[Phantom 510]

Superb article! It might look cute and cuddly on the outside but a proper off roader underneath its cheerful exterior. It's persona would be it's selling point for most of the non offroad enthusiasts. MSIL should seriously re-think in lengthening the rear seat sqwab length for better underthigh support inorder to accommodate people above 5'6" as it won't be a cheap car. So they better take care of its rear occupants well who has invested their hard earned money inspite of compromises. Or else converting a 3 door Jimny into a 5 door one would be a futile exercise. And also I hope they get the manual 5 speeder and clutch sorted and make it work more effortlessly. These are small things that elevates the driving experience. Otherwise, it's an excellent car for the intended purpose. I Hope they priced it well.

[GTO]

Aditya, Chetan, take a bow guys! Love the details you guys have captured in the limited time you had with the car. Thanks a ton!

All of us have been so excited about the Jimny's launch and Maruti hasn't disappointed. Save in one area, that is the limited power of the yawn-inducing engine. But the SUV is otherwise purposeful and it's great to see that enthusiasts now have 3 stylish off-roaders to choose from <20 lakhs (Jimny, Thar, Gurkha). Competition just makes things better for us customers . And it is the Thar's enormous success + fat profit margins that finally pushed Maruti into launching the Jimny here.

I appreciate how Maruti took the effort to add 2 more doors. 4-doors are just so much more practical, even if they are less sexy. In a lifestyle country like the USA too, I believe the 4-door Wrangler outsells the 2-door in a ratio of 4 : 1.

Just a heads-up to all those considering a Jimny = take a long test-drive and put a lot of thought into your purchase. The ride & handling of body-on-frame offroaders isn't for everyone. It is one of the reasons that you see so many barely used 2nd-gen Thars on sale (stock Thar is too bumpy, has poor highway manners and just 2 doors). A car like the Brezza or Creta will be infinitely better on-road and way more comfortable. So, choose wisely.

[mathur2012]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Also, is R15 195/80 section tyre relatively common?

The very first thing I wanted to do upon getting my Jimny next month was to upgrade its tyres so I was searching for vehicles which come with this tyre size to ensure if I would be able to sell the stock jimny tyres for upgrading. Upon searching online I couldnt find any vehicle coming with this exact tyre size so I dont think I would be able to sell the stock ones.

[RT13]

I am an unashamed fan of the Jimny. Have been for many years. Would’ve loved a 2/3 door (however you choose to count). Do not believe in super comfort for this class of cars. Do not believe in choosing a car for its DRLs and sunroof over its engine and safety record. Do not believe lack of a 360 cam is a deal breaker.

BUT there are three things which I personally find very problematic for this car given how it’s being positioned.

a) Difficulty overtaking on highways even at speeds of 90-100. Considering most of us have to actually get somewhere offbeat, as opposed to actually living there, this sounds painful. Many reviewers have observed the really weak midrange and I think that’s just lazy engineering in this day and age. This isn’t meant to be a flyer but it doesn’t/didn’t have to be a ponderous elephant either. Wonder if some aftermarket tuning can rectify this.
b) Driver seat height adjustment - come on!!! It didn’t even have to be electronic! It could’ve been manual/mechanical and that would still have been fine. This is one feature that is incredibly useful as it makes all manner of people of all dimensions, ‘fit’ a single car! It’s unbelievably stupid to give this a miss in any vehicle over 10L, let alone something that’ll end up being closer to 20! Defies belief to be honest.
c) Steering reach adjustment. I’d again say this is many orders more important than its made out to be. It’s the difference between feeling at home in a car and simply writing it off because you just feel so uncomfortable. If it’s something to do with difficulty balancing this with off-roading prowess I can accept it (I have no clue about the mechanics of this so I’m happy to be enlightened) but at least you need to have a robust explanation for it.

One other thing that baffles me is how bad the turning radius on this thing is. Surely they could’ve done better?

What stands out for me here is that Maruti Suzuki haven’t bothered to have their own engineering heads address these obvious questions and put forth why they’ve made the choices they have. And I think that’s just poor communication overall. Not that the competition do it either but it’s been a long time since we’ve had such a built-for-purpose polarising vehicle here (no, I’m not counting the Gurkha) and it’s an opportunity missed in my opinion.

[santhasa]

Great review as usual.

Maruti wanted to create a competition for Thar, but they ended up making a smaller version of Qualis.

This segment is not for everyone (even someone living in the heart of the city does not go for Thar as well despite him liking the car) - Maruti should have gone aggressive and made the car slightly bigger with all bells and whistles even if the price point was higher. K15B engine is a joke on this vehicle - need a much higher capacity if one designs a 4WD.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by RT13

I am an unashamed fan of the Jimny. Have been for many years. Would’ve loved a 2/3 door (however you choose to count). Do not believe in super comfort for this class of cars. Do not believe in choosing a car for its DRLs and sunroof over its engine and safety record. Do not believe lack of a 360 cam is a deal breaker.
====
Not that the competition do it either but it’s been a long time since we’ve had such a built-for-purpose polarising vehicle here (no, I’m not counting the Gurkha) and it’s an opportunity missed in my opinion.

Am with you on this one plus the comfort or rather lack of from the front seats. With an offroader, you really want to be supremely comfortable ergonomically since you want to be able to focus 100% on the path ahead. Worrying about an aching joint here or there, not a fully suitable seating position etc. do take a toll. Would have liked MSIL to pay attention to these things - building a car for global markets is fine but Indians in general are not built like most southeast Asians are or even Europeans for that matter.

But full marks for 6 airbags!

[Vikram9193]

Suzuki should have realised that the Indian consumer doesn’t just want more doors for the sake of it, he or she wants to hit the highway with friends and family in a car that costs as much as a Brezza.

None of the complaints around the short gearing (3000-3400 rpm at 100 kmph) and short rear seat squab, storage spaces etc. would have mattered if this was a 3-door city and recreational car. People who buy this car as their primary will just have to put up with Suzuki’s short sightedness every time they plan a long drive. Hopefully at least the seat squab can be extended by an upholsterer, and there will be aftermarket nets and cupholders for storage. But there’s no fix for the missing cog.

[shankar.balan]

Reading so many comments and expectations and rants and grumblings and fulminations about the Jimny on this and other threads, leads me to say just this.

The Jimny is NOT at all meant for a person seeking a cossetting, comfortable, feature-loaded, electronics-filled, gizmo-laden, family-wagon with a sunroof and lots of space for paraphernalia and luggage.

If this is what one is looking for then it is better to look towards the Brezza or Fronx or Hyundai Venue or Kia Sonet.

[Senotrius]

For a so called premium,niche, utility focused product 3 big misses- non adjustable steering wheel(reach) and drivers seat(height/lumbar),along with no bash plate/underbody protection. These are not luxuries but necessities when it comes to the intended use of this vehicle. Other than that success in india purely depends on pricing and volume of export orders they get

[vellatechie]

Originally Posted by GTO

The ride & handling of body-on-frame offroaders isn't for everyone. It is one of the reasons that you see so many barely used 2nd-gen Thars on sale (stock Thar is too bumpy, has poor highway manners and just 2 doors). A car like the Brezza or Creta will be infinitely better on-road and way more comfortable. So, choose wisely.

Hey GTO, do you know if Thar+AVO is more comfortable than Jimny?

[Venku2015]

Great review as always! Everything now depends on the pricing, and the top end should not cross 15 lakhs OTR, if it does then the Thar base variants make immense sense if one just upgrades the Thar's suspension.

If the Zeta AT variant is priced at around 12.5lkhs OTR, this will fit in my garage. I Hope Maruti doesn't become too greedy due to hype and the Gypsy lineage.

[Vikram9193]

Here’s a potential use case: we divide our time between Delhi, Dehradun and a remote farm in the Uttarakhand hills with a muddy village road that most vehicles scrape over. With at most two or three of us usually travelling together, the Jimny could actually do all three of these disparate environments, but will fall a little short on the Delhi-Dehradun highway. An extra cog and a longer rear seat squab would have been sweet! The Scorpio Z4 4x4 and the GV/Hyryder AWD are also options but will feel too wide and bulky and/or urban/flashy in a village setting. The GV may also run short of clearance with farm stuff in the boot.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Reading so many comments and expectations and rants and grumblings and fulminations about the Jimny on this and other threads, leads me to say just this.

The Jimny is NOT at all meant for a person seeking a cossetting, comfortable, feature-loaded, electronics-filled, gizmo-laden, family-wagon with a sunroof and lots of space for paraphernalia and luggage.

If this is what one is looking for then it is better to look towards the Brezza or Fronx or Hyundai Venue or Kia Sonet.

[tarmacnaut]

Originally Posted by RT13

a) Difficulty overtaking on highways even at speeds of 90-100. Considering most of us have to actually get somewhere offbeat, as opposed to actually living there, this sounds painful. Many reviewers have observed the really weak midrange and I think that’s just lazy engineering in this day and age. This isn’t meant to be a flyer but it doesn’t/didn’t have to be a ponderous elephant either. Wonder if some aftermarket tuning can rectify this.

Did you take a test ride or just hearsay. I own a K12 Ritz and have driven K15B 4AT XL6 and K15C Brezza manual. None of the cars are slouches and can easily overtake even at 100 kph as long as you know how to work the gear box (just shift down). I regularly do 500 kms trips to hometown from Bangalore.

Jimny with the same engine and similar weight as Brezza should be no different. But I would comment after a test ride. Its not lazy engineering but the laziness to work the gearbox that would make overtakes lazy w.r.t existing K series engine models.

[Himalayan_Ice]

Just saw a couple of video reviews of the Jimny and a few things stood out.

• MSIL is selling JIMNY sleeping bags, tents and trowels. Please correct me if I am wrong, but given how popular camping is in these parts, this is an extremely serious attempt at projecting the vehicle to the explorer archetype.
• Add to it, the spartan interiors that will drive any comfort oriented buyers away.
• Shashank Srivastava and some co-presenter wore utility jackets with rhinos embroidered on them. Again a very conscious push towards the adventure category.
• The reviews didn't feature highway runs. Only roads around Doon, through Rajaji and off-roading on a river-bed. Another push away from average use.
• An obvious attempt at glossing over flaws such as a vague steering, soft breaking, insipid engine, cheap plastics, no cubby holes, music system performance, road noise, so on and so forth. All factors which mean a fair bit to the city centric user.

Now, let's be cognisant of the fact that off-roading & camping audience is a micro market in our country. Yes, we love butch vehicles, but for reasons entirely different (as discussed to death already). And Jimny is not butch by a LONG shot.

Which means there'll be an extremely small market for the vehicle, if you look at pure play purpose.

Leaving MSIL with a hard choice. Either price the vehicle as a "premium" product and convince only those who will buy it for what it does. Obviously looking at margins. (But do look at Isuzu who tried charging premium for the "image" and fell flat on their faces with their outdated kit.)

OR

Price it like an Alto on steroids (which in a way it is) and rake in volumes, where those who give up on specs make up with getting to own a vehicle that has no peer and brings along bragging rights of buying something that is cool. Regardless of the "cheap(er)" price. (Look at the Thar, which has been a resounding success, mostly because it got the buyer a lot of swagger for the asking price.)

Obviously with one hit after the other, MSIL has the capacity to take one loss easily. And I will not be surprised if they take the "premium" route and pick the former option.

[pgsagar]

Best things about Jimny are, 1. Retro-looking speedo/odo meters, with big clear font and red lettering. 2.Those 4 exposed lug-nuts on the housing, and 3. Tall thick gear lever through a straight-gate without a rubber-bellow. Rubber/fabric/leather-bellows don't look good on AT shifters, but that's the trend these days.

I will never buy Jimny because, being an AT guy, I can't live with a 4-speed AT. Heck, I couldn't live with 4-speed ATs in 2010s. And, we're in 2020s. Also, not sure if 1.5 L NA packs enough punch on a body-on-ladder boxy high-GC SUV.

I don't want to sound skeptical but we may see more cases of buyers' remorse on this one than we did on Thar. By 2024 Dec., I expect to see more Jimnys hitting OLX than even Thar. Thar's diesel frugality can be lived with, Jimny's petrol extravagance can't be, by most.

But I also know this for a fact that none of its shortcomings will deter hardcore Jimny fans from buying one. Maybe Maruti should have launched a 3-door version, too. Thar looks proportionate in both 2-door and 4-doors but Jimny looks proportionate only in 2-door version. 4-doors appears a bit too stretched.