Those who remember the late 90’s car models in India will surely remember the Maruti Baleno .
. The Baleno sedan was produced in India from 1999 till the year 2007, when it was replaced by the SX4 sedan. This car was known as the Caltus Crescent in the initial markets with Suzuki selling them from 1995. It was Suzuki’s first attempt at making a global compact sedan then. Suzuki also sold the Baleno as the Esteem in North America. In India, it was available as a sedan and also as a station wagon called the Baleno Altura.
Coming back to the present, Maruti Suzukiwants to recreate the Baleno magic by reintroducing the new age Baleno globally. India becomes the very first market to get this new generation Baleno, that was revealed at the Frankfurt Motor Showvery recently. Maruti Suzuki will be manufacturing this car at its India unit from where it would be exported to over 100 countries. We drive exclusively, the Maruti Suzuki Baleno, that does its Global Debut in India later this month. Read our extensive road test review as we drive the Baleno around some dusty, but exciting roads of Jaipur, the Pink City of India.
Maruti Baleno Exteriors:
Described by Maruti as a ‘Flash of Light'; that’s what ‘Baleno’ means. Fluidity of flowing lines is the key design theme used on the Baleno. So you see a lot of smooth, flowing body design lines all across the exteriors. The front bumper as well as the bonnet gets these liquid flow body lines. The low-slung rounded bumper comes with the blacked-out air dams, which also has the round fog lamps in black housings. The face gets its peculiar styling with the wide front grille that has the prominent V-shaped line in thick chrome along with the matte-black honeycomb grille with a large Suzuki logo in the middle. The headlights too, play a very important role in defining the prominent face of the Baleno. These are wraparound, flushed-back design headlights with HID (High Intensity Discharge) projector headlamps, along with very powerful L-shaped LED DRLs (Day-time Running Lights). The headlights also get a chrome strip inside them that mate with the V-shape center grille chrome line, making the line look complete as it ends on the side fenders and the bonnet line.
The side fenders get a touch of the liquid flow design on them too. The shoulder line is rounded and flows across the chrome grab-type door handles. The top-end Baleno gets the keyless entry feature on them. The lower part of the side profile gets a sharp body line that flows back and mates with the rear fender. The door pillars come with blacked-out styling, while there is a chrome body insert strip that runs from the front to the back of the window line. The roofline slopes towards the rear end, giving the car a very sporty and dynamic stance. Another special feature on the Baleno are the UV cut-glasses on the side windows. These are black tinted glasses that can cut the Ultra-violet rays by 85 percent, making Baleno the first car in all the small, mid and sedan segment to get them. The next car that comes with this feature is directly the Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
Moving to the rear, the style element is very much continued here too, having the rear of the Baleno standing out with the flushed-in combination lights that get a unique LED glow on them. These remind you of the tail lamps on the Mercedes-Benz A-Class and gel perfectly here. The rear gets not one, but two spoilers – one large spoiler placed at the regular position just above the rear windshield and the second in all chrome finish, placed just below the rear windshield. This is a very unique and distinctive body styling, not seen on any car till now. The rear bumpers are mounted high and sport the body-colored rear parking sensors and twin reflectors. The range topping Baleno that we drove came with 195/55 R16 sized Apollo Alnac Tubeless tyres mounted on multi-spoke (12) glossy silver alloys. The wing mirrors get turn indicators on them and are mounted on the doors instead of the A-pillar.
The Baleno measures 3995mm in length, 1745mm is width with a height of 1500mm and a good wheelbase of 2520mm. It gets an overall ground clearance of 170mm and weighs just 960Kgs (Diesel) and 865Kgs (Petrol). The exterior design of the Baleno has a lot of synchronized curves and body lines. Overall, the car looks wide, very dynamic, energetic and premium in its stance. Exterior styling is a head-turner for sure.
Maruti Baleno Interiors:
Step inside the Baleno and you instantly notice the all-black, sporty color theme. Spaciousness is the key element in the cabin. The black dashboard has a flowy design to it, with silver matte-finish inserts curving along the center dash and around the AC vents. The instrument cluster is neatly designed with twin pods that get a thin chrome ring on them. Instrumentation on these pods come with a soft blue glow on them and a soft blue glow line also runs on top of the cluster. There is also a 4.2-inch LCD MFD (Multi Function Display) placed between the twin pods. This reads out all the needed information and warning displays intelligently and clearly. The MFD shows you the clock, average speed, power/torque figures, average fuel economy etc.
The steering is a three-spoke design with a dash of thin chrome pin-striping to highlight its styling. The steering can be adjusted for height and reach manually. You get the multi-function control command buttons placed here, and also separate buttons to activate voice commands and control telephony, placed just under these buttons. The center console on the dash gets a 7-inch touchscreen display. Baleno becomes the first car in India to get the Apple CarPlay system. Apart from the regular Audio, Navigation, Phone connectivity etc., the Apple CarPlay is the one feature that stood out. You just need to connect your Apple iPhone using a USB or Bluetooth, and your entire phone is mirrored into this system and displayed on the screen. You can connect to your phone calls, messages, browse contacts, play music, check mails etc. via this unique CarPlay feature. Above all, you can also access the Apple Siri voice command feature directly to your car’s CarPlay system.
Just below the center display screen is the single-zone climate-control unit with a digital temperature display in round. The climate-control unit buttons come in silver with silver body surrounds. The center console comes with a thick silver band insert that surrounds the entire area. The gear shifter is a short throw one with a glossy finish on it. There are a lot of storage places in front of the shifter and a closable storage compartment beside the handbrake, that also doubles up as an armrest when closed. The Baleno gets black-finish fabric upholstered seats. The driver’s seat gets height adjusts on it. The front seats are comfortable and offer good under-thigh support. The headrests are XXL sized in a square shape. Headroom and shoulder room is abundant on the front seats.
The rear seats get adjustable twin headrests, and these seats can be folded at 40:60 split configuration. Seats at the rear offer good seating comfort and lots of leg room, shoulder room and under-thigh support. A foldable armrest is missing on the rear seat. Door pads on the Baleno get fabric trimming along with thick silver line inserts. The rear tiny quarter-glass makes the cabin appear roomier and also helps get in a bit more light to the all-black cabin. The Baleno has a boot space of 339 liters which can be increased by folding down the rear seats when needed. The cabin on the Baleno is well-appointed, feels good and the CarPlay system stands out as the biggest USP of this car.
Maruti Baleno Engine, Transmission and Drive:
The Baleno comes powered by two engine and two transmission options. You have the flagship diesel variant powered by the renowned tried and tested 1.3-litre DDiS diesel engine that makes 74BHP and has 190Nm of torque. The diesel Baleno comes with a 5-speed manual transmission. The petrol version of the Baleno gets the 1.2-litre K-Series engine that develops 83BHP and has 115Nm of torque. The petrol Baleno gets a 5-speed manual gearbox too and a new CVT Automatic transmission. Maruti Suzuki claims an ARAI fuel efficiency figure of 27.39Km/L for the diesel and 21.4Km/L for the petrol Baleno.
The diesel Baleno drives very spiritedly, thanks to the light kerb weight. The engine is very responsive once it crosses the second gear and the car gets into a confident drive mode. The gear ratios are well spaced-out, while power delivery is good. On highways, the Baleno feels planted and firm to handle high speeds. The cabin is well-insulated and refinement levels are neat. There is a small amount of turbo-lag below the 2000RPM mark, after which the speed delivery is very linear. The DDiS engine is free-revving and can be pushed beyond the 5000RPM with ease.
The petrol Baleno powered by the 1.2 K-Series engine is an amazing unit. It is one of the highly refined motors for this capacity. The engine is a bit lighter too as compared to its diesel counterpart and this also helps in its refinement and spirited performance. The power and refinement is evident and very impressive.
The automatic version of the Baleno comes with the CVT gearbox. This is one of the best CVT that you can get. Unlike any other CVT, the Baleno’s CVT is eager and powerful, right from the word go. The USP of this CVT is the power available at low speeds. We noticed this soon into our drive while doing city limits. Just a small input on the throttle and the CVT Baleno surges ahead. The ‘so called’ rubber-band effect traditionally felt on CVTs is less evident on this one.
The Baleno petrol and diesel drive very maturely and in fact, often feel like proper sedans to drive. Braking is aided by ABS and EBD available across all variants and trims. The brake feedback was good and confident. The ride quality as mentioned is superb and confident boosting at high speeds. The Baleno has a neatly tuned suspension setup that rules over the bumps and the thuds thrown at it. The steering feedback is good, with Maruti Suzuki definitely putting in some efforts to make it this lively. We are told by Maruti Engineers that the Indian spec Baleno gets 170mm of ground clearance, as compared to 150mm on the European specs versions, to help it glide over bumpy Indian roads.
Maruti Baleno Verdict:
Maruti Suzuki has come a long way since the original Baleno of the late 90s. Everything on this New Baleno is modern, practical and in tune for today’s motoring times. The futuristic CarPlay feature is unique and addictive. The tried and trusted engine options do not disappoint, while the CVT option is the best in class. The looks are trendy, while the cabin is very well appointed and loaded with practically everything that’s needed. Safety is unmatched with all the variants from the starting base also coming with front two airbags and ABS with EBD as standard. The Baleno is a well-built and intelligently packaged car. It has all the virtues of being a sure winner from Maruti Suzuki when launched on the 26th of October and to be sold through its Nexa Premium dealerships. We expect Maruti to price the Baleno starting at Rs. 5.75 lakhs and going up to Rs. 8.30 lakhs for the top-end diesel bang on rivaling the Honda Jazz and the Hyundai Elite i20.
Maruti Baleno Pics Gallery:
Maruti Suzuki Baleno has successfully managed to crack the premium hatchback market.
Pics – Ritesh Madhok
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