[Omkar]

Mod Note: Our Maruti Jimny Review has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Big shoutout to Chetan_Rao, .anshuman & CrAzY dRiVeR for shooting these pictures & their coverage of the Auto Expo. Thanks for sharing!

Maruti finally unveiled the much-awaited India-spec Jimny 5-door on Day 2. The bookings are also open now and the car will be available with a 1.5-liter petrol engine producing 103 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 134.2 Nm @ 4,000 rpm. The engine is paired with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission and Suzuki’s AllGrip Pro all-wheel drive system.


If you want to know more about the variant-wise feature distribution and detailed specifications, you can download the Maruti Jimny brochure here – Maruti Jimny Brochure.pdf

There’s no denying the fact that the Jimny looks very simple and functional. It’s got a very squarish boxy look that a lot of people like:


Up front, you have a dark grey grille with round LED headlamps accompanied by round turn indicators. The headlamps also have washers that are placed on the bumper. The chunky black bumper houses the fog lamps:


Upright A-pillars and an almost vertical windshield accompanied by a flat bonnet give it the characteristic look:


The car has a wheelbase of 2,590 mm. The length is just under 4 meters at 3,985 mm, the width is 1,645 mm and the height is 1,720mm. The ground clearance is a healthy 210 mm and the car is built on a ladder-frame chassis:


You get flared wheel arches in black which adds to the rugged look of the car:


A proper box-shaped rear with a tailgate-mounted spare wheel. The reversing camera is mounted on the spare wheel:


Contrast black roof looks nice. It gets drip rails on the roof edges so that the water doesn’t stay on the roof and cause damage:


On the left, you have the Jimny badge along with a request sensor for the tailgate door latch:


On the right, you get the ‘All Grip’ badge. The Jimny comes equipped with an AllGrip PRO system (with low-range transfer gear). Also, note that it gets 2 rear parking sensors on each side (4 in total):


Next to the stock Jimny, Maruti had this kitted-out car on display. It gets a few addons on the bumper:


Big Jimny vinyl and door protectors at the bottom of the doors:


A fully covered spare wheel cover:


The rear wiper is tucked behind the spare wheel:


Not much wheel well cladding for the front or rear wheels:


Decent-looking 15-inch alloy wheels. This car was shot with 195/80-section tyres. You get a disc brake setup in the front and drum brakes at the rear:


The Jimny uses a recirculating ball steering and not a typical rack and pinion type steering system. The main difference would be in terms of steering feel where this setup would feel vaguer as compared to a standard steering system that we’re used to. However, a big advantage of this type of steering system is that it is a lot more robust compared to a rack and pinion steering system. .anshuman mentions that especially during off-roading sessions, over rock crawling, a steering rack is more susceptible to damage:


Another important bit about the Jimny is that it has a 3-link rigid axle at the front and rear. While most of the 4x4 cars get an independent suspension at the front, rigid axles give the Jimny endless mod potential (much more than the Mahindra Thar). This will compromise the Jimny's on-road manners and high-speed stability, but all in all the Jimny is a lot more off-road focused than the Thar:


There is no underbody protection on the car. The grey member that you see in the middle is the lowest part of the underbody and is a part of the frame:


It is also worth noting that the differential tubes of the Jimny are of a similar size as the older Gypsy. However, since the leaf spring suspension has been replaced with coil springs, you will see a lot more linkages on the Jimny:

[Omkar]

The Jimny overall is a small car when you look at the dimensions and in person as well. However, the interior space has been well managed and you don’t feel cramped in the cabin. The car doesn’t look to be spacious enough for 5 people, but 4 people would be reasonably comfortable in the car. Interiors of the Jimny like the outside look very basic and functional. There are no soft-touch plastics here, but it seems to be well put together:


You get a round leather-wrapped steering wheel like in the Grand Vitara. No thumb contours here:


A very straightforward design of the doorpad. It doesn’t have any window controls or ORVM controls. The pockets won’t hold a bottle and you can place some documents here:


Here’s a look at the front seats. Both front seats can fold fully flat to double up as a bed. Media people weren’t allowed to sit inside the car, but just by feeling the foam, the front seats felt a little firmer than the rear seats:


The console on the right-hand side of the driver has an auto start-stop button, a headlamp washer, and a leveler. The engine start-stop button and ORVM controls are placed below:


Visually, the footwell seemed a little cramped:


The Jimny gets the SmartPlay Pro+ 9-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. The system is paired with a 4-speaker Arkamys sound system. The lower Zeta variant gets a 7-inch touchscreen with the Smartplay Pro infotainment system:


There’s automatic climate control on the top-end Alpha variant:


Below, you have power window controls for the front doors. The driver-side window gets auto up & down. In the middle, you have the traction control and hill descent control buttons:


The Jimny gets a 4-speed automatic gearbox:


The low-range gear lever is placed in between the front seats. There’s another panel next to the handbrake that controls the rear power windows. This is a weird placement as you would expect all the power window controls clubbed together. You get a couple of cupholders just behind the console:


The passenger side of the dashboard gets a handle above the glovebox. The leather wrapping that you see here is an accessory:


A decent-sized glovebox:


The IRVM gets manual dimming, and both the sun visors have mirrors:


The rear door pads have a similar design, but you don’t get a pocket to keep your things:


The rear passengers do get a retro switch to operate the window:


The rear seat gets adjustable headrests and looks comfortable to seat two adults:


You will find this warning symbol on the edge of the rear door sill. This is just a plastic trim and cannot hold any weight. Some people tend to climb here while washing the roof, so be mindful of this:


Boot space looks comparable to a premium hatchback. Chetan_Rao compared the space to the current generation WagonR. Note that the rear seat bench gets a 50:50 split:


You have a 12V socket and a light in the boot:


The cabin gets separate roof lamps for both rows:


The rear windshield defogger wiring is exposed:

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[lapis_lazuli]

Great preview! Any idea if the vehicle is E20 fuel compatible? Any official information?

[Cyborg]

Wow, finally Maruti gets it here.

Hope we have a Team BHP review of this hot stepper as soon as possible. Looks wise I prefer it to the Thar Some publications are saying pricing would start at 12ish lacs ex showroom.

Please shed some light on why they choose to give a 4 speed automatic for this lovely thing

Cheers

[Vasuki]

Saw many comments on Jimny. But one thing sorely missing is the mileage figures. It should definitely be better than the Thar Petrol, but the only doubt is due to the old K-Series engine considered by Maruti Suzuki.

Since the tank capacity is 40 litres, how much distance it would cover on a tank full?

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Please shed some light on why they choose to give a 4 speed automatic for this lovely thing

Cheers

The below quote by Aravind answers your question.

Originally Posted by aravind.anand

They are using the K15B engine - which is what can be mounted on the transverse layout. And Suzuki has not invested in R&D to develop the 6-speed AT for the K15B architecture.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Saw many comments on Jimny. But one thing sorely missing is the mileage figures. It should definitely be better than the Thar Petrol, but the only doubt is due to the old K-Series engine considered by Maruti Suzuki.

Since the tank capacity is 40 litres, how much distance it would cover on a tank full?

I think KDH figures can be guesstimated with examples of other K15B cars minus 1-2 kmpl? What are other small cars with the K15B engine giving?

[NiInJa]

The Jimny was nicely reviewed by Matt Watson of Carwow, he liked it so much that he bought one for himself.

Here is the review, he also has some other videos of the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGnrZDuCUwQ

[tbppjpr]

Finally a worthy replacement for the lightweight Gypsy only if the notorious Maruti is not hell bent on turning the Jimny also into another lightweight kitna-deti-hai people mover like what they have been habitual of doing with their other cars which are otherwise decently designed and built by Suzuki in other countries.

Although its a cute title toy meant for some occasional offroading fun activities, I am curious if the Indian version will get the AWD setup as default in all variants or only a super expensive top end version will get all those mechanicals.

Another concern is the differential locks. What I read about the international Jimny is that the mechanical diff. locks are not available in the Jimny, instead some sort of electronic torque distribution is provisioned which is not as effective as the mechanical locking in tricky offroading situations. So it would be interesting to know if the Indian variant is getting anything different or is it possible to retrofit the mechanical diff-locking in such cars!

[DicKy]

Call me a nostalgic fool, but after ages can look at a model and say, "Now that is an SUV" wholeheartedly. Thar is a jeep

Looking through the preview the only sore point I found was the exposed rear defogger wire. Rest all was as expected.

[Venkatesh]

Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5-door Bookings open.

Press Release

[2000rpm]

Not sure of which segment is this car targeted at?

• Its not a highway car (because of the suspension set-up)
• Its not a city car (because of the steering set-up)
• Its not butch enough for an SUV
• Its not premium enough to sell for its features
• Its not a convenient car because of the poor 4 speed AT gearbox
• Its not a performance car because of the 100 odd motor

What am I missing?

[tarmacnaut]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Not sure of which segment is this car targeted at?

• Its not a highway car (because of the suspension set-up)
• Its not a city car (because of the steering set-up)
• Its not butch enough for an SUV
• Its not premium enough to sell for its features
• Its not a convenient car because of the poor 4 speed AT gearbox
• Its not a performance car because of the 100 odd motor

What am I missing?

Simple, it's an off-roader or in plain terms a 'JEEP'

[Ragul]

One thing that caught nobody’s attention yet - there is no mention of smart-hybrid in the brochures. This means it’s a plain vanilla K15B with no weak-hybrid tech as anticipated before launch.

[tsk1979]

Aha, A solid axle off roader in this day and age. The "wrangler" we can finally afford. I am wondering if it will come with a rear diff lock. That would make it the ultimate offroad vehicle.