Hyundai i20 and Maruti Baleno Drag Race - VIDEO

The new-gen Hyundai i20 was launched last year in India. The new-gen model has instantly garnered the attention of the customers with its fresh and attractive design. For the new-gen model, the Hyundai i20 gets three engine options, a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol, 1.0-litre petrol and a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel engine. By offering a wide range of powertrain options, Hyundai expects to cater to the needs of a broader customer range. Hyundai i20’s main rival is the Maruti Baleno. IndianAuto has previously put these two models into comparison by looking at their specifications. Currently, a vlogger has put these two vehicles into a drag race. Let’s see which vehicle perform better on the dust road.

The drag race video is uploaded on Arun Pawar Youtube channel. To be fair, the drag race involved the petrol models of Maruti Baleno and Hyundai i20. At the moment, Maruti only offers a petrol engine on the Baleno. The petrol engine powering the existing Baleno is a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol unit. This engine can churn out 83PS/113Nm. There is also another option of a 1.2-litre Dualjet mild-hybrid petrol engine that provides a higher power output of 90 PS. The Dualjet engine model is the one that enters the drag race against the Hyundai i20.

For the Hyundai i20, the 1.2-litre N.A engine version that makes 84 PS and 114 Nm was picked. The DualJet engine of the Baleno is more powerful than the Hyundai i20’s N.A petrol unit on paper. With these specifications, these two models make a perfect match. It is interesting to see how these specifications are translated into real performance. It appears that the Hyundai i20 used on the drag race is a brand-new car with a temporary number plate. On the other hand, the Maruti Baleno looks like it has been doing services for a while now.

These two models have done three rounds. The drivers also switched cars after the first two rounds to make sure that the final result is as fair as possible. In the first round, the Maruti Baleno quickly got ahead of the i20 as soon as the race started. Maruti Baleno kept a good distance or even extended the gap ahead of the i20 towards the end of the first round. It was the same story for the second and the third round, even when the drivers were swapped. It also means that the Maruti Baleno has a convincing win over the Hyundai i20 after three rounds.

Maruti Baleno’s advantage of a higher power has successfully translated into better performance over the Hyundai i20. It should be noted that, besides the higher power figure, the Baleno is also backed by a lighter body weight compared to the Hyundai i20. It also means the Baleno has a better power-to-weight ratio, which explains why the hatchback can accelerate faster right from the start. However, it is not the best that the Hyundai i20 can offer. In fact, it is pretty obvious that the 1.0-litre turbocharged version will beat Maruti Baleno’s Dualjet version.

About the pricing, Maruti Baleno is priced from Rs 5.90 lakh to Rs 9.10 lakh. On the other hand, the Hyundai i20 is priced from Rs 6.79 lakh to 11.32 lakh. Maruti only offers the Dualjet version from the mid-range trim at the lowest price of Rs 7.45 lakh while the Hyundai i20 with N.A petrol unit starts at Rs 6.79 lakh.