[dileep]

Originally Posted by dileep

This is in continuation of the AT & MT test drives that we (my wife and I) did.

After long deliberations, re-reading fellow BHPians reviews of the MT vs AT and a lengthy phone call with BHPian HighwayCruizer (who recently bought a Jimny AT and lives in Dehradun with a similar driving geography) we have chosen to go ahead with the AT.

A major part of this decision is to do with the ease of driving especially for my wife since we will have only one car between us. We will lose some of the spiritedness of the MT and some fuel efficiency but I think for the sedate kind of driving we do the AT would suit us better. Also since we are already in our late 50’s, I think 10 years down the line (when knees, etc start to trouble) an AT might work out better.

Our White Zeta AT arrived at NEXA GMS Road.

The delivery experience was normal. NEXA didn't insist on anything that I did not want. Insurance was as per my choice and I could avail of the 50% NCB from my old policy. The only delay in getting the car (7 days from paying the money) was the inefficient RTO at Dehradun. All in all pretty good.



After driving it around the city and a run to the airport we made a weekend trip to Kanatal which is about 70 km from Dehradun (see attached map). The road is all mountains and sometimes the surface is poor. It was raining all the time and plenty of landslides on the way. There was also a lot of fog and I sorely missed fog lamps.



3 passengers and weekend luggage. The car performed superbly. There was no issue anywhere about losing power while climbing uphill, no issues in doing hair-pin-bends, the steering returned to center and did not need correction, the AT worked like a charm - the only time it hunted for gears was when I gave an extra throttle input. Drove 95% with Over Drive button ON and I did not feel the loss of power.

While returning to Dehradun there had been major landslides and the car overcame all the bad patches effortlessly. Then there was a road block near Mussoorie and we had to take a very narrow and steep path through town to reach the main highway. This was so cool in the Jimny because of it's small size and great view. Here the AT was a boon because I had to constantly stop and move as there was local traffic on the road.

Jimny near Suwakholi. Thick fog



As a habit I turn OFF the Engine A-Stop button after starting the car because it just doesn't help most of the time.

I'm running on stock tyres at the recommended 26 PSI and it's doing fine. The only accessories are floor mats and mud flaps, although I'm planning to get fog lamps installed soon (Rs.4800/- genuine from NEXA https://www.marutisuzuki.com/genuine...90j0m80t11-010).

There was a fair bit of interest in the Jimny up in the hills where people have not seen the car - policemen on duty, hotel staff, co-travellers, chai walla, selfie groups on the Mussoorie road, etc. were all pretty excited to see the car and appreciate it. Plenty of Thars along the way, but I did not notice any undue behaviour.

Rear seat-belt fix - enough of us have cried over this and as someone mentioned 'clips' that can be used of put off the alarm when no passenger is travelling. I had an old seat belt from my Qualis which I've modified such that the seat can also be folded. I have to find one more clip and do the same for the other side. Photos will explain -



The green pouch you see on the rear seat head restraint is an old part of a camera bag which fits well there and provides space for nick-nacks.

The ODO reads around 350km. FE - 12.6 as per the MID and 11.7 as per tank full method. Of the 350 I'd guess about 100 in the city (slow heavy traffic typical of Dehradun at certain times - specially weekends) with AC; 150 in the mountains without AC (slow speeds due to fog and road conditions) and 100 mixed city and some straight roads with AC.

[sadnabrina]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

As in the old Gypsy and in the Thar, there are drain plugs in the Jimny footwell floor boards.
Lift up and pull out the carpets by unfastening the little snap fasteners, pull the drain plugs, drain the water, dry the footwell, dry the carpets thoroughly and replace. Alternative is remove the carpets fully, use rubber mats cut to fit in the footwell above the floorboards.

Searching the drain plug location may be a bit tough when the floor is filled with totally opaque slush - as I found out yesterday while trying to locate them.

So here is a photo guide to the location of the drain plugs for the India spec 5D Jimny JC74. You need to remove or lift the carpet at the specific location to access the plugs. The plugs can be pushed downwards with a finger and it pops down under the car. Be a bit careful so as not to loose them.

Driver Side


Front passenger Side


Rear Right



Rear Left


This is when water entered through the front left door. The car got stuck here for a while and it took about 5 to 7 minutes of rocking for it to finally come out. The doors in Jimny don't really stop water ingress. If you want to do lots of water wading then better remove the carpet before diving in. Ah yes also add a diff breather kit.

picture@samba



Another shot of the Jimny on a steep climb.

[ecosport rules]

I just got to see and drive the bolt on turbo charger kit by GReddy.The improvement in power is around 45bhp on stock map.Can be further enhanced with a remap.
Good improvement in the mid range and top end performance.
The air intake moves to the right.
Most welcome to ask any questions regarding the experience.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by ecosport rules

I just got to see and drive the bolt on turbo charger kit by GReddy.The improvement in power is around 45bhp on stock map.Can be further enhanced with a remap.
Good improvement in the mid range and top end performance.
The air intake moves to the right.
Most welcome to ask any questions regarding the experience.

Oh man!! Someone so needs to put up a drive review of this turbocharged Jimny.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by ecosport rules

I just got to see and drive the bolt on turbo charger kit by GReddy.The improvement in power is around 45bhp on stock map.Can be further enhanced with a remap.
Good improvement in the mid range and top end performance.
The air intake moves to the right.
Most welcome to ask any questions regarding the experience.

How expensive is this addition? Is it possible to share the cost of the part and the price? It will very probably improve the overall power in terms of boost and top end, but how does it behave as far as low end power is concerned? How is the braking from these turbo induced higher speeds?
More feedback and a detailed test drive report will be highly useful to the community at large.

[dj96]

Originally Posted by ecosport rules

I just got to see and drive the bolt on turbo charger kit by GReddy.The improvement in power is around 45bhp on stock map.Can be further enhanced with a remap.
Good improvement in the mid range and top end performance.
The air intake moves to the right.
Most welcome to ask any questions regarding the experience.

Have they made any changes to the rest of the driveline or is it just the engine? We have seen with bowler defenders that extra horse power in those leads to some pretty quick detioration of the rest of the driveline.

Also, in my humble opinion, the natural aspiration is a very important factor(alongside other things) which give jimny its mountain goat status. Therefore, I wanted to ask that has there been some sort of ecu recalibration to manage the inevitabe turbo lag?

[R.Daroga]

I got my Kinetic Yellow Alpha MT delivered yesterday and a few observations:

1. Very good experience at Nexa Sai Service, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

2. At the risk of stating the obvious, the ride quality is just supreme.

3. The cabin is very well insulated and you leave the din of the outside world behind as soon as you close the door shut.

4. The Kinetic Yellow ranges between solid yellow and lime green depending on the lighting outside.

5. The infotainment system works seamlessly with wireless Android Auto.

6. The Arkamys surround system is not a gimmick and on the Acoustic setting, provides excellent sound staging. Yes, it cannot handle heavy bass but the notes are nice and bright. I quite like it.

7. The engine is so silent that you need to look at the RPM needle to see if it is alive.

8. Air conditioning is good. UV cut glasses help.

9. Visibility all around is brilliant.

10. You sit at the same rider's height as a Hycross or an XUV 700 or a Safari (new one). despite Jimny's lower height on paper, the ladder frame allows you to sit higher in the car as against sinking lower into the car as in a monocoque set up. Again, I like it.

11. Coming from a diesel car, I really miss the turbo. This engine is enough but there's no excitement lower down. This is not a car to wring by its neck to extract performance. A turbo is needed desperately.

12. 5th gear engages comfortably over 40 kph. It means this engine will get strained by the time it is at triple digit speeds.

13. Despite all its genuine efforts to make you believe otherwise, this is still very much a Gypsy underneath. The vibrating gear lever, the play in the hand brake and the slow steering give it away.

14. Impossible to take a U turn in the city without reversing unless you start your turn from the middle lane (not advisable).

15. Rear seatbelt warning and auto engine start stop coming on each time you start the car are irritants.

16. Hill hold doesn't work when you just start the car and you're parked on an incline. So lets say you stall the car on an incline and start the car again, hill hold doesn't work. Also, the hill hold doesn't release the brakes fast enough when you pick up, making you drag with the brakes half released for a fraction of a second, adding strain on an already strained engine.

17. In the city, due to its lack of size, you cannot intimidate traffic around you. Also due to the lack of engine poke and steering speed, you cannot zip in and out of lanes quick enough. You're stuck being a gentleman and obeying lane discipline thinking in your mind "tu mil, mereko off-road mil"

18. Not a very pleasant experience driving in cross winds. This tall box is an easy target for notorious cross winds.

Bottomline: Commendable job by Maruti providing all the off-road capabilities along with all the creature comforts at this price range. This is my only car and it meets all my needs perfectly well so far. For someone never intending to get adventurous in a car, he would be better suited with a pseudo SUV in this price range. Honestly, after driving the Innova for some time and now the Jimny, I look down upon (literally) these cars now. If you've driven monocoque chassis cars all your life, driving the Jimny will take some getting used to. Especially the MT. Once you get used to it, there's no going back. You may break some monocoques chassis into two trying to take potholes and speed breakers at the same speeds as you take them in the Jimny. Even your next car will have to be a ladder frame only. It's a long term choice. You decide.

[SnakemanJohny]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

@SnakeMan. Adding one more lap belt will be handy only if this is going to regularly transport three persons. And a lap belt wont help much since if at all one brakes hard the middle passenger will lurch forward in between the front seats.
I like the Jimny being the David amongst the Goliaths of the Thar and Gurkha. Dont forget that David smote Goliath with a stone between the eyes and struck him down. So let the High Priests and Acolytes of ‘Road Presence’ continue to buy the Thar and Gurkha and let those who like ‘Small Footprints’ enjoy the Jimny and let those who have a liking for both breeds of horses for different courses, buy both.

@rajesh. The Gypsy has leaf springs both front and rear. And no power assisted steering. The rigid axle makes the turning radius larger. And yes most modern car users will find the Gypsy steering to be an effort and a struggle.

About the lap-belt, it was just my suggestion if someone wanted to fit a 'mid-person belt', as I have done in my Gypsy. And two-3-points and one lap-belt used to be the custom till car makers figured out a way to put a 3-point belt in the middle.
My grouse with the Jimny is similar in points to that with the Gypsy. Underpowered, and not being able to seat three in the second row being the main points. Never mind that David beat Goliath, I am tired of knocking my right elbow against the door !

As to the turning circle, it is NOT because of the 4X4 or the solid axle, boss. Drive any old solid axle 4WD -- Toyota LC, Jonga, Land Rover, Mahindra Jeeps, even the Russian UAZ, and they have a tighter turn than the Gypsy, and probably the Jimny.
Gypsy had a history: Imported into the USA as Suzuki Samurai, it faced rivals' ire, and propaganda spread that it would topple at high speed turns. This was also proved on a video capture of a test.

Faced with such negative publicity, Suzuki widened the track and reduced the maximum turning angle. This filtered down to even India where the 410W and the 413W had a greater distance between the two wheels on the same axle.

Only later did one of those who were involved in the slander campaign and the 'topple-test' reveal that the whole thing was false and rigged ! But Suzuki continued to err on the side of caution, I presume.

I wish you could come to Calcutta and take a ride in my Nissan Jonga -- a bigger and heavier vehicle than the Gypsy, with similar steering box, it drives almost like a power steering at low speeds. At high speeds, of course, you have to hold on tight ! The Gypsy steering is unusually hard.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

This is worrisome! Even the not so refined Thar does not have this issue!! With those fabric carpet it will be a stench fest for sometime to come once it gets wet.

Originally Posted by sadnabrina

Searching the drain plug location may be a bit tough when the floor is filled with totally opaque slush - as I found out yesterday while trying to locate them.

A very helpful pictorial explanation indeed.

Am sharing the video for better understanding about under what circumstances water entered into the cabin.

Video courtesy- D-Bhpian SS-Traveller, & the last 30 to 40 secs is from the car's dash-cam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XyzjhjxXnE

Another small feedback I want to add on the Jimny's steering is- The steering needs more turning, so to find a better grip when I was rotating the steering while rocking the car, I had to turn the steering a bit more than other cars.

On the left the water level was few inches above the door sil and the car took around 10 mins to come out. While entering the water body it was in 1st High, later I tried to take it out in 4Low, 2nd and 3rd. In 4L, 3rd the power was lacking, it came out in 4L, 2nd. The traction control was switched off throughout the time.





Off topic- Just because it's a Jimny thread, am sharing another superbly clicked shot of a Jimny in action by D-Bhpian SS-Traveller.

[al90]

Finally saw a cherry red Jimny (MT) on the Chennai road today, could not resist giving the guy a complement.
The colour and the car stood out and it's nice to see manufacturers bringing back some colours in cars rather than white, black and silver. 'Cute' is the word that popped into my head seeing the car especially in the red colour.

Seeing the UV cut tinted glasses on the Jimny made me wish I had the same kind of dark tint on my car especially in Chennai heat.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by SnakemanJohny

As to the turning circle, it is NOT because of the 4X4 or the solid axle, boss. Drive any old solid axle 4WD -- Toyota LC, Jonga, Land Rover, Mahindra Jeeps, even the Russian UAZ, and they have a tighter turn than the Gypsy, and probably the Jimny.
Gypsy had a history: Imported into the USA as Suzuki Samurai, it faced rivals' ire, and propaganda spread that it would topple at high speed turns. This was also proved on a video capture of a test.
Faced with such negative publicity, Suzuki widened the track and reduced the maximum turning angle. This filtered down to even India where the 410W and the 413W had a greater distance between the two wheels on the same axle.
Only later did one of those who were involved in the slander campaign and the 'topple-test' reveal that the whole thing was false and rigged ! But Suzuki continued to err on the side of caution, I presume.
I wish you could come to Calcutta and take a ride in my Nissan Jonga -- a bigger and heavier vehicle than the Gypsy, with similar steering box, it drives almost like a power steering at low speeds. At high speeds, of course, you have to hold on tight ! The Gypsy steering is unusually hard.

Thanks for this clarity. Good to learn this.
I have indeed read a lot about this slander campaign and topple test and all. Unfair, but those days the Americans were very biased against the imports. Especially successful imports.
I wonder why the Gypsy steering box is so unusually hard. And a number of people who have installed power steering from Koyo which is a direct fit, have grumbled about leaks. Anyway my own Gypsy with its stock tyres is easy enough to drive and Im quite used to old Jeeps so Im not too concerned.

[rajesh2812]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Thanks for this clarity. Good to learn this.
I have indeed read a lot about this slander campaign and topple test and all. Unfair, but those days the Americans were very biased against the imports. Especially successful imports.

In the late eighties I had accompanied my dad to a Mahindra dealer in Chandigarh to buy an MM540. There, on a table were photo copies of various articles about the un-stability of the Suzuki Jimny(or Gypsy?) with pics of the toppled over vehicles. Since then, even after using these vehicles for three decades it had always remained somewhere in the back of my mind that one has to be careful otherwise the vehicle could topple over. (Rishi Kapoor too was a victim of the toppling over in the film Henna! ) It is only now that I have learnt that this all was a part of a malicious campaign. Such is the power of misinformation.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by ecosport rules

I just got to see and drive the bolt on turbo charger kit by GReddy.The improvement in power is around 45bhp on stock map.Can be further enhanced with a remap.
Good improvement in the mid range and top end performance.
The air intake moves to the right.
Most welcome to ask any questions regarding the experience.

Oh man.. this is probably the best mod for the Jimny!! Please please share the cost and overall experience.

If this works well with the Autobox, I'm defintiely getting the Jimny!

[ecosport rules]

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Oh man.. this is probably the best mod for the Jimny!! Please please share the cost and overall experience.

If this works well with the Autobox, I'm defintiely getting the Jimny!

It does work with the automatic and manual transmission.
Direct plug and play, no errors,45 bhp enhancement.
If you want more than 45 bhp the ECU needs to be changed.
This particular mod was done by Pitshop,Hyderabad.
Represented by Yogesh 9121012142.
Please call him he can give you all details.

[Vinod_nair]

What happens to the Warranty? Maruti Suzuki is very strict, unlike TATA and Mahindra to some extend.

A full review with pros and cons will benifit members, who want to take the plunge.