This is baleno’s long term review.Maruti Baleno has been a huge success for Maruti Suzuki India.It was launched back in July 2015.Maruti Baleno is sold exclusively at Nexa dealership.Maruti has been selling nearly 17,000 units of Baleno every month.

Looks and Features

As Suzuki says,Baleno is based on Liquid Flow design,which looks eye-catching from every angle.The Front of Maruti Baleno gets chrome edges on front grille merging HID Projector Headlamps with LED DRLs.The Rear Profile of Baleno is the most attractive section to look at.Super stylish rear section of the hatchback is due to presence of certain elements like Spoiler,Chrome finish on Tailgate,LED combination Taillights and a hunched Design.Baleno looks wider from it’s back,thanks to the wide bumper.Baleno sits on 16-inch alloys.Side profile looks equally stylish with chrome strip near windows and chrome door handles.Baleno offers first-in-segment UV cut heat absorbing glasses.Also Read:New Creta 2018 Variants Explained:E,E+,S,SX and SX(O)-Features,Price and Launch date

Interior,Space and Comfort

Baleno sports an all black interior with silver inserts.Also there will be black fabric upholstery on door panel and front central console.The front two seats are highly cushioned which offers superb thigh and lumbar support.Although the rear ones are flattish,upright still providing good support.It has massive amount of legroom,shoulder room and good degree of headroom.Baleno does not provide any rear A/C con.The need of the rear vent has been overcomed by effective cooling and good flow of front vents.C-Pillar also ships with quarter glasses.Inspite of black seats,large windows make the hatchback roomy.

Baleno has loads of features.It gets auto dimming IRVM,touchscreen infotainment system supporting apple carplay,android auto,mirror link and navigation.MID screen gets a TFT display.Sunshades on passenger and driver side has vanity mirror with lights.There is ample amount of storage area in the form of bottle holders,map pocket and front armrest with storage,glovebox.Bootspace is 339 litres,second largest in segment after Honda Jazz.

Safety Features

Maruti Baleno is based on HEARTECT platform,rigid and light platform,made up of 41% tensile steel.The features which are standard across all variants are Dual Front Airbags,ABS with EBD,Engine Immobiliser,Security Alarm System,Child seat tether anchorages ISOFIX and Seat Belt Reminder & Buzzer (Driver Side).Other these standard features,baleno has  Rear Defogger,Fog lamps,Wiper with washer and reverse parking camera with sensor.

Variants and Price

Maruti Baleno offers four variants-Sigma,Delta,Zeta and Alpha.Each variant is loaded with tons of features.Delta variant,priced at Rs. 5.98 Lakhs(Ex-showroom,Delhi) for Petrol,Diesel one at Rs. 7.1 Lakhs,is the most value for money variant.Delta is most popular and top selling variant of Baleno.

Prices of Maruti Baleno(Ex-Showroom,Delhi)

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Handling,Ride Quality and Mileage

PETROL

Under the hood,Baleno gets a 1197 cc VVT Engine Petrol producing 83bhp@6000rpm and a torque of 115Nm@4000rpm.Petrol variant of maruti Baleno is available in both manual and automatic transmission.In Baleno long term review,we found that the gear shift was super smooth and has short throw of gears.Petrol motor is fun to drive and loves to rev.We were getting on-road mileage of 14-15kmpl with A/C and normal city traffic,and on highways,18-19kmpl.The steering wheel carries quite a weight and handles like a sports car.Automatic version of Petrol is not as peppy initially as manual one,things gets better when you grab up the pace.

DIESEL

Baleno also gets a Fiat-sourced 1.3L DDiS Diesel Engine,having power of 74bhp@4000rpm and torque of 190Nm@2000rpm.Diesel motor is only available in Manual Transmission.Baleno borrows the same from Maruti Dzire and swift.The trusted diesel motor was like a cream to drive.Talking about Baleno long term review of Diesel motor,it is refined and offers good initial output figures.It’s only when you reach triple digits,you could hear some engine noise entering the cabin.Maruti claims an all-time high mileage of 27.39kmpl.It gave us around 19-21kmpl in city driving.For highways it gave 25-26kmpl with air-con kept on nearly all the time.

High speed stability of baleno is excellent.Maruti has tweaked the suspension after some time of launch of this car,which handles large potholes and bumps to a large extent easily.

Competitors

Maruti baleno comes in hatchback segment.It competes with Hyundai elite i20,Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz.Also Read:Baleno vs i20 2018 Comparison

Verdict

if you want a car with endless features at a budget price,low on maintenance and high on mileage,with loads of space inside the cabin,secured with enough safety features,you can go for Maruti Baleno.Regarding petrol or diesel motor,it depends upon your requirements,whether you need high fuel efficiency or a fun to drive car for city traffic.

Also Read:Baleno Facelift Features and Launch Date

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