Maruti has discontinued the Baleno RS ahead of the upcoming BS6 norms. The hot hatch came with a 1.0 Litre turbo-petrol engine.
Maruti Baleno RS is a performance-oriented version of the regular Baleno. Maruti has equipped it with a 1.0 Litre three-cylinder Boosterjet turbo petrol engine. This engine was specially imported from Japan for the RS.
Due to the poor demand, there will be no BS6 Maruti Baleno RS launching soon. Due to the upcoming BS6 norms, the engine is proven costly to upgrade and also, since there is no demand, bringing it back does not seem fulfilling to the manufacturer. When confirmed it with dealerships, they said that leftover stocks are still remaining at heavy discounts.
Maruti Baleno RS produces 101.9 PS at 5,500 RPM and 150 Nm of peak torque at 4500 RPM. The motor comes mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. In comparison, the normal Baleno comes with a 1.2 Litre K12B four-cylinder petrol motor, producing 83 BHP.
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Maruti launched the Baleno RS back in 2017 and gave it a minor facelift in 2019. The RS looked just a wee bit different from the regular Baleno. For starters, the RS gets body-kit type bumpers, side skirts, sporty mesh grille and an all-black interior. The pre-facelift version also got blacked out alloys.
The facelift was priced at Rs 8.76 Lakhs, however, a couple of months back, its prices were reduced by nearly a Lakh. It is amongst the top-end petrol variants of Baleno and also amongst one of the costliest hatches in the segment.
Maruti Baleno RS goes against the likes of Volkswagen Polo GT TSI and Tata Tiago JTP. Obviously, for most of the buyers, Polo GT TSI builds up as the best choice. The Polo runs on a 1.2 Litre turbocharged petrol engine, producing 103 BHP and 172 Nm. It comes paired to a 7-speed DSG.
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As for the Tiago JTP, it is even powerful than the Polo. Packed with a 1.2 Litre three-cylinder turbo-charged engine, it produces 115 BHP. Soon, Hyundai is going to launch the new generation i20, which will also get a turbo-petrol motor.
