Team-BHP - Maruti Jimny 4-door @ Auto Expo 2023

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949 (Post 5537904)

They'll be in for a rude shock I reckon. Their turning radius' are at 4.7 m AFAIK, which is way lesser than Jimny and it's a whopping difference.

There's absolutely no doubting Jimny's capability as a car for all the purposes it's orginally designed and built for. Jimny as a city slicker will have it's limitations. You can of course live with it in such city conditions but can't say I love it.

I would still reserve my opinion annd make my judgements on suitability and ease in the city and turning radius and all only after test driving this vehicle properly.
We manage our Thars and Indicas and Swifts and Dzire and Etios and all quite nicely, even in tight and narrow spaces and the slimline crowded lanes that abound in our cities. Try driving through the Chamarajpet Bull Temple surrounds in Bangalore in ANY vehicle including ann Auto rickshaw and you’ll see what I mean. So why in particular, should we single out the Jimny in terms of ease or the lack of it in the city?
I’m only saying, let the car come to the market. Let us test drive it. And then let us judge it worthy of praise or let us otherwise just revile it, depending on one’s personal views and usage pattern etc. Let’s not already pre-judge and pre-condemn it while we are speculating and making assumptions as we seem to be doing in many places on this discussion.

Coming back to the “actual” discussion, i’m quite keen to see if maruti is going to do a “mahindra” by launching a 2WD as well. All initial reports indicate that this may not be the case and we may just see 4 variants ( all 4WD ). If a 2WD comes along it would surely dent suzuki’s profits since many customers who like the Jimny for its novelty and not really for its utility would be happy with the 2WD. And that means less profits per car sold.

Quote:

Originally Posted by motorworks (Post 5538282)

Thar 2wd made sense because of IFS. Jimny 2wd with solid axle makes no sense because it will always drive and handle worse than a similar IFS platform.

I also don't think Suzuki are as eager to dilute their brand ethos in the way M&M have so casually done. Money above all else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by motorworks (Post 5538282)

i’m quite keen to see if maruti is going to do a “mahindra” by launching a 2WD as well.
not really for its utility would be happy with the 2WD. And that means less profits per car sold.

Maruti did an adaptation of the Swift and made the Swift Dzire. Yes that was an adaptation of the body.

The Jimny comes with part time 4WD as standard. If the Maruti engineers put their minds to it and if this idea is approved by their higher management, I think it will be possible for them to ‘disconnect’ the 4WD hardware and remove the related parts without a problem.

Yes they’ll have to test it thoroughly and all. But equally, since Thar 4x2 RWD has shown the way, it may very well be possible that Maruti may choose to tread the same path. And yes, it will open up the market nicely.

Remember the Skoda Yeti originally came with only 140bhp and 4x4. There was an electronic locking differential and there was no low range. Upon seeing the general Indian preference for 4x2 they came in with the 110 bhp 4x2 version with all that complex haldex hardware removed and with a much lighter clutch.

Im sure this is possible to do, in the Jimny as well.
Would like to hear more on this subject from experts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 5537782)

So I am very sure that the Jimny will be perfectly fine to live with. Don't forget that it is a ‘Kei’ car and designed for a small footprint in the small narrow confines of cities in (albeit highly disciplined) Japan.

There are some differences between the 3 and 5 door.

The regular Jimny (Jimny Sierra) in Japan has a turning radius 4.9 m, while the Kei version (Jimny) has it at 4.8. That is ideal for it's size while retaining offroadability.

Unfortunately, the MSIL engineers decided to retain the steering unit but extended the wheelbase. This resulted in the increase in TR to 5.7. Thus it does not retain the original footprint.

I think this is a serious miss from MSIL as they could have easily altered the steering geometry and kept the TR lower.

As you said, yes only real life driving experience will tell us how difficult it is, but as far as number go, it is surely not at par with the 3D one.
But my purchase decision will probably not be driven by the turning radius alone. Price (and comfort to some extent) would be bigger factors for me.

I personally think MSIL will have four variants in all most of their cars by end of march 2024 NA, turbo, CNG & E-hybrid. They will make sure that the customer is confused in their line up (Brezza, Fronx, Jimny, Grand Vitara & can add Eritiga, XL6 & Rebadged Innova) itself and wont even have the patience to look at other brands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vulken Auto (Post 5538463)

Jimny available in chennai today. Vishnu nexa , chromepet.

The "launch" was apparently super filmy and over-the-top. This simply does not resonate with the type of vehicle the Jimny actually is. Videos of the
comedy show are floating around on social media.

What is going on in this world!

Enthusiasts wait for decades for an updated Gypsy.

MSIL dangles the carrot for years before soft launching and taking bookings.

The hype machine goes into overdrive even as MSIL drags the same vehicle from showroom to showroom.

Influencers and celebrities join the fun and games and the whole thing has become a comedy circus. I mean, is this going to brainwash people into seeing the car as something it isn't?

Well if the Spresso is an SUV then the Jimny is an M1 Abrams.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsferrari (Post 5539012)

If the Spresso is an SUV then the Jimny is an M1 Abrams.

That’s a tattoo/sticker worthy statement.

So you mean, they did a video launch or something and without the actual physical vehicle? Apologies as I’m out of the loop. My steam is off and I’m hunting for alternatives.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 5538335)

The Jimny comes with part time 4WD as standard. If the Maruti engineers put their minds to it and if this idea is approved by their higher management, I think it will be possible for them to ‘disconnect’ the 4WD hardware and remove the related parts without a problem.

Yes they’ll have to test it thoroughly and all. But equally, since Thar 4x2 RWD has shown the way, it may very well be possible that Maruti may choose to tread the same path. And yes, it will open up the market nicely.

The problem here will be to change the front drive line component to IFS to at all make any sense in 2wd only model. Then it would be just a fancy avatar of Eeco with 'looks' and will be compared like wise. If they keep a dead axel at front in 2wd model then it will be similar driving dynamics and similar turning radius as that of current 4wd version.
Either way, Jimny's identity is an off-road vehicle with proper 4wd capabilities. If that is also removed just to increase the sales to a certain market then entire brand value and its core identity will be lost. IMHO.