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Old 30th July 2021, 14:00   #76
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Hi Shibu,

A great thread, and thanks for keeping it active. I've been a silent reader, and special thanks for going out of your way to explain the tyre/alloy details. I own as RS too, same colour as well. I'm in the process of putting together my ownership review, and reading yours again is helpful.
Unfortunate that your Michelins' life was cut short, but I'm glad all is well. How are the new Yokos faring in comparison to the Michelins? And did you carry out body work to fix the damage from the incident?
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Old 24th August 2021, 16:14   #77
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Dear Shiju,

I am from Trivandrum too, own a Baleno 1.2 2015. Noticed that the Yokohama that you got had a load rating of 91 opposed to the 87 of the OEM tire. Doesn't that mean that the side walls would be harder and thus may make the ride harsher. Also how does the upsize affect handling.
My OE Alnac 4G are due for replacement, also share your experience buying tire online.
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Old 29th August 2021, 11:04   #78
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Looking at i20 N line launch and its price, Iam very happy with my Baleno RS choice, the RS engine has been de-tuned for India, any way to retune it back?
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Old 24th September 2021, 17:14   #79
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

The RS has ambled onto 70K kms. Ambled rather than galloped due to the lack of running brought about by Covid. in the usual Maruti style - no fuss - quiet, reliable and capable.

Got the 70K service done and the bill came to 4000 odd. Nothing out of the routine. I got my alignment and tyre rotation done separately at my regular alignment shop. Here is the breakup of the service. I had installed Bosch brake pads myself and that has been noted.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-70k-service.jpg

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaboonviper04 View Post
Hi Shibu,
A great thread, and thanks for keeping it active. I've been a silent reader, and special thanks for going out of your way to explain the tyre/alloy details. I own as RS too, same colour as well. I'm in the process of putting together my ownership review, and reading yours again is helpful.
Hey, thanks and happy to hear that the thread was helpful. I had read your thread to and it's extremely well put together.

Quote:
Unfortunate that your Michelins' life was cut short, but I'm glad all is well. How are the new Yokos faring in comparison to the Michelins?
The Yokos are quite good. I think the Michelins had slightly less roll but the Yokos have excellent performance in the wet. The Michelins had a tendency to aquaplane when shown standing water at moderate speed. I actually got pretty good life from them though. Perhaps another 5K of life was left at the time of the accident.

Quote:
And did you carry out body work to fix the damage from the incident?
I haven't fixed the dents yet as no paint has been removed and the dents haven't created any functional problem. Planning to get it done though.


Quote:
Originally Posted by sureshkishore View Post
Dear Shiju,

I am from Trivandrum too, own a Baleno 1.2 2015. Noticed that the Yokohama that you got had a load rating of 91 opposed to the 87 of the OEM tire. Doesn't that mean that the side walls would be harder and thus may make the ride harsher. Also how does the upsize affect handling.
My OE Alnac 4G are due for replacement, also share your experience buying tire online.
Hey Suresh, hello! Good to have another guy from TVM. Quite a few BHPians here. I didn't feel any increase in the harshness of the ride but the steering does get a bit harder which I actually enjoy. Another point to note is that I have used 205 tyres of the same profile as 195 so the sidewall is taller which may have an effect of cushioning the ride.

Online buying has been fine. I used both Amazon and Flipkart. However the tyre shops charge an extra 1000 rupees for fitment which otherwise is free if you buy from them. So it may screw up the economics. The shop that installed the Yokos quoted the same price for AE50 when i went for the installation. One reason I like online is because of the option of looking for the brand and model i want. Tyre shops tend to thrust their current favored brand on you which I do not like. Especially some who are very opinionated and pushy about it. Understandably they are not too happy about online sales.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ada View Post
Looking at i20 N line launch and its price, I am very happy with my Baleno RS choice, the RS engine has been de-tuned for India, any way to retune it back?
Wolf Moto offers a remap to 120hp and 180Nm. Check out this thread (Sugar, spice and everything nice - My Maruti Baleno RS Review. EDIT: Now Stage 1) Heck the manual + turbo petrol combo is enough to put a smile on my face!

Drive on,
Shibu

Last edited by shibujp : 24th September 2021 at 17:16.
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Old 9th September 2022, 20:28   #80
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Been a while since I've posted an update. In the meantime since my last post the car has quietly piled on around 20K kms given the relaxation of Covid controls. Currently a shade under 90K. In the meantime, it's done both the 80K and 90K services.

In the interests of keeping the posts relatively short, I'll cover the 90K service details in a separate post.

80k service
Post Covid, the RS is back to it's business of munching the miles. Reached the 80K mark which called for a scheduled service. Other than the standard oil replacement and regular maintenance the following replacements were recommended as per the service manual
  • Replacement of the water pulley drive belt.
  • Fuel filter replacement.
  • Injector cleaning fluid.
  • Coolant replacement.

Overall service was a pleasant affair. The lounge was very comfortable and the standards have been maintained over the last 4 years of my association with this NEXA service center. A major plus is a large glass window through which you can watch your car being worked over from the comfort of your lounge.

I generally ask the service center to leave out the standard car wash. This ensures that the service gets done and dusted in around 90 minutes instead of waiting another two hours for the wash to get done. So I was in by around 9:30 AM and got my car back by 11:00 AM. The total cost was around 9548 out of which a whopping 2500 was for the injector fluid. This was 1800 when I bought the car in 2017!. Other than that all other costs are standard Maruti fare - reasonable.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-80k-service.png

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-cabin-filter.jpg

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-fuel-filetr.jpg

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The lounge is a pleasant place to wait while the car is getting serviced. Note the window on the right through which you have an excellent view of the service being executed.

A liittle after 80K, one of my Yokos developed a side wall puncture due to a small sliver of metal as shown in the picture. When I took it for puncture repair the technician expressed doubt that a regular puncture repair would fix it. He said that this may be covered under the 18 month unconditional warranty that Yoko offered at the time my tyres were purchased (I think that has since been pared down). I checked with the Yoko representative in Kerala and he asked me to take it to an authorised dealer who would inspect the tyre and give him the verdict. It was covered by warranty all right but since the tyre had less than 50% of tread life remaining the coverage would be pro-rated. I was asked to pay around 2000/- and given a new tyre. Since a good deal given that a brand new tyre would cost 7500 odd.
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Drive on,
Shibu
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Old 9th September 2022, 23:36   #81
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

90k service
The 90k service is a minor service and no replacements were advised as per the schedule other than the regular oil/oil filter replacement. However thinking that all belts needed to be replaced at 80K I had asked them to order the AC belt in addition to the water pulley belt replaced in the last service. On a closer read of the manual I now realise that it's only the water pulley belt that is mandated to be replaced at 80K and the AC/alternator drive belt is to be replaced based on condition.

After the verification of the oil filter number the service was carried out. I requested that the wash not be done. Since the drive belt replacement was requested it took another 45 minutes extra.

The service cost 5748. A few items like cabin air filter, a perfume and the keyfob battery were slipped in but I let it slide. The keyfob battery was replaced at 80K as well.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-90k1.jpg

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Drive on,
Shibu
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Old 27th January 2023, 11:50   #82
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

The RS crossed a significant milestone the other day - 100,000 km. I just love putting this kind of mileage on the cars i own. From September 2017, it's been 64 months of ownership now.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230126_173325192_hdr.jpg

Drive on,
Shibu

Last edited by shibujp : 27th January 2023 at 11:51.
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Old 2nd February 2023, 16:00   #83
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Hello shibujp sir,
Thank you for this amazing thread and i own a 2017 Baleno RS. I use my car primarily for city use as highway duties are taken care by my octavia or Q3. This car is perfect for the city and i had recently taken it for its first 300km road trip. It was quite a good drive with speeds of 80-100 kmph. In few instances where i had to brake suddenly from 80kmph, the steering wheel used to vibrate very aggressively, the car was recently serviced at Nexa as well.
Does this occur in your car as well?
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Old 7th February 2023, 01:11   #84
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Quote:
Originally Posted by RahulRV View Post
. In few instances where i had to brake suddenly from 80kmph, the steering wheel used to vibrate very aggressively, the car was recently serviced at Nexa as well.
Does this occur in your car as well?
Thanks Rahul! Glad that you find the thread useful.

Regarding the vibration, get your tyre balancing checked out first. A couple of times I faced this issue it was the balancing at fault.

Grooved surface of the brake disc can also create a similar issue but usually this is felt on the brake pedal and not the steering.

Drive on,
Shibu
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Old 10th February 2023, 17:53   #85
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Attachment 2417050
Quote:
Originally Posted by shibujp View Post
Thanks Rahul! Glad that you find the thread useful.

Regarding the vibration, get your tyre balancing checked out first. A couple of times I faced this issue it was the balancing at fault.

Grooved surface of the brake disc can also create a similar issue but usually this is felt on the brake pedal and not the steering.

Drive on,
Shibu
Hello sir,
Recently i had got balancing and alignment done. Went to a nearby FNG and it was noticed that the brake pads were to be changed and the link rod as well. The car has run 28970kms. One thing i noticed was the part number of the pad he had put was 55810 M 60M00, while the part mentioned in Xaos636 was 55810 M 69P00. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ml#post4773039 (The Underdog! My Maruti-Suzuki Baleno RS EDIT: Sold after 3 years and 35k km)
Upon questioning the mech said that this is the correct part and it wouldn’t fit in the caliper if it wasn’t the right one.
Has the part num changed recently?
Thank you in advance.
Attached Thumbnails
Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-d8a620f40d7d4bd7884f2edc948a35bc.jpeg  

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Old 16th April 2023, 15:11   #86
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Quote:
Originally Posted by RahulRV View Post
Attachment 2417050
Hello sir,
Recently i had got balancing and alignment done. Went to a nearby FNG and it was noticed that the brake pads were to be changed and the link rod as well. The car has run 28970kms.
Thank you in advance.
Sorry to have missed this but actually both the mechanic and Xaos636 are correct. Check out this link https://oriparts.com/7/387/89655/5180404#item_105053292

55810M50S00 - this is the part number for only the pads.
55820M69P00 - this includes both the pads as well as the shim set.

Drive on,
Shibu
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Old 16th April 2023, 18:05   #87
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS - Compressor gives up ghost

So the Baleno touched 1,00,000 kms a while back. Being a Maruti, it generally is not much cause for any heavy duty maintenance as long as regular maintenance is taken care of. However there are chances that some odd component may decide that it's had enough and just fail. For me this component was the AC compressor.

Started the car as usual one day, and the engine just had a hiccup before it started up. I immediately knew that something was wrong. True to form a squealing noise started and I knew it was one of the belts. Open the bonnet and the AC compressor belt was shedding some rubber indicating some friction. Took it to the Kalyani Nexa at Bangalore and the diagnosis was grim - jammed compressor. And I was to drive to Kerala, that night. Thankfully the Japanese engineers had designed the engine so that the compressor gets a belt separate from the alternator, water pump etc. They removed the belt for me and I made a slightly uncomfortable trip to Trivandrum.

Took the car to an A/C specialist at my hometown who I had used for my other cars and he took apart the compressor. I had hoped that it was just an issue with the electromagnetic clutch but that was not to be. A couple of cylinders of the compressor were well and truely jammed necessitating a replacement.

Here is where a bit of fun started. He said he will get a replacement the next day. I reminded him that my car is a Baleno RS. No problem. However I felt the message was just not getting across. Just sent across the parts number from Oriparts the next day just to be sure. Monday evening he finally understood that the car was different when the replacement part did not fit. The replacement took a week to arrive which was not surprising seeing that Nexa Bangalore told me it would have to come all the way from Gujarat.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230407_105529673.jpg
New compressor from Subros

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230407_105533557.jpg
High pressure and low pressure lines

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230407_105545579.jpg
Old compressor

The compressor was oiled and the gas recharged. The HVAC was back to it's old health. However this episode has made me switch off the AC before I turn off the car, something I have never done in the last 20 odd years of driving.

Top Mount Bush Replacement
Four months in Bangalore had meted out a punishment to the car that the relatively smooth roads in Kerala had not. I never knew of authorities with such a passion for sleeping policemen. However a lot of them gave me a rude awakening for disturbing their eternal sleep with the result. The front suspension started to feel jarring and lose it's usual rounded edge to the shocks. Order two top mount bushes for starters and replaced them DIY. As the photo below shows there was a difference of almost 0.5 mm in height between the new and old bushes. However I had a brain fart and forgot to order the strut bearing along with them. Have ordered them but this will mean another session of taking apart the front suspension to fix those.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230408_111224200.jpg
New (left) vs Old (Right). Note the height difference.

Rear Brake Pad Replacement
The service notes at the 100k service indicated that the right rear pads were worn out. This called for replacement. Ordered the pad via Boodmo and replaced them as well. Calling out a few interesting aspects of this DIY

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230416_102851848.jpg
The rear piston is a twist type. This means that you need to turn it clockwise to push it back to install new pads.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230416_102927845_mf_portrait.jpg
New pads v/s old pads.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230416_110355080.jpg
There is a special tool for twisting the piston. However in absence of that I use a 23 size open ended spanner to get the job done. Turn clockwise to set the piston back.

Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-img_20230416_112254280.jpg
Pushing the piston back may cause an overflow of brake oil. Open the cap on the brake fluid reservoir and place a rag around it so that brake oil does not spill onto the surrounding parts. Yeah and don't ask me how I know!

The 100K service
Got the 100K service done. Cost me around 9000 rupees. Main replacements were the brake oil and coolant fluid. The main impact on the cost was from the injector cleaner that costs around 2500 rupees. I use this every 20k kms.
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What remains
The front brakes discs are done. Has developed an edge as the thickness of the disc has fallen below the edge of the disc and there is a bit of a drone when running. However there is always an issue I have faced from day one. To get the service folks to understand the fact that parts of RS are different. Most often the parts of the standard Baleno are hauled out just to take them back in again. Had this experience this week with the discs. Might be a boodmo order again.

The car is such a freaking all rounder that I am finding it very hard to let go of it. But the itch for a new one is also there. And I do not like keeping cars without having enough running time on them. Been poking about Spinnys for a decent BMW and need to test drive the new Verna and the turbo Alcazar.

Drive on,
Shibu.

Last edited by Aditya : 18th April 2023 at 18:29. Reason: As requested
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Old 18th April 2023, 08:51   #88
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Re: Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS

Placed and order for new fronts discs and pads at Nexa Bengaluru (Kalyani). Expected to arrive in the next two days. Estimated cost is 7000 rupees. 4000 for discs and 3000 for pads.

Replaced another tired component yesterday.
Shibujp's Maruti Baleno RS-polish_20230418_084632615.jpg

Drive on,
Shibu
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