The race track is both the best and the worst place to test cars. Before you can begin to test a car on the tarmac, the track is already testing your ego. So, even if you get on to the track with a honed instinct to understand the car at hand, you have subliminally let that take a back seat by the time you are tackling the first corner. Often, it is a fight to keep the challenge going even as you weigh both your and the machine’s limitations.

That is exactly how it seemed when I was peering through the windscreen of the new Baleno RS. I was at the Buddh International Circuit, the F1 circuit in Greater Noida just a few hours after the official launch of the Baleno RS. Maruti Suzuki’s first honest attempt at a hot hatch is barely track ready, but the race track doesn’t discriminate. It is up to the driver to avoid getting distracted and focus on the task at hand. I was shaken out of that distraction when I was into my third lap. By that time it was already clear that the Baleno RS is not really meant for the track, but it was such good fun nonetheless.

Exterior and interior design

The Baleno RS (Road Sport, not rally sport, according to Maruti) is the car market leader’s first attempt at creating what is closest to a hot hatch. In the Indian context, this belongs to the performance category, while elsewhere in the world, this is just one more engine variant of the Baleno; and in most cases meant to help meet more stringent emission norms. But, what is in a name… or should we say an appendage. The numbers should still excite petrol-heads. How does 102 hp of power and 150 Nm of torque sound to you? Not bad for a sub-one-litre engine in a sub-tonne hatch, right?

But, before we get carried away by the new Boosterjet engine and its prowess, let us get past the Baleno RS’s design identity. From a distance, the new sportier version of the Baleno could pass off as the existing model, except maybe from the rear and if you had a keen eye. Maruti Suzuki has chosen to keep the unique features on the RS’s exterior to a fair minimum. It has got a new bonnet grille with a grey metallic chrome surround and a new bumper at the front with what looks like a large airdam and aggressive profile. Faux skirts in the same grey metallic chrome finish run along the sides and under the front fender. The rear features a considerably altered fender compared to the regular Baleno’s. There is also the rear spoiler at the roof and the mid-tail gate chrome half spoiler with the reversing camera in the middle. The only place where the RS appendage is visible is at the rear with the badge in blue. The most unique and good looking feature of the new RS variant are the black alloy wheels.

The changes to the Baleno RS’s cabin are similarly minimal. The interior is offered in an all-black avatar, in keeping with a very sophisticated, European flavour. The touchscreen infotainment screen and the coloured multi-information display in the instrument cluster with the helpful power and torque delivery identified in a real-time circular chart format have both been carried forward from the current Baleno’s cabin. The RS’s cabin is otherwise identical and doesn’t sport any RS identifiers. But the Baleno’s cabin was already a good jump in fit and finish quality.

Performance

The Baleno RS’s new Boosterjet engine is the real story here. It is a three-cylinder, turbo-charged, one-litre petrol engine that delivers both 100-plus horses of power and manages to squeeze out 21.1 kmpl of mileage. Compared to the naturally aspirated 1.2-litre engine in the regular Baleno, which produces about 83 hp, the Boosterjet in the RS manages to make 102 hp. But the real advantage from the direct injection system and the turbocharging is in the amount of low-end torque that is generated. Peak torque of 150 Nm becomes available starting from a low 1,700 rpm and continues to be available in a fairly large band till 4,500 rpm. The redline is set at about 6,300 rpm.

The Boosterjet engine is similar to other direct injection petrol engines. Fuel is directly injected at about 200-bar pressure and a fixed geometry turbocharger takes care of the forced induction — feeding air into the combustion chamber, managing to generate the performance numbers for this three-pot mill. It features a curved cylinder head to increase the swirl and ensure complete combustion. The performance numbers could have been a bit higher if the fuel quality and octane rating was better in India.

On the track, the Baleno RS’s performance surprises with both its refinement and linear acceleration. It is almost impossible to say that it is a three-cylinder since there is none of the vibration or gruff noise, which are the usually giveaways. While there is no special exhaust note to identify this as a RS variant, it is also not noisy like some of the three-cylinders in other hatches. This 998 cc engine is a fairly compact unit too and has been paired with a five-speed manual transmission. The powertrain is about 60 kg heavier than the regular Baleno’s unit, but the RS’s kerb weight is still under one-tonne (950 kg). The entire powertrain is imported from Suzuki Japan.

On the track, the Baleno RS feels much quicker than the regular Baleno. There is no turbolag and power is delivered quick… well, for a hatch in the mass market segment. The comparison can’t be with real performance cars and that is also the reason why Maruti isn’t offering a 0 to 100 kmph time for the Baleno RS. But, getting to three-digit speeds is quick and on the long back straight in the circuit, I could reach 160 kmph or thereabouts before having to brake hard to take the fourth turn. Speaking of braking, the RS gets discs on all four wheels, and the brakes offer decent bite and consistent stopping force. The steering is typical hatchback style with not much feedback, though, putting the RS on the desired spot on tarmac isn’t so much a problem. However, the stock tyres we drove on weren’t that helpful at high speed cornering; they squealed and slipped quite a bit after a few laps.

Bottomline

The Baleno RS’s ride quality is very similar to the regular Baleno. The front suspension has been tweaked a bit with stiffer coils to handle the slight increase in weight. But the track isn’t the best place to test ride quality.

What the Baleno RS lacks in is drama. I would have liked to have seen more visual differentiators at least. More so, because there is nothing aurally different about the new engine. But, the bottomline is that the Baleno RS is still firmly in the premium small car segment; it is just a level sportier than its regular variant. And that is a perfectly good position to be in. At least, it is a start for Maruti Suzuki to plan real RSs in the future. Next, can we get a true blue RS on the Swift please?

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