A great value for money car !!

 

Exterior The appearance of the car from a distance is better than from close quarters especially the rear side.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Very comfortable and good leg room for an average Indian (5 feet 10 inches).

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox As I write I have now driven my car purchased in January 2005 for over 112,000 kms. Barring two occassions I have always got very good efficiency between 14 to 16 kmpl. This is for a 50 % city and 50 % highway drive bewteen  Mumbai and Thane. On highways and long drives to Goa the car has given fuel efficinecy in excess of 16 kmpl at times even clocking 17.4 kmpl. Low on maintainence - would have spent Rs. 60,000 on change in suspensions. Areas of concern - spare parts avalability since the car has been discontinued and quite a few spares including the suspension has to be sourced from Japan.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Very stable at high speeds - driven at 150 kmph on Mumbai Pune expressway on many occassions. The low car CG helps on the stability front. The sporadic issue of the car scraping the speed breakers is due to the unequal height / non standard speed breaker height. Dont blame the car but the civic authorities !

 

Final Words I will not part with my Baleno till such time spares run out. If possible ride it till 200000 kms. Too difficult to part from this car. Loved the Altura looks especiallly the rear end but could not buy since it was more expensive. If Suzuki offers an Altura today will definately buy it !! Maybe if they offer a brand new Baleno today will still buy another one. A great value for money car !! Don't understand why it was discontinued.

 

Areas of improvement Looks - rear side.

 

Good fuel economy, very comfortable, excellent cooling, Value for MoneyRear side look