RS model adds good cheer to Baleno
The Suzuki Baleno is still cheap and spacious, but the new RS model is cheerful too, reports David Linklater.
So this is more like it. When we evaluated the latest Suzuki Baleno last year, we had a hard time hiding our disappointment over the lacklustre powertrain. So hard in fact that we didn’t bother hiding it at all.
To recap, the built-in-india Baleno is based on a fancy new Total Effective Control Technology (TECT) platform, more recently shared with the Ignis and new-gen Swift, which is light and strong.
Baleno’s other claim-to-fame is that it’s supermini-sized on the outside (less than four metres long), but offers as much passenger and luggage space as a Toyota Corolla.
It’s still all that: a carefully engineered, cleverly packaged little thing. What it wasn’t at launch last year was any fun.
While other markets were offered some pretty interesting powertrain choices, the Kiwimarket Baleno was saddled with a familiar 1.4-litre mill (okay for a cheap car) and four-speed automatic transmission (unacceptable for a new-model at any price, really). Deep sigh.
And now let out a little round of applause, because Suzuki New Zealand has introduced a Boosterjet version of the Baleno.
The so-so 1.4-litre model continues in GLX and Limited guises, but the new Baleno RS borrows a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine (that’s the ‘‘Boosterjet’’) and six-speed automatic gearbox from the latest Swift RS.
As with Swift, while this is a smaller-capacity engine, it’s higher up the pecking order. So very much higher. The 1.0-litre triple has over 20 per cent more power and torque than the 1.4-litre lump in the lesser models, serving up 82kw/160nm. It’s faster but also more economical, with Combined fuel consumption of 5.2 litres per 100km.
This engine is as brilliant in Baleno as it is the sister Swift. It’s full of odd-cylinder aural character and if you think such a small engine should be short on low-speed torque – well, think again. That 160Nm is delivered from 1500rpm right through to 4000rpm.
You do still find yourself working the engine and gearbox harder than you would in the LTD model, but that’s because it revels in a… rev, and the spread of ratios makes brisk driving a pleasure rather than a chore.
The Baleno has always had a decent chassis – that combination of light weight (kerb weight is under a tonne) and high strength. With such a fizzy powertrain installed the little Suzuki likes a corner more than ever.
As a Baleno with a powertrain upgrade, the RS is a no-brainer. It’s just $1000 more than the LTD and even with current specials for the latter putting $2000 between the pair, it’s hard to make a case for the larger-engined (but so much lesser) model.
For all that, it’s still a little hard to know what to make of the Baleno RS. The name suggests a sporty kind of thing Indeed, Suzuki NZ’S blurb for this new Baleno says it’s ‘‘so spirited it deserves the sporting RS badge’’.
Which is all very well, but it doesn’t actually have one. An RS badge, that is.
In fact, unlike the Swift RS, there’s very little to identify this as anything special.
The alloy wheels are in a smoky finish which looks good but isn’t exactly obvious, and they’re the same 16-inch size as
the Baleno LTD. Bit more braking power with discs all-round as well – standard Balenos have drums at the rear. No, really.
There are gas-discharge headlamps with daytime running lights, and the door mirrors have integrated turn signals. And that’s about it. Maybe that makes sense for a model that’s definitely the conservative choice in Suzuki’s small-car lineup. If you value style over space you’d almost certainly buy a Swift instead: it has much less of the latter but a lot more of the former.
The Swift RS is exactly the same price as this Baleno but offers even more equipment, including camera-based stuff like adaptive cruise control, lanedeparture warning and high-beam assist.
Safety is the other sticking point with Baleno. It’s not been crash-tested/evaluated by Australasian NCAP, but Baleno only gets a three-star rating from European NCAP in the specification we get in NZ. It goes up to four with a radar-based brake-support package offered in Europe (but not in NZ).
You do get some worthwhile upgrades inside the Baleno RS.
The steering has telescopic adjustment – the only Baleno to have this feature, which is more an indictment of the rest of the range than a compliment to the RS. There are also paddle-shifters attached to the wheel for the sixspeed gearbox. The air conditioning is climate-controlled.
In the main instrument binnacle you get a colour display with graphics for engine performance and economy, plus a g-force meter! Might have gone off track a bit with that last thing.
The Baleno is still primarily a cheap-and-spacious hatchback. It’s just that with the RS model, it’s now quite cheerful as well.