Maruti Baleno RS: 10 Things You Must Know

Last updated on January 26, 2019

The undisputed car king of India, Maruti Suzuki is basking in high success of all its new products. This is not new for Maruti Suzuki, as the Indo-Japanese car major is very much used to success and amazing sales figures for a lot of its models. Maruti is the most trusted car brand in India and all its new products invariably get great attention and garner superb sales volumes. However, while all new launches from Maruti get the buyers attention and witness great demands in the initial months post their market launch, a number of these models also witness slight to significant fall in their average monthly sales later. Nevertheless, most of the Maruti cars continue to sell very well excepting a few unfortunate ones. However, all the latest models of Maruti Suzuki have not faced decreased demands, and by new launches we mean the Vitara Brezza subcompact SUV that launched in March 2016 and the Baleno premium hatchback that launched back in October 2015. Although the recently launched Ignis is a great crowd puller too, there is still time to ascertain its long term success, as Maruti just launched it in January 2017. The Baleno and the Vitara Brezza has been launched for some time now, but there’s no fall in demand for these two models. In fact, the Ignis and the Baleno RS’ 2016 launch in India could not happen due to the heavy bookings backlogs of these two cars all through last year. And as the high demands for the existing Baleno continues, Maruti Suzuki is all braced to launch the sporty Baleno RS.

The Maruti Suzuki Baleno, despite being in the Indian market for over a year now continues to be one of the bestsellers in Maruti’s stable. The Baleno premium hatchback went on to become no less than a game changer for its maker. Although the Ciaz sedan became the first successful premium model for Maruti, the Baleno was the first amazing success in Maruti Suzuki’s new range of premium cars that is offered for sale exclusively through its premium Nexa showrooms across India. The Baleno became an instant success with its fresh new design language, great interior space, a plethora of premium features, reliable performance and not to mention the massive brand name and trust attached to Maruti Suzuki. The Baleno with all its qualities wooed the Indian premium hatchback buyers and is beating the long time segment leader and its toughest rival Hyundai Elite i20 in terms of monthly sales. Now, the sportier avatar of the Baleno is just about to hit the India and is going to join the hot hatchback bandwagon. The new Maruti Baleno RS will offer a more exciting drive experience along with sportier looks which is certainly going to further increase the demands of the Baleno in India.

Maruti Suzuki first introduced the Baleno RS to India along with the Ignis at the Auto Expo 2016. Now, the much awaited Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS is ready to hit the Indian market in March, 2017. Maruti Suzuki has already opened the online bookings for the Baleno RS towards the end of February. All the prospective Baleno RS buyers can book the car through the NEXA website for a payment of Rs. 11,000. Now, just as the Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS is about to officially launch in India, we are letting you know the 10 things that you should know about this hot avatar of the Baleno.

Take a look:

1. Maruti first displayed the Baleno RS in the country as a concept model at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo. The sportier model was shown alongside the recently launched mini crossover Ignis. Both the Baleno RS and the Ignis were expected to be launched by the end of 2016, but the huge bookings and skyrocketing demands for the existing Baleno and Vitara Brezza pushed these launches to 2017.
2. The real attraction of the Baleno RS and the reason this version deserves to flaunt the RS badge is the new 1.0 liter BoosterJet petrol engine from Suzuki. The specifications of the car recently leaked to offer a look at this 3-cylinder, turbocharged petrol mill, but it has also come to light that it has been tuned to offer less power for India, as it will offer 100 bhp of power and 150 Nm of torque. Internationally it delivers 112 bhp and of 175 Nm. However, the Baleno RS will still be the most powerful hatchback from Maruti’s stable.
3. Its power figures put the Baleno RS in the hot hatchback segment and make very similar in terms of power to its primary competitor the Volkswagen Polo GT TSI. The Polo GT TSI comes with a 1.2 L petrol mill with 7 Speed DSG Automatic gearbox offering 104 bhp of power and 175 Nm of torque.
4. The Baleno RS will continue getting equipped by the same 5 speed manual transmission that its standard version gets, and it is expected to really amuse the purists.
5. Post its Indian launch, the Baleno RS will also go up against the other hot hatch models Ford Figo 1.5L petrol and Fiat Abarth Punto.
6. Maruti Suzuki has been extensively testing the Baleno RS in India and this ensured that the car was always in news with innumerable spy shots.
7. When styling is concerned, the soon to launch Baleno RS will look similar to regular counterpart. However, but will get some sportier cosmetic updates such as a wider chrome honeycomb front grille, Bi-Xenon LED headlights, muscular bumper design, sportier alloys and RS logo to differentiate it from the stock hatchback.
8. The Baleno RS cabin styling will also remain largely similar to the regular version, although there will be subtle design updates including bucket seats, new upholstery, more stylish dashboard design, etc.
9. The RS version will also offer new added features including an updated SmartPlay infotainment system with Apple CarPlay support, aluminium finished pedals and more.
10. The Baleno RS will launch on 3^rd of March, 2017 with an expected price range of Rs. 8 lakhs to Rs. 9.5 lakhs.