Rushing to a NEXA outlet early Saturday morning might not be the best thing in the world to do, but hey, it was the Baleno RS. The mistake I made was not going to the regular one I used to go, but a new one. Anyways, let’s talk a li’l ’bout the Baleno carrying that special suffix then.
The first thing you’ll notice is the bumper design, the air dam and the fog lamp housing. The whole setup seems to have been inverted from the regular Baleno, which makes it look wider than it actually is. The dark gray splitter looks like carbon fibre from a distance, and so are the side skirts. The honeycomb grille looks like something from an accessories shop. A little RS badge on that grille could have added a lot more sex appeal.
Same story at the rear-end then. The bumper looks like an aftermarket kit, but adds that essential sporty look. RS badge on the tailgate to let the regular Baleno drivers know who’s the boss.
Same alloys from the regular Baleno, but have been greyed-out for the RS. The problem is, the RS gets disc brakes at all four corners, but with these wheels, they are barely visible. What a missed opportunity!
The spoiler is body colored! Blacked-out ORVMs, sportier alloys, black spoiler, blacked-out roof would’ve taken the RS to a whole new level.
While the exteriors have some visual differentiators, the interiors are exactly the same as the Alpha. There is nothing to tell you that you’re in the RS. Some red contrast stitching and RS badges here and there would have been nicer. SmartPlay infotainment system, auto AC, 4.2-inch MID with power and torque gauge, push-button start/stop, all are there.
The party piece then. When everyone saw the engine bay of the regular Baleno, looking at the space left, they thought of a bigger engine at a later point of time. But Maruti has gone for a smaller 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged unit instead. It produces 101 hp at 5,500 rpm and 150 Nm of torque between 1,700 – 4,500 rpm, paired to a 5-speed manual transmission driving the front wheels.
On papers, the engine might look small for a car of this size, but I think we must drive it to find out what it really is. Because sometimes, great things come in small packages, don’t they? If you still complain about the numbers being small, remember, the RS stands for Road Sport.
While I was enthusiastically exploring the RS a bit more, the GM of the NEXA outlet was furious for some reason, which I wasn’t interested to know anyways.
Exploring new places might not always be a fun thing, but new cars certainly are 😉
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