Live collection - Suzuki Baleno GSR

[They_all_do_that_sir]

I think I grew out of making cars faster a long time ago. To go fast you need a motorbike, 0-60 in less than 3 seconds is something that most supercars dream of, but you can get a bike this quick for less than 2 grand.

 

I quite like driving a car within its own limits, I didn't get disappointed as the Land Rover didn't corner like the Ginetta, you just enjoy the character of each car as it is. Having said that I do swap cars quite often...

No I agree, Twas more an observation as the bolt on bits of such an upgrade are there.

 

Even my humble yamaha XJ600 is faster than most cars, when I got into bikes any desire for a fast car left the building - they redefine FAST

[mouseflakes]

I like these. The saloon is quite distinctive from the rear with a sort of semi-Kamm tail thing going on.

 

[KruJoe]

The estate's not bad looking either:

 

 

Like a mini-V40

[brickwall]

I do like the estate. Proof that estates can be much more appealing.

[Lacquer Peel]

[garethj]

Is that a Suzuki in the video? I had a bit of a crisis when I drove into town at lunchtime, would I be able to find the car in a car park? They aren't very distinctive.

 

A nice drive today, either the battery is knackered or the starter isn't getting enough volts because it turns over slowly. But the heater warmed up quickly, most of the rear demister wires work and it's good on the motorway. I'm usually at 55-60mph which is quiet, but if you drop it into third gear it takes off surprisingly quickly.

 

Steering feel is good but it's not happy with speed bumps, that's probably the difference in suspension for this GSR.

 

The radio, some aftermarket Kenwood is unfathomable, it's in Demo Mode right now so the display is constantly scrolling and flashing. I'll try to download a manual later.

[hairnet]

No I agree, Twas more an observation as the bolt on bits of such an upgrade are there.

 

Even my humble yamaha XJ600 is faster than most cars, when I got into bikes any desire for a fast car left the building - they redefine FAST

hyuk hyuk

 

4-5 or 5 years after passing test - got a go in a 355 ferrari and after the first squirt and stop

 

the first three words out my mouth??

 

not omg or farkin hell mate

 

'is that it'

 

my 600 not even a plastic rocket 4 secs 0-60 and ive seen 155 on the clock in less than a mile

[garethj]

To show what a courteous and caring team I work with, look what one of them did to this month's calendar pic.

He'll regret doing that when I write his appraisal, the sarky fucker

[hairnet]

calendar PORN

[Pillock]

Yeah! Baleno Estate!

Are they actually V40 rear lights? I pass one on my way to Brum as I cut through some little housing estate, and been wondering that for ages.

[KruJoe]

They're not, but a similar style, just a little bit more frumpy.

[inconsistant]

That looks GSR8 4 blending in.

 

Are the headlights actual or are they stuck on NASCAR style?

[HH-R]

I didn't know you could get these in anything other than a saloon, can't remember ever seeing a hatch anyway!

[garethj]

The headlights are actual bits of glass, the styling is taken from such inspirational designs as:

 

 

 

Even Proton had more exciting styling!

 

Time for the first refuel soon, the tank is really small (I hope) because there's only about 300 miles on the tripmeter.  Very different to 500 miles per tank on the Defender and 600 on the Octavia.

[Richard]

 

That's exactly what I thought of when I saw Baleno in the title, I didn't realise they made a hatch.

[Alan_Green]

I can confirm that the earlier ones definitely had real glass headlights. Here is mine after it got in a fight outside a pub. (Hit and run).  They are ace by the way. 

[KruJoe]

Pre-facelift Balenos are prettier, unless they're hit-and-run victims. Grr!

Nice background shite there though.

[garethj]

36.5 mpg according to the phone app, not bad but I think it'll do better after a service.

It handles very nicely, I'm impressed.

[garethj]

A few more fill-ups, 37mpg for the last one which included lots of Italian tune-ups.  There's still some hesitation at light throttle and fast idle when you start up does seem a bit high, but due to my hectic schedule I've only lifted the bonnet to check oil & water.

 

It's a nice drive, the comment earlier about it being like an XR2 but without the half-arsed build quality seems bang on target.

[garethj]

In the mornings the car has recently started to crunch into first and reverse gears, although it's fine on the drive home in the evenings.  I spent a quality 5 seconds of diagnosis last weekend by letting it sit at idle, crunching it into gear and watching the revcounter.  The revs drop a tiny bit which means that the clutch isn't disengaging fully.

 

I had a quick look under the bonnet to make sure it wasn't a cable clutch, because I know how to adjust them, sadly i's hydraulic on these 1.8 engines.  While walking back to the house I'd pretty much decided that it was air in the system, the pushrod doesn't shrink and the clutch arm hadn't got bent, it's air in the system alright.

 

After looking at the manual the adjustment is all at the pedal end and that tells you the distances for free play and all the usual stuff, so I measured it up before getting the EZBleed out (because it's definitely air in the system, oh gosh yes) and the pedal was about 15mm too low!  I adopted the well known "head in the footwell" position which gives you a bad back, bad arm, bruised wrist and sore neck at the same time and adjusted the pushrod as per the book.

 

And now it's all cured, wasn't air in the system at all.

 

Total repair outlay: £0

Total repair time: 10 minutes

 

Not bad for the last 2000 miles.  And it turns out that it was putting on the engine management light because the fuel filler cap wasn't on tight enough

[Alan_Green]

I have a car that crunches in to 1st and reverse only. Now I know what to do. Ta.

[garethj]

An update as it's done about 3000 miles in the last couple of months including 400 miles last weekend.

 

The clutch has had a new master cylinder which seems to have fixed the travel issue more permanently, the fuel neck was replaced and it's had two new front tyres.  For the MoT last week it needed two new CV boots.

 

And that's it, not bad for a car that's 50% older than almost everything else on the road.  Acceleration is nice and lively, handling is obviously better now it's on Bridgestones rather than bald cheapies on the front and other than a couple of days where I wished it had aircon, all is rosy for a daily commute.  Fuel economy hit 41mpg once, but otherwise it's around 38mpg and stays very close to that.

[garethj]

Now passed 62,000 miles so that's about 8000 since I bought it.  The rusty fuel filler neck got replaced with a second hand one back in June, it zipped through its MoT and... you just drive it.  I think the battery will need to be replaced before winter but it couldn't be a more efficient commuter car unless it made me a coffee in the morning.

 

MPG is between 38 and 41 so it's reasonably frugal too.  Seats are v.comfy and radio is still unfathomable.  I've had it about 6 months so due a change but I find the reliability incredibly useful, very nice not to worry about paying out for repairs.

[Bone]

Out of morbid curiosity I do wonder what a cab smells like if you don't fill it with air fresheners so strong you can see the fragrance.

In the early 80's me & Mrs B spent 3 months mooching around in India, and had cause to use a taxi in Mumbai.

 

THE SMELL.

 

No human research could recreate that, it made us cry. That is why taxis have a piece of cardboard dipped in some byproduct that nearly makes you trip.

[garethj]

Another update as I've been driving this recently, Mrs_garethj took the Volvo on holiday for a few weeks so I've used this to get to work.  The Volvo is a diesel and although it accelerates well it's really all over by 4000rpm.  Going back to the Suzuki again I found it a bit sluggish but I'd just started reading The Red Car by Don Stanford from 1954 and how the ace mechanic (called Frenchy) describes how to drive the little sports car in the way that all foreigners spoke in the 1950s.  "You must, ow-you-say, uze all ze revs.  The car, she drives very well but you muzt drive 'er correctly"

 

So instead of driving the Suzuki between 2000 and 4000 revs (because it will trundle along happily in 5th gear at 30mph so you don't need the lower gears) I started driving 'er correctly.  That's loads more fun, not sure how much is in my imagination because of the noise at higher revs but if you keep it between 4000 and 6000 revs it zooms along very nicely.

 

On the ebay pages I've seen a few posts about the early MINIs and thought that maybe it was a good time to own one, but even the Cooper doesn't have as much power as the Suzuki and I can't believe it's lighter so while a MINI would impress my kids more, the little Suzuki is quicker.

 

It's passed 70,000 miles and I put a new battery on it last year, the fuel gauge has stopped working but otherwise it just goes.  The engine management light came on once more but that was solved again by giving the fuel cap an extra tighten, I can live with that kind of reliability.  I've also sorted out the Kenwood radio and got rid of the annoying scrolling text that says DEMO MODE so Radio 4 and podcasts through my mp3 player are much nicer.

[UltraWomble]

Preston plates - I wonder how it made its way to Peterboghorror?

 

I cant think of a Suzuki dealer in Preston though at the time it was sold new - there is one now Chaplehatpegs but that was a Toyota dealers until recently. There is one in Blackburn down Shadsworth that was probably around at the time and the EO moniker seems to be reserved for cars registered on the outskirts of the town (like Chorley, Blackburn, Burnley and Blackpool) so Im going that it originally came from somewhere out of the town itself but wold have been put through the DVLA office at Fullwood when it was still open.

[garethj]

Another year of ownership, it's just failed its MoT on a leaking brake calliper but otherwise it hasn't put a foot wrong.  It needed some front tyres so I got some 1990s style Toyos with that really visible tread pattern.  They grip quite well and make it look like I'm the coolest bloke that 1996 ever had.

 

The new brake calliper should be with me tomorrow and other than a bit of a clonk from (I think) the top shock mount, it's all fine.  Better than fine really because at about 80,000 miles it's still zooming along with gusto when you let that Mazda 1.8 head for the revcounter's red line.  Finding a replacement at anything less than three times the cost is extremely difficult which is probably why I've still got it after all this time.  Me keeping a car for 2 1/2 years is like WilsonWilson keeping one for a month - it's got to be really special.