Maruti Suzuki Baleno has entered the Indian Book of Records for covering the maximum distance in 24 hours. The Baleno is the best selling premium hatchback in the Indian market. The vehicle was driven by Pranjal Singh.

Pranjal covered 1,883.9 km in just 24 hours. He travelled from Varanasi to Bengaluru, in 23 hours and 4 minutes that too non-stop. He is from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and he was travelling solo when the record was made. The record-breaking drive was done on February 24, 2021.

Before this, the record belonged to Devjeet Saha, who made the record in Tata Altroz which is a premium hatchback from Tata Motors. He travelled from Pune to Satara then Bengaluru and then back to Pune. He covered 1,603 km in 24 hours. You can read more about Devjeet’s story by clicking here.

Speaking of the Baleno, it comes with two engine options. There is a 1.2-litre K-Series and a more powerful 1.2-litre DualJet engine. The K-series petrol engine produces 83 PS of max power and 113 Nm of peak torque. It is offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a CVT gearbox. Then there is the DualJet engine that produces 90 PS of max power and a peak torque output of  113 Nm. It is only offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox.

The DualJet engine is not offered with an automatic transmission, but it does come with Smart Hybrid technology. The hybrid tech essentially has an integrated starter generator which enables the Baleno to have an idle start/stop feature. So, when you come to a stop, the vehicle shuts the engine down after 5-10 seconds and as soon as press the clutch the vehicle starts the engine again. This helps in saving some fuel. It also comes with a Lithium-ion battery and a Lead Acid battery that can provide torque assist function when you are coasting.

This technology helps in saving fuel consumption and increased fuel economy. Due to which the DualJet engine delivers an ARAI rated fuel efficiency of 23.87 kmpl. Whereas the K-series engine’s fuel efficiency is 21.01 kmpl as per ARAI for the manual gearbox and for the CVT it is 19.56 kmpl.

Maruti Suzuki offers the Baleno in four variants. There is Sigma, Delta, Zeta and Alpha. The CVT gearbox is offered with the Delta, Zeta and Alpha. The DualJet engine with SHVS is offered only with the Delta and the Zeta variant. So, if you want all the bells and whistles then you won’t be able to opt for the more fuel-efficient and powerful DualJet engine.

The Baleno is packed with features too. It comes with an LED projector headlamps with LED Daytime Running Lamps, LED tail lamps, front footwell illumination, auto-folding outside rearview mirrors, front foglamps, auto-dimming interior rearview mirror, automatic headlamps, rear parking sensors with reversing parking camera, keyless entry, push-button to start/stop, Smart Key, automatic climate control and a lot more. There is also a SmartPlay touchscreen infotainment system that comes with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Maruti Suzuki Baleno starts from Rs. 5.90 lakhs ex-showroom for the base Sigma variant and goes up to Rs. 9.10 lakhs ex-showroom for the Alpha CVT variant. The Baleno competes with Toyota Glanza, Tata Altroz and the Hyundai i20.