Black Beauty - Baleno Review 2K kms in a week How it Happened?
I had been looking for a Vtec or a Baleno for a long time....with Black colour in mind finding a Vtec was next to impossible in Bangalore. So when I saw the ad that Black beauty was up for sale, immediately grabbed the opportunity.
She will remain Black Beauty; named and owned by Samurai - I will have a tough time living upto his reputation for maintainence of the car. Deal happened very quickly, thanks to him, he kept the car until i could struggle through my loan and reach manipal as quickly as possible else I was sure that someone would frisk away the beauty.
Review
There has been many and many more reviews of Baleno. I will keep mine short and a slightly different perspective. I have done more than 2K in the past one week in the car(total 19K on the odo).
Common Mans Perspective
This is a perfect family car. People putting down their money on this one will not regret it one bit. This is definitely one of the best long term investment that you can make with you hard earned money.
People who would love to drive their family around, still enjoy driving this car can give you all you ask for. I believe this is one of the more comfy cars around. What you will enjoy is the torquey drive. The torque is there from as low are 750rpm which allows you to pull cleanly from high gears in the city. On the highway you can keep a cruising speed of 120 Kph without your wifey giving you a frown. Switch on the chilling AC and some good music none of your passengers will notice what speeds you are doing, unless you have that silly smile on your face. With a mild foot you will get good mileage and no worries on you wallet. Upgrade to 14 inchers with 185 or 195 tyres is highly recommended for the enthusiastic family man.
The Racer at Heart Review
For people buying Baleno with lots of expectations, this is no VTEC. period. But its got potential, loads of potential. Yes you have not made the wrong choice, I would not trade in my baleno for anything in the market now, not even the SX4.
Positives:
The engine is super smooth (close to honda smoothness). You can rev it to the heavens and more, she will not complain. This is very unlike the fords or the hyundais which may have the power but does not like revving to the moon. The engine feels a little restricted. I dont know why I got this feeling but felt like its got a lot more to give given some nice goodies. It already running K&N stock replacement, its not exactly a breathing problem.
The gears are pretty good. Samurai told me finding 5th is a problem for some, I have not issues with that. Reverse can be quite stubborn sometimes.
Handling is sweet. Running 195/60 R14 Yoko Es100s, so this must be aiding handling a lot. 15 inchers would be great on this car but the roads that I met on my way to kerala would eat any 15 inchers for breakfast. The 14 and yokos somehow survived to tell the tale. Yokos are perfect track tires, high speed handling and grip is exceptional, road noise is high. But the issue with them is that anything less than perfect tarmac, i have grip issues. A little bumpy then its does not hug as its meant to. Next tyre change will bring a lot of confusion, but thats for another thread later. Oh yeah they still have some life left after 19K on the odo.
Brakes are adequate, with the wider tyres pulls me out of tough spots.
Negatives
She definitely needs more oomph. No other negatives that I can think of; looks, thats personal opinion, I like her clean lines.
Improvement areas
Yes, she needs a stronger heart. Remember driving a 03 Baleno which felt faster, i dont know maybe because of the ECU. She needs a lot of freeing up. Filter, exhaust and some Stage 1 mods will see her flying and becoming a hunter on the high way.
Suspension and brakes: Needs sprucing up. This car needs some good suspension setup to completely utilise all that power (along with the mods). Brakes, I dont have any options here but will keep looking.
Overall, not suprisingly am overjoyed! Well black beauty is back in bangalore after an year of absence. Burning up bangalore roads! |