We were used to the comfort of our previous Duster AWD, hence we were a little anxious about how comfortable it would be with the Jimny.
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Completed an 18-day, & 5,000+ km road trip in my Jimny through Arunachal.
I took the delivery of the Jimny towards the end of December 2023, and by March, I had only covered 1,500 km. I was a bit skeptical about how this car will perform on this road trip. We were used to the comfort of our previous Duster AWD, hence we were a little anxious about how comfortable it be with the Jimny.
But in the end, I must say my wife and I both are mighty impressed with this little car.
A few observations from the trip –
Let’s start with the positives –
- Peace of mind. Be it the mechanicals of the car, or the rough roads, I didn’t have to worry about either.
- This car can easily cruise between 90-110 km/hr on the highways for the whole day. I have pushed the car to higher speeds too, it is capable of reaching high speeds, but that is absolutely pointless in a Jimny. It’s not meant for that.
- For a body-on-frame car, the body roll & ride quality is quite sorted. I will definitely not compare it with the Duster, but if looked at this car individually, it is good!
- The small footprint with, high ground clearance is just tailor-made for rough hill terrain. The turning radius is a bit on the higher side, but I have not faced a single issue on this trip. One will get used to it.
- In 2WD itself this car is mighty capable. At places where locals suggested 4WD will be required, with the esp off in 2WD mode this car easily crossed those sections.
- The ESP is very aggressive. Even before the tyres screech on fast turns, the ESP gets activated and cuts off the power.
- The AC is a chiller, & the heater works like a charm.
- The 1.5L NA engine is super tractable for perfect throttle modulation on steep inclines or bad roads. I felt the throttle input to be perfect too. I won’t be going for an additional throttle controller.
- Regarding the stock tyres, all I can say is, it’s adequate for touring. For serious offroading, it’s better to upgrade.
- I have driven on deep slush, steep gravelly inclines in 2wd itself, and the tyres never gave up. On fast corners, the esp kicks in a bit early, maybe with a better tyre that will improve.
- For the overall trip, I got a mileage of 13.2 kmpl. On the highways, I was maintaining around 100 km/hr and the rest were hills. By driving around 80-90 km/hr, a mileage of 15 km/L can be achieved.
- Even on the hills the mileage rarely dropped below 12 km/L.
Now the negatives-
- This is not a fast car. If you want to keep pace with the turbo diesel/petrol SUVs on the hills, one has to work a lot on downshifting and revving the engine to higher rpms.
- The brakes are strictly average. It’s best to rely on engine braking while driving fast. Avoid late braking with this car. Better tyres might improve the braking a bit.
- Maruti made the 5-door Jimny to accommodate more people in comfort, but they forgot to look at the modularity part. Simple yet functional parts like an armrest, a dead pedal, a few more bottle holders, and some storage space are sorely missed.
- Though the boot space is adequate to accommodate a couple of big suitcases vertically, we had to use the rear seat for our luggage.
- 40L fuel tank capacity is just okay. On highways the sweet spot is to to refuel after every 400 km, and on the hills, refueling after every 300 km is safer.
- This is a car for 2 people if considered for long tours. The available space is at a premium.
- Families with kids will have a tough time to accommodate their luggage for a long road trip.
As of now sharing a few pics from the trip. Will compile a travelogue later on.
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