[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by bimbrahw

Unlike the old Premier Padminis & Ambassadors, the modern day cars have crumple zones built into them to keep the occupants safe even though the car may absorb all the impact and crumple up. Coupled with safety features like air bags these modern day cars are very safe and built for occupant safety and fuel efficiency. Atleast I am not bothered by these videos.

Its been said many times by others and I repeat, sheet metal has nothing to do with crumple zones..nothing. The construction varies per brand but usually the crumple zone consists of aluminium as the front barrier in the car frame, supported by 'extra high strength steel' (with a resistance of 400+ megapascals) and as a last barrier between the engine dock and the cabin, AHSS is used with a strength of 550-990+ megapascals. The steel which has a resistance of over 1000 megapascals is called Gigapascal steel and is used as the running board frame, roll-cage frame and certain other areas as desired by the manufacturer. In the scheme of frame structure, sheet metal has nothing much to do, engineers ignore it almost completely. It can be as loose or hard as the manufacturer desires it to be, again there is a range there starting from 20 gauge (.9 mm) to 18 gauge (1.2 mm) and 16 gauge (1.5 mm) and so on. Stiffer sheet metal, as mentioned by others, help in day-to-day situations which are the minor sorts, at the same time they weigh more than thinner gauges so its strictly a call of the manufacturer.

Source : I was involved in a sheet-metal factory project as an operations guy.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

We BHPians like to keep our cars as pristine as possible. And it won't be possible if cars getting small dings and dimples for some strange reasons. Imagine a person who has rested himself on your car's door leaving a very small dent. None of the Balenos I have seen are completely free of dings and dimples. If looked from the side, you will notice a ripple sort of thing on the surface. That is definitely not a pleasant thing to look at.

I agree, and perhaps this wasn't so in the late 90's early 00's models of the company. As a kid I remember leaning on the 800, sitting on the bonnet, playing with tennis ball near the car and having it hit the car so many times, nothing happened. We were quite careless with the car but at the same time maintained it well. It left our home in pristine condition and the panels were all straight. The recent trend of expanding the car dimensions to ridiculous levels yet within a budget is forcing the company to do such short cut jobs which is unacceptable for lack of a better term.

Originally Posted by wantedDoA

Agree about the crumple zone but every modern car has it. The super light sheet metal can not be justified in that approach. No matter what you put underneath, the weak skin will be perceived as less that average build quality.

Agree.

[jetsetgo08]

The video, certainly does not appease those who are concerned about the aesthatics of the car. Surprisingly, even my 2009 alto has better sheet metal. But what is more important is the presence of ABS, Airbags and crumple zones as many of you already mentioned. So, if I were a buyer I would not be too conscious about the few dimples/scratches which are inevitable considering our driving habits and traffic scenarios.

Originally Posted by wantedDoA

Agree about the crumple zone but every modern car has it.
However, my point of last post was that I can't bend my Dec 2016 zeta's doors like in that video. Could it be changes in the sheet thickness or that guy is super strong?

The car in the video seems to be atleast an year old. Your car is fresh out of factory, it might take a while for it to acclimatize itself to the extreme temperatures(both winter & summer).

[bimbrahw]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Its been said many times by others and I repeat, sheet metal has nothing to do with crumple zones..nothing. The construction varies per brand but usually the crumple zone consists of aluminium as the front barrier in the car frame, supported by 'extra high strength steel'Stiffer sheet metal, as mentioned by others, help in day-to-day situations which are the minor sorts, at the same time they weigh more than thinner gauges so its strictly a call of the manufacturer..



Agree.

You are bang on the point. Agree.

[y2ksrs]

Is the CVT gearbox still being imported, or is it being manufactured/assembled locally?

[dheepak10]

The video is scary to look at.

I did try the same on a Baleno Zeta at the Nexa Showroom, when I walked in on the past Saturday.

Even with ample pressure applied by me, using the same two thumb method in the video, I could hardly get the panel to flex. Tried this at various spots on both the front and back door. Also, this didn't create any dimples on the car.

Either there is a problem with the car in the video or Maruti has improved the tensile strength of the steel door.

I went ahead and tried the same on the Ignis's front door as well and was able to get a minor flex with the same effort, nothing that was alarming though.

And went further and tried this on the S-Cross as well and there was no flex in this case as well.

PS: I do strength training on a regular basis and tried with all my strength applied through my thumbs

[anupneelay]

Hello Guys, I have done almost 5000 km's on my Baleno (in around 3 months of time) and have given it for the 2nd servicing today. My query is, how much amount do you guys think will it cost for the second servicing, considering the fact that the car is not having any issues as such and it's just a routine servicing that I'm carrying out. The service center advisor has quoted around Rs. 1600, which I think is a bit on the higher side as nothing is supposed to be replaced or changed and, since its a free service, so no labor charge should also be involved. thoughts??

[autospeaker]

Originally Posted by anupneelay

Hello Guys, I have done almost 5000 km's on my Baleno (in around 3 months of time) and have given it for the 2nd servicing today...
The service center advisor has quoted around Rs. 1600

For me, it cost 30rs. I am really not sure what is done for your car such that the amount is 1600. Please ask clearly for the particulars.
FYI, wheel rotation was done on my car on the second service (which incidentally, was a week ago), but I refused for the wheel balancing to be done at MASS.

[anupneelay]

Originally Posted by autospeaker

For me, it cost 30rs. I am really not sure what is done for your car such that the amount is 1600.
FYI, wheel rotation was done on my car on the second service (which incidentally, was a week ago), but I refused for the wheel balancing to be done at MASS.

Just got a call back from the service center, they said the car is ready and the bill is somewhere around 1250. when I asked about the particulars of the bill, they said they have done wheel alignment and balancing, distilled water, screen wash and one more thing which I can't recollect. will check once I get the bill in my hand.

[Dieselritzer]

HI, i remember in this thread there was a discussion on the Japanese Baleno going through crash test and scoring well, and the Indian Baleno and the Jap one does not have much difference in weight, thus we can assume that the construction and design of Baleno is more efficient and smart where the right rigidity is present at the right places, so that incase of the unthinkable, the design destructs itself, and protects the occupants. Thats the logic of F1 cars right where the car basically absorbs all the impact while protecting the driver.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

HI, i remember in this thread there was a discussion on the Japanese Baleno going through crash test and scoring well, and the Indian Baleno and the Jap one does not have much difference in weight, thus we can assume that the construction and design of Baleno is more efficient and smart where the right rigidity is present at the right places, so that incase of the unthinkable, the design destructs itself, and protects the occupants. Thats the logic of F1 cars right where the car basically absorbs all the impact while protecting the driver.

Even the Japanese Baleno is manufactured in India. Yes, there is not much difference in weight compared to Export variant. Even the Maruti engineers who were testing booster jet Baleno have confirmed to me that sheet metal/ crumple zone design is same on both Indian and export variants.

[Bigzero]

Originally Posted by anupneelay

Just got a call back from the service center, they said the car is ready and the bill is somewhere around 1250. when I asked about the particulars of the bill, they said they have done wheel alignment and balancing, distilled water, screen wash and one more thing which I can't recollect. will check once I get the bill in my hand.

I prefer the local wheel shop ( there are a couple of good ones in my area ) for alignment & balancing, and if I remember correctly, they are cheaper too. I will keep this in mind for my second service to specifically tell them not to do it.

In your case, were you asked whether alignment/balancing needed to be done, or they just did it by default?

[abhinavsureka]

Been using the Baleno for over a year now. Very disappointed with the build quality.
The kind of space and mileage this car offers is amazing, but it feels too flimsy.
Suspension is noisy, have got the tyre pressure set 2 psi lower than recommended, even then it bounces around. Road grip is poor. and plastic quality disappoints.
Is anyone else also facing the same with the suspension?

[Prodigy07]

Originally Posted by abhinavsureka

Been using the Baleno for over a year now. Very disappointed with the build quality.
The kind of space and mileage this car offers is amazing, but it feels too flimsy.
Suspension is noisy, have got the tyre pressure set 2 psi lower than recommended, even then it bounces around. Road grip is poor. and plastic quality disappoints.
Is anyone else also facing the same with the suspension?

Which variant do you own?

The ride quality in Zeta and Alpha variants is definitely very poor as the wheels are 195/55 R16.

Bone jarring ride is felt especially when you travel alone.

I'm maintaining 29psi in all the wheels, still the ride is extremely uncomfortable.

[autospeaker]

Originally Posted by Bigzero

In your case, were you asked whether alignment/balancing needed to be done, or they just did it by default?

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, wheel rotation is done during 2nd service at ~5000kms. Since this is done, MASS asks us if they can go ahead with WB and WA. In my case, I asked them not to do these on my car and hence only the wheel rotation was done. Unfortunately, post this, I can feel a bit of vibrations on triple digit speeds. I need to get WA and WB done now, probably from local shops.
Hope this helps.

[anupneelay]

Originally Posted by Bigzero

I prefer the local wheel shop ( there are a couple of good ones in my area ) for alignment & balancing, and if I remember correctly, they are cheaper too. I will keep this in mind for my second service to specifically tell them not to do it.

In your case, were you asked whether alignment/balancing needed to be done, or they just did it by default?

I had opted for home pick and drop of my car for the servicing. So, when my car reached the service center, the advisor called me and told me the list of things which they will be carrying out. I initially thought that the things which he told are part of the servicing and those needs be done, only to realize later that it is paid and you can very well tell them not to do it. Instead, ask them to just do the basic things and the rest you can do on your own. Just FYI, I got the servicing done from Kothari Wheels Nexa, Chandan Nagar.

BTW, they changed the Air Filters as well, which has costed me some 500 rs. Do they get so unusable in matter of just 3 months??