch better than the Baleno. That said, the handling was predictable. I feel the brakes are typical Maruti. I think the Zeta variant has much better bite because of the low-profile tyres.

[redbaron91]

Thanks a lot. I didnt get a chance to drive the 90HP Punto but from what I have heard, it is a good car. Coming to your question on the highway handling. I have driven a few kms on the highway but I felt the swift handled a notch better than the Baleno. That said, the handling was predictable. I feel the brakes are typical Maruti. I think the Zeta variant has much better bite because of the low-profile tyres.[/quote]

I currently owns a Swift Dzire Vxi, it's a calm performer in highways and fun to drive mill, except the extended boot kills some fun in it.

So, from your feedback i guess it's because of the low kerb weight of the car. But I hope it's not scary or less inspiring to drive at highways at 3 digit figures on dials.
I will be going for one more TD this weekend to make my final decision.
Once again thanks for your inputs.

Happy motoring!!!

[shibujp]

Congrats!! Great choice of color too. I feel that the Baleno is one car that looks better in darker colors than lighter ones.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by farooq817

Found this behind a closed box in the boot. Is it to access the fuel tank from inside? Whats the use?

Congratulations Farooq on the Baleno.

What you have captured is your cars rear suspension mount that is covered with a plastic cladding.

[farooq817]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Congrats!! Great choice of color too. I feel that the Baleno is one car that looks better in darker colors than lighter ones.

Thanks. And I do agree, the car looks good in its brighter shades.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Congratulations Farooq on the Baleno.

Thanks Anurag. I have seen your thread on the Blue Streak. And it has been a pleasure reading through all the updates you keep doing on the car.

[farooq817]

Update:
The car has now completed over 2000kms. I have not been driving a lot these days for some reasons but it has been a good 3 months of ownership so far. Except for the issues I had with the parking sensors, no worries at all. The car gives around 16.5kmpl as per the MID. The acceleration in the second and third gears is really good. The car is willing to give a good response as soon as the throttle is pushed.

[Ashir]

Congratulations!

Nice and crisp review. I didn't see it biased, though I myself might be.
Have booked Baleno Delta 1.2 as well. Fingers crossed for car allotment

Wish you many happy miles from the car.

Originally Posted by farooq817

...
Thanks Anurag. I have seen your thread on the Blue Streak. And it has been a pleasure reading through all the updates you keep doing on the car.

I myself started looking for Swift just because of the way Anurag has written the ownership report. Even asked him if he want to sell his Blue Streak.
Though, if looking for middle variant, Baleno makes a better choice now.

Hope you would keep this thread alive just like Anurag.

[Raj1982]

Hey Farooq, thanks for a well written review. I was following your thread for some time, but could not post as I am late in owning a membership. Coincidentally we both took our baleno from the same Varun Nexa, my fire red diesel delta was delivered on 25 Nov 2015. Till date crossed a little over 8k with couple of highway trips. Found everything to be perfect except the suspension. I found it to be little hard on bumps. Have you experienced the same. Also the gear shift does not seems to be as smooth as it should be in a Maruti. What's your thought on this?

[farooq817]

Originally Posted by Ashir

Congratulations!


Hope you would keep this thread alive just like Anurag.

Thanks for the words. Its been a while since I have visited my own thread. Mostly due to the hectic work schedule. Have a few updates but need pictures. Probably in a day or so.

Originally Posted by Raj1982

Hey Farooq, thanks for a well written review. I was following your thread for some time, but could not post as I am late in owning a membership. Coincidentally we both took our baleno from the same Varun Nexa, my fire red diesel delta was delivered on 25 Nov 2015. Till date crossed a little over 8k with couple of highway trips. Found everything to be perfect except the suspension. I found it to be little hard on bumps. Have you experienced the same. Also the gear shift does not seems to be as smooth as it should be in a Maruti. What's your thought on this?

I agree with you on the suspension though I have not been in the rear seat to experience it myself first hand but I do feel there is a problem. Naren has also highlighted this in his thread. He tried to reduce the tire pressure by 1-2psi but it did not make a lot of difference. Looks like its an initial batch problem and hope Maruti comes up with a solution soon.
As for the gear shift, I did not seem to have any problem. Infact, the gears are pretty smooth and everyone who has driven the car at home say that the gears are nice and smooth and slot very smoothly. Probably you might want to check with Varun Motors during the next service schedule.

[sharoncr_17]

I will be taking delivery of a 1.2 Delta by the end of this month. Any idea about whether the rear chrome spoiler is available as accessory with Nexa? My dealer has yet to start the accessory division.

[Highh5]

Originally Posted by sharoncr_17

I will be taking delivery of a 1.2 Delta by the end of this month. Any idea about whether the rear chrome spoiler is available as accessory with Nexa? My dealer has yet to start the accessory division.

Around 2500. Some NEXA dealers charge for fitment too.

[puneetakhouri]

Congratulations on the car, since I too own a Delta petrol Baleno in Premium silver and have clocked over 17000kms in it over the past one year, I would also like to add a few points of my own which are my observations about the car.

The likes:

1. Lots of space. 5 people easily fit in with none feeling cramped for shoulder width or leg room.

2. Superb engine refinement. The car is absolutely not audible inside when idling. My friends and a couple of valets have tried to crank it up when it was already on. I make it a point to remind people sitting on the driver seat whether the engine is running or not.

3. Very powerful ac. I have had the people sitting in the rear tell me to raise the temperature of the ac as they felt it was too strong. Also it chills in an instant and the blower is also not very loud.

4. Small details as mentioned earlier, if you have the handbrake lever pulled and you forget to lower it before driving off, the console gives a beeping sound similar to when you do not wear the seatbelts. This feature I feel is a very nice addition because personally on traffic signals, I prefer keeping the car in neutral with handbrakes pulled to rest my feet.

5. Fuel efficiency is superb - I prefer the tankful to tankful approach to measure the efficiency. And in Mumbai traveling 38kms everyday (against the traffic mostly where I cruise for over 9 kms one side in the 5th gear), I get a mileage of around 17.4kmpl (575kms in 33ltrs of petrol) in winters and in summers around 15.5kmpl with AC always on. I guess this difference in mileage has something to do with the frequency of AC compressor kicking in, thanks to the ACC.

6. Very low maintenance cost - The costs have been very minimal and even the labour costs have been amazingly low. So during the new year I went to Pune and there while my friends and I were leaving for lunch, some dried branch from a nearby palm/coconut tree had fallen under the rear wheel.
I did not notice it and moved the cracked only to hear a sharp sound. On getting out and examining, we observed that the wood got stuck between the tyre and the mudflap. It ripped off the right rear mud flap totally off the mud guard, and at the same time broke the hooks of the bumper which attach to the body. I was dishevelled as I thought now the solution would be either to change the bumper entirely or screw it up like we used to do in earlier cars. The Pune Sai Service Service Center in Hinjewadi examined the car and said that there is a bracket located within the bumper which attaches to the body and it has ripped off and would require changing. The total part of the bracket + labour + mud flap fitting and all came to be a shocking - 190/- ONLY. The low price was such a shocker that my friend who accompanied me and who is planning to buy a Honda or a Hyundai started having second thoughts about going for a Maruti.

7. Sporty note of the exhaust - Under 2000 RPM the engine is barely audible, but rev it up and you can slowly hear a sporty groan coming from the exhaust which is very pleasant to hear.

8. Lots of empty space under the hood. So I was getting the fog lamps installed from a local vendor and the boys working to fit them said it is a delight working on vehicles which have so much room to work within the hood making life easier for them. Also they said that the under body engine cover does not serve as much of a protection (you would barely scrape them over the lifetime of your vehicle), as much as they serve as a safe haven for rats and other such creatures looking for an abode.

9. Double horns - In a country like India where idiots roam free on the roads and you never know who is going to jump in front of you, double horns sound much better and alert the people better. It is definitely better than the ordinary single horns which Maruti puts in its other cars.

The shortcomings

All the points have been rightly pointed out by farooq817 earlier and all are pretty apt. I will try to add points which have not been added.

1. Rear suspension - The rear suspension does sag quite a bit. Also the pitch at the rear is pretty evident when loaded and you will not be surprised to hear the rear passengers urging you to slow down.

2. The read headroom. For a guy of my height which is 5'10". The rear headroom is barely acceptable. The slanting roof has eaten up the headroom at the back and tall people might have to slouch on the seats. Although the legroom makes slouching easy though.

3. Dead steering at the centre. Now the steering does weigh up as you increase the speeds, but not as much as you like and does not inspire confidence taking bends at very high speeds. Although the feedback is good, it could have been better.

4. No storage space on the dashboard. Because of the arching windshield and flat dashboard, there is no space to keep things like a tissue paper box on the dashboard.

5. Light weight issues. Although the light weight is not much of an issue and so far has only contributed in the betterment of performance and mileage of the vehicle, but it also causes problems of its own. Going over Sea link and you will literally struggle to keep her going in a single line. The light weight and the bulky side profile enable to wind gods to give it a slightly stronger push than you would have liked otherwise. Also while overtaking other vehicles at high speeds, even the wind pushed aside by the vehicles being overtaken cause it to just wobble a bit. Although this happens at pretty high speeds so not much of an issue otherwise.

But owning this car has been a thoroughly satisfying experience and hoping to clock a lot more miles on it and am sure she will never let me down.

[farooq817]

Update Update

Hello everyone, I want to bring life to this old dead thread and hopefully, keep it updated from here on. Its been a while since I have been driving the car. Just about 2 and half years now and the car has done a little more than 21,000 kms. Recently, I moved to a different company which now requires me to travel about 56-58kms for 3-4 days a week. So the car has been used a lot more in the recent past.

The good bits:

1. Excellent driving comfort. Love the seating position. Its so easy to find a comfortable driving position.
2. The engine. Everyone here knows about the K12 engine and it is really a smooth one. The growl the engine makes as we climb up the revs can give you a nice ear to ear grin on your face. Also, the refinement is at its best.
3. Fuel Efficieny - The all important question for many people. I drive through a lot of city traffic with a little bit of highway on my way to work. AC always on. The car gives about 14-15kmpl depending on the city traffic. I'm happy with the number.
4. Space. I have always been comfortable with the amount of front and rear seat space this car offers.
5. Air-Conditioning - Earlier, I used to wonder if MS missed a trick by not providing the rear air con vents considering the amount of space in the car. The rear passengers a little farther away from the front of the car but no complaints so far from anyone. The AC is pretty effective in the Hyderabad heat almost all the time (ofcourse not when the outside temperature is over 45 degrees. Thats when I feel the fan blowing away at full speed even if i set the temperature at 25 in the car)

The bad bits:

1. The rear suspension. Yes, I did go for the suspension replacement as part of the warranty but I still feel the suspension is a little bit on the hard side. There is only a marginal improvement.
2. No ISOFIX mount. My car was from the first batch of cars which did not come with ISOFIX mounts in the car. I make do with a simple car seat for now.
3. The light weight doors which are prone to minor dimples and dents.
4. A few occasional rattles from the car. But not too many.
5. Brakes. I'm not very happy with the brakes in the car. I hope by changing the tyres and moving to 195 section I should be able to get more bit from bite from the brakes.
6. No sunglass holder. I'm someone who uses shades while driving and thats something I'm really missing in the car. Workaround??? I have got a felt lined sunglass holder and put it on the ticket holder above me.
7. The stock music system is just about OK. May be adding an amplifier and tweeters would work well.

Coming up in the next couple of posts from me, DIY to fix a dashcam and my experience with Varun motors service center in Hyderabad along with a few latest pics of the car.