3000 km in 7 days with my Jimny: 15 important highlights of the SUV

I also ordered accessories for the Jimny from Japan, which were installed before the trip.

BHPian Kandisa recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Inspired by a few of the Bhpians, ordered a few accessories from Amazon Japan while I was in Kolkata in 3rd week of December and the same were received within four days! These include an armrest, storage console for the gearbox, rear defogger cover, a good quality back seat organizer, cup holder, USB extension unit, and extension for the front four buttons (power windows, TCS etc). All items are of really good quality though I must say the aftermarket armrest does interfere with the hand brake & gearing and needs some time to get adjusted.

The Jimny clocked only around 300 km+ by this time and was still in the initial phase of understanding. Now we had some plans for a trip to Arunachal in the last week of December & at the last moment decided to take the Jimny for the same to explore the vehicle beyond the day-to-day drives. We ended up going a bit far actually (thanks to detailed guidance by BHPian Gunin & Hirohito), crossing Namdapha NP, through the famed ‘MV road’ onto Vijaynagar, probably the easternmost frontier of the country, reachable through a ‘motorable’ road (still not officially declared), with few 4WD sections post rain! The result was a 3000 km roundtrip in seven days over highways, dirt tracks & few off-road sections with me, my wife & our daughter of 13 years on board. A detailed travelogue is on the cards someday once I manage some time.

Salient points:

1. I never had so much joy driving a vehicle on an extended trail/ dirt track covering close to 330 km in two days, total time being around 15 hours.
2. The Isuzu perception was naturally at the back of our minds since we have been used to travelling in the Vcross in the last 6-7 years. So on highways, initially it felt a bit ‘insecure’ to travel in the Jimny, but that feeling slowly vanished after an initial 2-3 days once we came to terms with the dimension of the vehicle.
3. Me & Wife spent quite a good no of hours in the back seat. With a marginal difference in under-thigh support, things were not as bad as we thought them to be. However, upon encountering a sudden undulation at a speed above 30 or so, the jerking at the rear is felt significantly. Due to the narrower dimension, our daughter had some difficulty while taking occasional naps in the rear seat, the rear armrest was also missed.
4. We maintained a sub-2500 rpm range till 1000 km and upped the rpm a bit more beyond that. Till around 60, the response of the Jimny is more or less at par with other vehicles. Post 70, initially it felt very sluggish but then on the return journey somehow figured out a way of maintaining a higher rpm band & this turned out to be encouraging. Hopefully, the response will further improve once the engine opens up a bit more and with a heavy throttle. Will see after it crosses the 5000 km mark which shouldn’t be too far since the odo is around 3500 km within 18 days of ownership! As rightly said by many owners, the driving style does need a good amount of changes to adapt to this vehicle to ensure optimum power delivery.
5. We hardly cross the speed of 90 on the highways even in our Vcross, so restricted to 80 in the Jimny with some very short bursts of 90/100 in a few of the sections. While on straight flat highways, the Jimny maintained a subdued pace, the game changed drastically at the bad or under-construction sections of NH 27 & 15 and the State Highways; while all the ‘big brothers’ slowed down, the Jimny simply glided past the obstructions in no time. But be prepared to be bullied occasionally by the sedans, cross-overs even spirited hatchbacks on the smoother long sections of the roads.
6. I was a bit apprehensive of the footwell area wearing Quechua Waterproof trekking shoes, for driving such long distances, but it didn’t pose any issue. Oh, and the front passengers never had to rub their shoulders due to lack of space! The Jimny feels much more spacious from the inside compared to what it is perceived from the outside.
7. Sharp turning & U-turns need to be properly planned because of the huge turning radius. The perceived ‘vagueness’ in the steering needs getting used to but nothing very significant. The right-hand feels a bit fatigued in the absence of a resting position in a closed window condition. Rattling of the front windows in semi-open condition is irritating, mentioned the same during the 1st service at Jorhat, but nothing much could be done.
8. Being a hectic trip, we had a regular journey of approx 10-14 hours in a day with 2-3 breaks. Overall fatigue level was marginally higher compared to what we used to experience in Vcross. But it is lesser compared to what we used to experience in our Alto & the Jeep in the earlier days of travel in the northern parts of the country.
9. In the trials, we got an average of approx. 11-11.5 whereas on highways it was in the range of 16+. I carried some spare petrol in a jerrycan to be prepared for some emergency in the Miao-Vijaynagar 330 km section but it was not at all required, only the leaking jerrycan made our drive a bit uncomfortable! Time to go for a petrol Proquip can as I have for the Vcross for diesel.
10. Stock headlights are pathetic and had a tough time on the highways, switching to 50W 4200K Osram H4 LEDs for now.
11. Having some underbody protection is of utmost importance if one plans to take the vehicle to offroad sections, especially rocks & stones. Some items have been ordered and received, need to find some time to fix them.
12. While the conventional accessories do address some of the internal storage-related issues, in the long run, a roof rack will be required for longer trips. However, I must say, the boot capacity did surprise us as we could stack a decent no of baggage at the back.
13. I have decided to stick to the stock tyres for now. Except for a smaller footprint & aesthetics, these are more or less quite sufficient for the intended use. In our Vcross we switched to A/T tyres immediately after delivery (presently running on Maxxis 980) & in our erstwhile petrol Jeep, it was Maxxis Bighorn 31×10.5 MT.
14. Reaction of people on the road is quite joyful to watch, a separate post may be required to compile all the ‘comments’ & ‘critical observations’ by various sections of people.
15. The stock music system felt quite decent. In the long run may go for some good component speakers for the front.

Overall the first long trip in the Jimny, a bit stress test, to a place it is destined for, was a pleasant surprise. This vehicle is unique in terms of its core DNA of Gypsy, coupled with some modern amenities, 5 doors, usable boot space & reasonably good build quality, unlike conventional Maruti cars.

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