[shibujp]

One of the first upgrades I wanted to get for the RS was a set of alloys and tyres. The skirts made the stock 195/55 R16 tyres look puny and small compared to the size of the hatch. And I like my cars to have tyres that look proportional to the size of the car. I positively dislike the undertyred look.

The template for the look that I wanted was the Baleno concept displayed. However this was shod with huge 225/45R18 tyres. It really gave the car a great look and balances the bulges and curves very well but I was apprenhensive of it having a negative impact on the perfromance of the car. On a side note the front and back bumpers do reveal that the RS is the closest production rendition of this concept. But the stance of the concept is just smashing!!



Tyres
I did not want tyres that were excessively wide, given that the vehicle had only 150 Nm of torque. Wide tyres would make the car sluggish. I had two options in mind at this point. 205/55R16 or 205/50R16. I plugged in the stock numbers at the tire calculator and here were the results. Note that the tyre with the best match is the 215/50 R16. The 205s in 50 profile were 1.5% too small and the ones in 55 profile 1.77% too big. Considering the chin spoiler and the fact that the Baleno has big wheel arches that would dwarf a small diameter tyre I opted for the 205/55 R16s and ordered a set of Michelin Primacy 3STs from Amazon.



Alloys
Now to the alloys. The stock alloys just did not cut it. They were simply the regular Baleno alloys in black and looked quite plain with the car having skirts and all. Another aspect is that they looked too closed almost like wheel caps with very little space between the spokes. Incidently about the same time, there was another RS in the parking lot that upgraded to 205/55 R16 on the stock alloys and the tyres still looked a bit pulled into the wheel well. I like the tyres as flush with the fender line as possible. I was looking for a simple black design with 5 or 6 spokes. The look should convey a feeling of lightness so the spokes should be slim. Did a bunch of photoshopping some of which I shared on this post. I was initially looking at the Momo and Neo offerings. Some of the designs I considered are shown below.



Though initially I like Momo Revenge I felt it looked a little too busy. The Momo ones that I liked were either priced out of my budget or were not avaliable in the finish that I wanted. Raptor, Quantum and Next among the ones I liked. The Raptor is not available in black. Like the Neo Sparkle and Transformer in black finish but unfortunately the local Neo distributor did not seem very interested in selling anything other than the couple of models that they had on their local warehouse. Online ordering was not available either. This turned me to HRS. The HRS 781 and the HRS 758 were then ones I shortlisted. I finalised the HRS 758 with glossy black finish and red windows on the spokes. The red windows were not to my taste, however a full black finish was not available and I figure that I could always opt for a wrap if the red was too loud. Placed an order online at a rate of 9500/- per alloy by far the most expensive spend that I have ever done on enhancing what is primarily a car's looks. The alloys arrived in a week and were well packed so that the finish was not scratched.

Alloy Sizing and Offset Considerations
When getting new alloys it is essential to carry out offset calculations. Beware of the pitfalls of excessive negative and positive offset as explained here (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ious-cars.html). In a practical sense, a negative offset pushes your wheel outwards and is most common in deep dish alloys. Positive offsets push your wheel into the wheel well so you need to be careful that you don't end up fouling with the brakepads and the suspension components. So ET40 pushes your wheel farther into the well than ET35. A negative offset potentially impacts width of the track and pushes the unsprung weight outwards which is not ideal. Offset specs is pretty easily available and you can make use of an online calculator to do the math. Another aspect data for which is not readily available is reducing unsprung mass which is primarily the weight of the wheels and the suspension components. Reduction improves braking and handling characteristics. The current alloy and wheel setup has increase the unsprung weight by around 2kg on each wheel. The offset calculation for the HRS758 selection for my Baleno is shown below.



The spec of the stock 16'' alloys of the Baleno alloys is 6JX16 ET38, which means that the alloys are 6 inches wide with a positive offset of 38mm. The specs of the 16'' HRS758 was 7.5Jx16 ET35 which meant a width of 7.5 inches and an offset of 35mm. An offset calculator indicated that this would result in 16mm less clearance to the strut housing and extend around 22mm outwards. Primarily driven by the width of the tyre. In hindsight I would suggest that 7 inches is the best width. 205mm is the minimum tyre width for 7.5 inch alloy which means that the tyre is essentially stretched. With my current specs the tyre protrudes a few mm out of the fender line. A 7 inch alloy would pull the wheel inside a bit as well as give slightly better ride as the tyre would not be as stretched on the rim.

Got my tyres fitted on the wheels and suffered a major cosmetic setback. The tyre fitting machine stratched the top of the rim on all four wheels. The technicians did take a lot of effort to ensure it did not happen but in hindsight I should have perhaps asked them to use a padding between the edge of the rim and the tyre fitting device. But it was quite a disappointment. Luckily the top edge sits against the tyre so only a careful eye can spot this detail. A small consolation.


Hub Centric Rings

I then carried out a test fitting of the tyres and noticed for the first time that there was a lip on the hub on which the stock alloy was seated meaning that it was a hub centric design. The HRS alloys had a centre hole diameter of 73.1mm while the centre of the hub of the car was 54.1mm. Took the car out for a drive and found that there was a vibration on the steering that should have been related to this. Anyway I decided not to drive in this condition and install the alloys back after the solution. And the solution was to get a set of hub centric rings. A search lead me straight to this site. While hub-centric rings are available on Amazon India as well, I was apprehensive about product quality. Another discussion (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...wheels-12.html) on team-bhp convinced me that hub-centric rings.com was the best place. While i would have loved aluminium rings, given the size that I wanted, I had to settle for plastic. Payment and delivery were smooth and I got the package in a week. Though made of plastic the rings do have a certain heft to them.


The pictures below provides a idea of the gap between the hub center and the hole at the center of the alloys the hub-centric ring. The ring itself has a chamfered top that allows proper seating in the alloys. The fitment was perfect. The drive after fitting was much better with no more juddering under hard braking or aggressive acceleration.





Lug Nuts

The stock lug nuts were something that needed replacement too. They were quite short in height and given the deep lug holes of the alloy quite a pain to fit. Stripping the threads was a potential risk. In addition I notice that inspite of tightening them to the specified torque they were very tight the next time they had to be loosened to the extent that I had to use a pipe extension to loosen them. Something was not quite right. When it comes to lug nuts two specifications are important - obviously diameter and a not so obvious thread pitch. The stock lug nut specs were M12x1.25 where M12 stands for a 12mm diameter and 1.25 is the thread pitch. Finalised on a set of Gorilla lug nuts (https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The lug nuts came with their key socket. The nuts can be removed only with this tool which also guards against theft of your alloys. The product quality was good and the lugs were quite light as well. The outer diameter of the nuts were small compare to the stock lugs which lessened the chance of scratching the side of the lug holes during fitment.



Drive on,
Shibu.

[ada]

Interesting read @shibujp, going through it is like learning all about alloys and their specs. One point you can enlighten me is which specs of alloys will give me hub dia? As it turned out so critical in your selection.
Another thing is if I want a choice of alloy with same specification as the original alloys what are my choices , I guess they are 16 X 6J.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by ada

Interesting read @shibujp, going through it is like learning all about alloys and their specs. One point you can enlighten me is which specs of alloys will give me hub dia? As it turned out so critical in your selection.
Another thing is if I want a choice of alloy with same specification as the original alloys what are my choices , I guess they are 16 X 6J.

The centre bore is the spec you should be looking for. I think that all Maruti alloys have the same bore. So you can look at the Ciaz or Scross alloys too. The Ciaz stock multispoke alloy looks especially nice in my opinion.

Yes you are right. The stock size is 16x6J. You can go to 6.5J or 7J without any problem.

Drive on,
Shibu

[shibujp]

The odometer is at 19200kms and other that the peppy engine it's been a typical Maruti. Well other than the attention it gets for the design primarily driven by the spoilers. Just a month back an elderly gentleman came up to me at the pump and asked me what RS stood for. When I told him it was the top end spec of the Baleno he grinned. Asked him why and he explained that he thought it was a design studio like DC. I kid you not!!

The car returns an average of 13 kmpl with 50% city and 50% state highways in Kerala. A trip to Kodaikanal and back gave me a mileage of around 18 kmpl. Driving it very gingerly and sedately i was able to coax 20 kmpl from it. Once - just for the heck of it.

Powerwise I am extremely satisfied. The torque spread is extremely good especially in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears. It is just in those half cooked overtaking spurts on our two lane I occasionally miss the surplus of torque that the GT had. As if it runs just a bit short of breath on the final push. Not a bit deal as longer as you work the gears properly. Just a bit. However what is better is the overall throttle response which being a petrol is faster and is especially helpful around hairpins.

Handling has been sorted out to a great extend by the RogerAb buffers on the front and rear. For the price I paid this has been an excellent fix to 90% of my dissatisfaction with Maruti's stock suspension tune. The front buffers gave stiffened up the front very well and that light feeling at high speeds was greatly reduced. I had initially not fitted the rear buffer as I had some problems getting them on with the springs on the car. I later loosened the rear shocks and fitted the buffers. It made a great difference to the handling experience. The car felt so much more tighter all around and the unnecessary bobbing and pitching as you got on and off power was mostly gone. The braking improved in both effectiveness and feel. I did consider a set of stock bilstien springs but these lower the GC by 30mm which in our conditions is a definite no-no. I would like to eventually go in for a set of sport dampers but till then this fix does just fine. The feeling that Maruti did miss a trick by not providing a sportier handling package is just getting stronger.

Front Buffers - went on with the car jacked up.


Rear buffers - had to undo the lower bolts of the rear shocks and remove the springs to install them.


Another changes has been the tyre pressure. Thanks to a mistake by an alignment shop guy, I ended up riding on 32 PSI instead of the Maruti recommended 29 PSI which actually felt so good to me that I persisted with it.

I also got around to running power to my dashcam via a fuse tap. The fuse box is beside the glove box. The glove box has to be removed to gain access to the fuse box. The fuses are low profile mini so the fuse tap used for my Polo did not fit. Ordered the proper tap from Amazon. The fuse box itself has a cover which unfortunately does not fit once the tap is taken. I initially tested the supply by taking a tap from the A/B (Airbag fuse from what I could make out) fuse but then the security warning LED started blinking when the power was switched on. Moved it to othe tap to one of the accessory fuses and all was calm.

To remove the A pillar trim, pull out the front door rubber beading around the trim and yank on the trim downwards




Fuse box is located by the side of the glove box which has to be removed for access. The manual details out the functions of the various fuses.


Taking a tap from the accessory fuse.


Ground the supply onto a exposed metal member. Temporarily fixed it using masking tape. Using a nut and bolt for permanent fixture and proper contact.


Looking forward to the service at 20K and validation of what percentage of the promised Nexa experience would be delivered. Also would be interesting to see what oil filter they would use.

Drive on,
Shibu

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by shibujp

..
Handling has been sorted out to a great extend by the RogerAb buffers on the front and rear. .

Have been contemplating getting these for a while now but was a bit skeptical. After your review will definitely go for it . The suspension is one thing that lets the car down in terms of handling, hopefully with these it will be a lot more fun. Good to see the car raking up miles, do update on the 20000km service.

[suzuki san]

Originally Posted by shibujp

The ride of the stock suspension is very good.
Shibu

Hi Shibu,
This above is your quote in March 2018 which I was quite surprised to read and had questioned.

Now, 3 months down the line you say :
"For the price I paid to fit the RogerAB buffers, this has been an excellent fix to 90% of my dissatisfaction with Maruti's stock suspension tune.

I am curious to know why you changed your mind about the stock suspension?

Regards,
SS

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by suzuki san

Hi Shibu,
This above is your quote in March 2018 which I was quite surprised to read and had questioned.

Now, 3 months down the line you say :
"For the price I paid to fit the RogerAB buffers, this has been an excellent fix to 90% of my dissatisfaction with Maruti's stock suspension tune.

I am curious to know why you changed your mind about the stock suspension?

Regards,
SS

Good question and perhaps I should have been more specific. The ride to me is the comfort you experience inside as the car travels rough rough bits and undulating surfaces at low and high speeds. In such situations the potholes and irregularities are well damped and composure is well maintained.

Handling basically is how the car corners, and how well it is able to handle the twisty bits without excessive weight transfer, body roll etc. And this is where the Baleno's stock tune falls short. This is where the RogerAb buffers make a big difference.

Ride and handling are characteristics that need tuning at opposite ends of the spectrum. Good ride needs a softer suspension while good handling needs a harder suspension. The compromise is where companies like Ford excel delivering excellent ride as well has handling characteristics.

Drive on,
Shibu

[Prodigy07]

Hi Shibhu,

Thanks for your review on Rogerab buffers.

Could you please provide more details on cost, how to procure and installation?

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by Prodigy07

Hi Shibhu,

Thanks for your review on Rogerab buffers.

Could you please provide more details on cost, how to procure and installation?

Thanks. I sourced the buffers from Amazon. https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. You can also buy them from the Roger website or from one of the many alignment/tyre shops that stock this product. These shops also provide installation free of charge. Even if you buy it online, Roger does guide you to one of their partner shops that will fit this for you. It cost me 7720/-.

Installation is pretty straight forward if you would like to do it yourself. Firstly jack up the car and remove the tyre to get enough space to work in. This will also increase the spacing between the coils that makes fixing the buffer easier. The buffers themselves have grooves to seat the coils. Insert one end of the buffer between two coils and seat the coils properly in the groove. Once this is done, push the buffer along the coil and work the rest of the buffer up the spring. Spraying a soapy solution on the coils makes it easier to push the buffer through. Whenever the coils do not seat properly in the groove, simply push the buffer in with your fingers or a blunt object. Once you have installed them fasten the buffers to the coils using the cable ties that are provided in the package.

This works in most cases for both rear and front suspension. However for the Baleno it did not work on the rear spring. I had to remove the rear spring to install the buffer. To remove the spring, simply remove the bottom bolts of the rear shocks so that the rear beam axle hangs loose. The spring can then be easily removed from its seat.

It is recommended to install the buffers in the middle of the spring though some folks have better experiences installing it at the top through trial and error. I have installed it in the middle and am pretty happy with the result. RogerAb contacted me over Whatsapp when I placed the order and shared installation videos and pictures.



The only issue that I am facing is that the length of the buffer for the front is a bit long. The result is that the ends of the buffer overlap with the bottom overlapping the top as shown in the picture above. This fouls a little with the fender lining. I have this issue only on the left side and not on the right. If the upper portion of the buffer overlaps the lower portion of the buffer then it's fine. You can also trim off the overlapping portion which I plan to do but haven't got around to doing so.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[shibujp]

I had taken in the RS for it's 20k service a couple of weeks back. Regular service with no complaints in particular. Replaced the oil, oil filter, brake fluid and coolant. Torqued all suspension bolts and the suspension has become more silent.

I did insist on the correct oil filter being used due to which they had to ask me to come a couple of days later as the part was not in stock. I also made it a point to highlight the amount of oil and the grade to be used. Most service centers are still getting to grips with the differences between the RS engine and the regular Baleno. Cost 4812 in total.

During service they detected a problem with the brake vacuum hose, the same one that led to the recall. They have ordered the part and will let me know once it is in for a warranty replacement.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by shibujp

I had taken in the RS for it's 20k service..

The manual mentions injector cleaning (link) at the 20000km service. Was this done?

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

The manual mentions injector cleaning (link) at the 20000km service. Was this done?

Just to add some info to this ongoing discussion, this is the injector cleaner which is recommended:

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Just to add some info to this ongoing discussion, this is the injector cleaner which is recommended:

Any idea why this costs so much and how it's different from other similar products from brands like Liqui Moly, at a fraction of the cost?

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by ROG_AK

Any idea why this costs so much and how it's different from other similar products from brands like Liqui Moly, at a fraction of the cost?

Why it costs so much can be answered: because it is SGP and imported from Japan.

Regards,
Shashi

[ROG_AK]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Why it costs so much can be answered: because it is SGP and imported from Japan.

Yes, I figured as much. I wonder how effective it is compared to the other brands though. Will have to try them all and make a judgement I suppose.