Suzuki Baleno: Is the GLX worth R50k premium over GL?

While the original plan was to spend six months in the Suzuki Baleno GL, an unexpected turn of events led to a mid-term upgrade to the GLX model.

The swop turned out for the better as it gave The Citizen Motoring the opportunity to play around with all the bells and whistles reserved for the flagship Baleno.

Both are powered by a 77kW/138Nm 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. But the GLX boasts quite a lot of additional specifications as its R281 900 sticker – a R50 000 premium over the GL – suggests.

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The two biggest improvements see the GLX fitted standard with Head-Up display and 360-degree surround view monitor, two features that is not even standard yet on much more expensive cars in premium stables.

Just for the record, these two features are not available in the Toyota Starlet, the Baleno’s production twin.

Setting Suzuki Baleno apart

The Suzuki Baleno’s head-up display consists of a see-through screen that rises out of the dashboard directly above the instrument cluster.

This allows the driver to see information like vehicle speed, engine speed, gear position, instant fuel consumption and warning like low fuel without having to take his or her eyes off the road to look at the instrument cluster.

There are various display options to choose from, while the brightness and position can be adjusted. It can also be stowed away via a button on the dashboard.

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The 360-degree Round View Monitor shows the car’s surroundings captured by the front, rear and side cameras which are located underneath the side mirrors. The driver can select to see the view from each of the individual cameras or a virtual 360-degree projection when parking or moving at low speeds.

The 360-degree display comes in very handy when reverse parking in the Suzuki Baleno as it shows the actual lines of the parking bay, allowing the driver to line up and position the car to perfection.

Additional features

Other upgrades inside the cabin include a nine-inch touchscreen infotainment display replace the GL’s seven-inch screen and a 4.2 colour display that replaces the LCD between the two analog instrument dials. The latter allow access to a range of vehicle information sources such as trip information and fuel economy.

In addition to the GL, the Suzuki Baleno GLX also gets a keyless system with stop/start button, interior lightning in the footwells and boot and puddle lightning in the doors.

On the outside, the GLX boasts LED projector-style headlamps and LED daytime running lights, 16-inch polished alloy wheels and chrome detailing on the door handles.

In addition to the two airbags that comes standard on the GL, the GLX also gets front side airbags and full-length curtain airbags for a total of six airbags.

Value for money

While the addional features come at a premium, taking into consideration that you often have to cough up a lot money for those in addition to the sticker in other cars, the Suzuki Baleno GLX still offers great value for money.

The Baleno GLX manual is sold standard with Suzuki’s popular five-year/200 000 km promotional mechanical warranty and a four-year/60 000 km service plan. Service intervals are every 15 000 km.