SUZUKI BALENO GLX TURBO
TEST DRIVE
Exterior
The Baleno on the outside is a fairly
conventional-looking family hatchback. It’s
slightly larger than the Swift and less dynamic
and edgy in styling. I read online that the
Swift is Suzuki’s “heart” appeal model while
the Baleno is the “head” appeal model.
Simple sculpted lines, flashings of chrome
here and there and a general hatchback
silhouette are the norm here. A discrete roof
spoiler is present too, and the Baleno rolls
on 16-inch alloys which seem about the right
size for its body. It’s got 120mm of minimum
ground clearance too, I read in the spec
sheet. All-in-all, a well-rounded package.Mech & Tech
The 1.0L “Boosterjet” turbo engine
is an evolution of Suzuki’s K10 engine
family. Called the K10C DITC, it’s got three
cylinders, twelve valves, direct injection and
is turbocharged. All this allows the 998cc
mill to put out a competitive 110bhp at
5,500rpm and 160Nm of
twist between 1,500 and
4,000rpm – the working
range of a car during
regular transport duties.
The brochure claims this is
a 100% Japanese engine
coupled to a Japanese
6-speed automatic
transmission which offers
steering-mounted paddle
shifting as well. Drive is
to the front as can be
expected.
Steering is via an
electrically assisted rack.
The suspension is the
traditional MacPherson
strut front Torsion Beam
rear set up. The braking is
via ventilated disk up front
and solid disk at the rear, a
departure from the Indianmarket Baleno which has drums at the rear.
Driving Experience
Step aboard, and it’s a fairly upright
driving position at first. However, you can
lower the seat cushion and get down a bit.
Visibility is decent all-round and the major
controls fall to hand easily. Once you have
adjusted your mirrors you are ready to go!
From the outset, the little turbo triple
offers decent urge at city speeds and
the gearbox’ brain judges the ratios well
depending on your needs. Kickdown is
quick when you need it, and the gearbox
software seems to be tuned neither towards
eco freak nor redline revver but a middle
ground. Under full throttle, the engine will rev
to around 5,500rpm before shifting up (the
rpm at which peak bhp is made, incidentally).
It’s fairly quiet at middling revs too, venture
above 4,000rpm and you hear the distinctive
thrum of a three-pot, but it never gets loud
or intrusive. It picks up speed decently too.Several times I looked down at the speedo
to see a higher figure than I expected, and it
can easily get up to and maintain triple digits
without fuss. There is cruise control and a
speed limiter as well. I tried the cruise control
at 70km/h and it held the speed relatively
tightly.
In terms of vibration, a little is apparent
as you set off, and another resonance-
type vibration sometimes manifests when
cruising at around 1,500rpm in a high gear.
Of course, these are things that are common
to small capacity three-cylinder engines and
at all other times the engine is smooth and
relatively vibration-free.
What about those paddles? Flick one
while in D and the car will revert to Manual
mode temporarily, or you can “lock” it in
manual mode by moving the shifter one step
down to M. However, the manual mode of
this gearbox is not what you’d expect. I’d call
it a “trainer manual”, as it has some clearly
set boundaries that you cannot exceed.
For example, you cannot
shift up below 2,000rpm.
Floor the throttle and the
gearbox will shift down
immediately, instead of
holding the selected gear.
And when you give it full
throttle in what it deems to
be an appropriate gear, it
will automatically call for an
upshift around 5,700rpm
without holding that gear.
Why I call it a “trainer
manual” is because it
seems to teach the basics
of driving a manual car- don’t shift up too early,
don’t rev the engine too
much, shift down when
you want to overtake...I’d
prefer more control in
Manual mode, but it won’t
matter to the average
Motor
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