What would you expect from aMaruti Baleno RS？Or another question: What do you think a Maruti Baleno RS can offer you? This is a question that most people are interested in.
After all, the Maruti Company has enjoyed a high reputation for building affordable cars for a long time and Baleno RS also brings a similar promising hope for those who have a great desire for it but haven' t make an order yet.
The RS edition surely appeals to a lot of buyers due to its average ex-showroom price of Rs.7.88 Lakhs. But the price is not the only thing to influence your choice. So, for those who are still wondering how it feels like to drive Baleno RS, here followed an analysis that can give you a true experience.
The facade is always the first inducement that will catch your eyes, it seems difficult to move your attention away from a beautiful and well-colored car. At the first glance of Baleno RS' s appearance, we can barely find some big differences between the standard Baleno and the RS edition. Compared with the standard Baleno, all the changes in the RS edition focus on the front face and most of them are added for decorations. For example, Baleno RS has made a mesh treatment to its grille and the redesigned front & rear bumpers were squeezed and look sharpener but with a sense of vitality.
If the look of RS merely changed a little bit, then there is scarcely any change, which means no changes in the interior of RS. It is almost the same version of the regular Baleno: all-black interiors, the dashboard layout, the TFT color multi-information display, and the leather-wrapped steering wheel down to the buttons for audio control. Hate to say that, but it' s truly disappointing.
The cabin of RS is as good as ever, but on second thought, who doesn' t want to spend their money wisely? Why do people pay extra money if they were offered the same features? One of the simple examples that form a sharp contrast with RS is The VW Polo GT TSI, which gets sporty black and grey fabric seats with contrast stitching and aluminum pedals, which is not typically an amazing change but still a proof that proved your money was at the right place.
A real and relatively obvious change appears under the hood, which acquires a new 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder Boosterjet petrol engine that produces 102PS of power and 150Nm of torque, which is about 18PS and 35Nm more than the regular edition. It sounds a little bit more powerful than usual, but…that doesn' t sound much attractive. However, the engine, which just upgrades a little bit though, can provide you a smooth wake-up, and an immediate acceleration that offers you a comfortable sense of driving. For the more everyday kind of usage, the engine will feel great to use as there is virtually no turbo lag to contend with.
With the 5-speed transmission on the Baleno RS and the upgraded engine, Baleno RS indeed feels a lot faster and more fun to drive than the standard one, it would be a better choice if you need road journeys or some family union trips. But if you just want daily transportation, we don' t recommend the RS edition. But the launch of Baleno RS is an attempt for Maruti to step into the hatchback segment which is kind of funny because it will be trend-setting if the Maruti could equip more advanced features onto the Baleno RS.
