2022 Maruti Baleno RS imagined: What it’ll look like

Maruti Suzuki has launched the new generation of the Baleno and it has received a good response from the market. Earlier, they also used to sell h Baleno RS which was discontinued because of stricter emission norms. Since then Maruti has not launched a new Baleno RS. Here, we have a render of what the next generation of Baleno RS might look like.

The rendering has been done by NM tunes and the video has been uploaded on YouTube. The artist takes the new generation of Baleno and starts changing the exterior of the hatchback to make it look like the RS version.

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The artist has only rendered the front of the hatchback. We can see that there is a new bumper that looks more aggressive. There are vertical slats on the sides of the bumper and the air dam is also larger. There is also a front splitter in the lower half of the bumper.

The front grille is the same one as the regular Baleno but now the chrome strip has been blacked-out. The Suzuki logo also has a hint of grey in it. There are two small fog lamps placed in the bumper to increase the light throw during nighttime. On the sides, there are new sporty alloy wheels and door handles and outside rearview mirrors finished in black. It is important to note that Maruti Suzuki has no plans to launch the RS version of the 2022 Baleno. The rendering has been done by the artist based on his imagination.

Baleno RS

Maruti Suzuki offered the Baleno RS with a 1.0-litre K10 turbocharged petrol engine. It was a three-cylinder unit that Maruti called BoosterJet. It produced 100 bhp of max power and 150 Nm of peak torque. The engine was detuned because of the poor fuel quality of India. The engine was mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. With a weight of just 950 kgs, the Baleno RS felt quite responsive and eager.

There were other mechanical upgrades too. It came with front and rear disc brakes for additional stopping power. The suspension was retuned for better handling and to cope with the additional weight. The RS weighed 60 kgs more than the regular Baleno. So, overall the suspension setup was slightly stiffer than the regular Baleno.

Moreover, there were cosmetic upgrades also. For instance, side skirts, more aggressive front and rear bumpers and a new grille. There were no changes to the 16-inch alloy wheels except for the blacked-out finish. The Baleno RS used to go against Volkswagen Polo GT and Fiat Punto Abarth.

2022 Baleno

Maruti Suzuki just launched the new generation of Baleno in the Indian market. It starts at Rs. 6.35 lakhs ex-showroom and goes up to Rs. 9.49 lakhs ex-showroom. It is offered only with a 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, naturally aspirated petrol engine that produces 990 PS of max power and 113 Nm of peak torque. It comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 5-speed AMT.

There are four variants on offer namely, Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha. You can get the AMT transmission with all the variants except for the base Sigma variant. The Baleno continues to compete against the Hyundai i20, Tata Altroz, Volkswagen Polo, Honda Jazz, Toyota Glanza and the upcoming Citroen C3.

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