Here's a Swanky Maruti Zen Carbon With The Baleno's Heart

Maruti Zen is one of the most iconic hatchbacks to be ever sold in India. It was the first-ever hot-hatch we had in India, and although it didn’t have a very powerful engine, its handling was certainly the most exciting aspect. Some auto enthusiasts, however, decided that the lack of power won’t do, and the Zen is deserving of a more powerful engine. Here, we have one such example.

The car you see here is a Maruti Zen Carbon, a limited edition, 3-door version of the hatchback. The owner of the car, Suneet, posted these pictures on Stay Tuned India’s Facebook page. There are plenty of mechanical as well as aesthetic changes made to it, which we shall discuss here, starting with the latter. The exterior of the car sports a custom paint job in “Midnight Purple” colour. The wheels are also custom, 13-inch units shod with 165/65 tyres. On the inside, we see Kahn Design leather interior, with a dark colour scheme.

The engine of the Zen has been swapped with the one from the Baleno sedan- a 1.6-litre, naturally aspirated, inline-4 motor capable of generating 94 PS and 135 Nm of peak power and torque, respectively. This particular model though, has performance parts installed. There’s a K&N air intake, an Automech stainless steel exhaust, custom dampers, and high-lift camshaft. As such, we believe there must be some power gain, but the figures have not been not stated. Also, the brakes have been updated, and are sourced from the Maruti Esteem. To strengthen the structure, the car also gets a reinforced chassis and bodyshell. Overall, we’d say that this Zen is one of the most tastefully modified cars we’ve seen in a while.

As for the stock Maruti Zen Carbon, it came with a 1.0-litre, naturally aspirated, inline-4, ‘G10’ engine, which produced a maximum power of 60 PS and a peak torque of 78 Nm. This engine was the same as the one on the regular Zen, which had another engine option- a Peugeot-sourced 1.5-litre ‘TUD5’ diesel unit. It was a naturally aspirated, inline-4 motor, with only 58 PS and 96 Nm on tap. A 5-speed manual gearbox was the only transmission on offer here.