Maruti Suzuki will be launching the Fronx crossover coupe SUV in the second half of April 2023. The Fronx brings with itself Suzuki’s 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbocharged direct injection Boosterjet petrol engine producing 100PS and 147Nm of torque. We’ve seen this engine earlier back in 2017 when Maruti had brought a sportier version of its Baleno hatchback, naming it the Baleno RS.
Boosterjet Engine Now Locally-Assembled
Unfortunately, back then, the Boosterjet-powered Baleno RS was quite pricey as the expensive engine used to be imported into the country. Adding to this the engine’s less fuel-efficient nature meant that sales never picked up eventually leading to its discontinuation by Maruti.
But that isn’t the case with the Boosterjet Fronx as the company is now locally assembling the motor. Maruti has also thrown in its smart-hybrid tech with the motor to address the issue of its low fuel economy.
Other Models To Get Boosterjet Engines
To further drive the cost down and also pay off the investment costs, Maruti will be using the Boosterjet engine to power more of its existing & newer models.
This is the most interesting bit as we might see the Baleno RS make a comeback into the market. Other potential models to come powered by the Boosterjet engine could be the Swift, Brezza & Jimny.
Baleno RS
The Fronx is a crossover based on the Baleno’s platform and both models share many of the mechanicals including the naturally-aspirated engines. The Boosterjet engine, which will now debut on the Fronx could very easily make its way under the hood of the Baleno.
With Baleno’s rivals offering turbo-petrol as an option in their higher variants it makes sense for MSIL to make use of this opportunity to give customers a great alternative to the Hyundai i20 Turbo & Tata Altroz iTurbo.
Swift Turbo
Enthusiasts have been craving for the internationally-sold Swift Sport to be launched in the country. But as the international spec model comes powered by a much larger 1.4-litre Boosterjet engine, it will have to be imported into the country. That would be quite an expensive proposition which would result in low sales and could end up like the older Baleno RS.
Hence, it is very likely that Maruti will resort to a more cost-effective version of the Swift Sport by plonking the 1.0-litre Boosterjet mill into its engine bay. Being a light car, the Swift would do well with this powerplant and will also provide a great balance between performance and fuel economy. However, instead of the 3rd generation model, we expect Maruti to bring the newer 4th gen model with the Turbo treatment.
Brezza & Jimny
Maruti’s sub 4-metre compact SUV – the Brezza and soon-to-be-launched sub 4-metre lifestyle offroad SUV – the Jimny 5-door both are powered by the 1.5-litre K-series 4-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine. Despite measuring under 4 metres in length, both of these SUVs cannot avail benefits from the small car tax. As according to the norms, a sub 4-metre car has to have a petrol engine capacity of less than 1.2L capacity to avail benefit from the tax subsidy.
If Maruti Suzuki uses the Boosterjet engine for these SUVs, it will help them take benefit of the tax subsidies. As far as power & torque figures are concerned, both the 1.0-litre Boosterjet and the 1.5-litre K-series motors are similarly matched. However, Maruti can easily extract more power from the turbocharged direct injection Boosterjet engine due to its high potential. We’ve already seen the motor give an output of 110hp in some international markets.
