BHPian Lone Ranger recently shared this with other enthusiasts: Just returned from a Ladakh trip. I won’t repeat the positives of the Jimny, they’ve been covered by multiple owners. Instead, I wanted to share two issues that were quite irritating. Please do keep in mind that I faced these issues ONLY at high altitudes (above 13,000 feet). 1) Weak brakes: Thanks to posts from members like SUVolens, I knew this was going to happen, so mentally I was prepared. To summarize the issue, when you hit the brakes, the car slows down, but not to the extent you expect (in the plains). So if there is a situation where you need to come to a dead halt, you will find that the Jimmy merrily keeps rolling ahead for a few more meters before complying. Say you are climbing the Gata Loops (which has place only for one vehicle to pass in many places), come around a blind curve and find a truck halfway through. You need to come to dead halt so that the truck can pass. You’re carrying a speed of 20 kmph, you hit the brakes, and you drop to 5 kmph very quickly. Then you cheerfully progress at 5kmph towards the truck, giving you the option of either a very low speed crash, or to gently roll off the road all together, and somersault down in an increasingly ‘ungentle’ manner . The only way that seems to make it better is to keeps the revs higher (mine is an auto, so I stayed at 1 or 2) and try not feather the brakes (to maintain as much boost pressure as you can). But it is critical you maintain double the stopping distance that you would normally keep in the plains. Those of you who are old enough to remember the 80s might remember an ad for Action shoes, where a bunch of kids face a brake failure while joyriding, and use their shoes to bring the vehicle to a halt – there were a couple of times when I really did feel like deploying this measure! 2) AllGrip pro becomes Sometimes Grip Pro: This was quite the headache for me! Starting at somewhere around 13,000 feet, and getting progressively worse as you climb higher, 4 wheel drive does not engage as and when you need it to. To clarify, casually shifting on the fly when you think it would be handy is impossible. All you get is the flashing light on the dash. The manual does suggest that this could happen. Unfortunately, with regards to remedying the situation, all it seems to suggest is ‘just try whatever comes to mind until it works”. The issue is that what seemed to work in one situation did not work in another. I had one very memorable experience where I got royally stuck at 15,800 feet and had to expend a fair amount of physical effort to extricate myself. I’m talking pulse oximeter readings every five minutes to make sure I don’t end my promising career prematurely. However, do keep in mind that my problem was exacerbated because I was completely offroad, offgrid and solo. You don’t need to deploy 4 wheel drive anywhere if you are sticking to the road (or what passes for a road in some places). I finally had to make sure I engage 4 wheel drive well before I needed it. In the event it still didn’t work, I had to park and trek the rest of the way. In fickle weather – it was close to 0 degrees Celsius in some places, and there was the occasional refreshing bout of ice/hail. And I am just not the same man at 16,000 feet that I am at 1600 feet! Hope this is of help to some of you! Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
