[Evyas]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Quoting myself to get some attention. Is anyone facing this issue with the Smartplay system?

Originally Posted by Nature&Me

No, I am using Android Auto and it's working seamlessly. Is your system upgraded to latest? Not sure this was the issue with older version, but just to keep everything updated.

No. I've been using Apple CarPlay and haven't seen any issue like the one you've mentioned.

[NirDiwakar]

Hi everyone, I took delivery of my alpha AT two days ago.
Unfortunately, I've been facing a problem.
The car seems to always pull to left, I spent more than 4 hours at the service center (not sure why wheel alignment should take this long) today and they tried to rectify the alignment. The issue still remains.
What should be my next course of action? I've talked to the dealer and they're telling they'll schedule a meeting with an engineer.

[vigsom]

Introduction

This is a brief on my long awaited ride-cum-drive of one of India's most polarized offerings - the Maruti Jimny. My views will hopefully dwell on points that probably haven't been covered so far, and provide some additional perspectives over what's been already covered through the official and many ownership reviews.

How I eventually met a Jimny

Although I've ridden past many Jimnys, on the road and on display at showrooms, I first got to see a Jimny up close via a chance meeting with an owner; the car was an Alpha AT in the Pearl Arctic White shade which had great looking airbag friendly seat covers (sides are open)

[vigsom]

Ride, drive, then ride again

Having seen many views on the Jimny via the official review on t-bhp and some well penned posts and reviews by owners/ pundits, I was wanting to become the devil's advocate viz. to find out what wasn't good. However, gradually, the car turned me around from trying to be a devil.

The first sight

The car was parked in a rather smallish basement parking, and when I approached the cutie, I said, "Awww, chho chhweet". The car looked so small for an accomplished SUV. The owner unlocked the car, and it let off the typical three or four beeps like how one would hear in the MGA central locking siren of the yesteryear Swift/ sx4.

1. The door handles - typical old Wagon R/Alto/Versa type led me to the left. I was first left impressed with the retro layout of the dash. It looked rather premium. My only grouse here was that the display should have been an inch or two smaller
2. Engine cold start up - quite silent compared to all other Maruti K, J, G series I have experienced this far. However, I did feel a very slight shake in the body for a minute or so after the engine started up
3. The car set off, took a sharp turn, and was up the ramp rather effortlessly
4. The ride outside was via some rather narrow lanes - no sweat
5. The engine did let off this characteristic whine at approx. 1500rpm (which I initially mistook for transmission whine)
6. With several bumps on the road, I was looking for some harsh jumps (as the devil's advocate) but found the car navigating them quite well

My first own picture of the Jimny's interior

[vigsom]

Drive

After a quick coffee, I was handed the key, unlocked the car and got into the Captain's seat. Entry was quite easy ' I slid into an SUV without having to climb into one. Although this car is so small on the outside, it is a different feeling inside, thanks to the dashboard/ console. Pressed the brake, pushed the button, and off she fired

1. Reverse was dead easy with the massive reverse cam image on the display and the large ORVMs. However rearward visibility via the IRVM is obviously bad because of the rather small glass at the rear, partly masked by the spare wheel. View is further restricted if the rear seat headrest is up
2. The steering did feel hard, much unlike the butter steerings I've experienced in all other Marutis and Toyotas. It's return to center wasn't as predictable as I'd have expected
3. Having gotten used all these years to pressing the horn with my thumbs, this got me re-learning by actually moving my hand to the center of the steering wheel to sound the horn; again, living the Padmini and Chevrolet Aveo times
3. Moving through narrow streets was a breeze, as was the car's ability to navigate bumps
4. It had begun to rain a bit, and I used the tiny wipers, which effectively cleaned the tiny and almost vertical windscreen; reminded me of the Padmini days
4. Now, for the most difficult part where most cars would struggle - parking. I saw some space available next to a Tata Ace but also saw the driver cleaning the Ace. I was able to casually park the car, next to the Ace, leaving enough room for the Ace driver to clean, yet not jut into traffic on the rather narrow main road. A scooterist came and parked right in front of me but I was unfazed since I knew this cutie would come out via the smallest of gaps; the small form factor is a boon!

Views from the driver seat - roomy interior defying the small form factor


Center display - should have been an inch or two smaller


Front view with wipers in action


View of the front left from inside - nice chrome door levers on the inside


Good ol' mirror switch just next to the engine start/stop button


The AT and the 4WD levers - classic yet modern looking


Large windows for a "small" SUV; also note the airbag friendly seat covers


Large ORVMs for this cutie


Tight parking without impeding flow of traffic. Also, the black cladding wouldn't break the owner's mood if it picked up a scratch here n there


The Tata Ace is a tad taller than the Jimny

[vigsom]

Riding in the rear seat

Decided to experience the back seat this time

1. Easy ingress/egress, but the rear seat sits a little taller - this car has auditorium style seating; not at all claustrophobic sitting in there. In fact, it serves a good case for two henchmen to be seated behind
2. The rear seat is strictly a two seater, unless we have extremely thin form factor adults in there
3. Boot space is adequate, but cannot take more than three 21" strolly bags and some soft bags. Yes, the 50:50 split rear seat will make for some more room in case of airport trips with just two passengers

Engine bay

Uncluttered, pretty similar to the OG Grand Vitara (except that the engine cover is missing), with a resonator at the air intake.

Rear seats as viewed from the front

a)rear seats have limited recline (say 15 degrees)
b)seat belts in position to defeat the warning
c)limited rearward visibility with headrest all the way up


Boot - good enough for an SUV this compact. The rear door, once opened, opens out on its own


Views from the rear seat

a)Auditorium style seating - very airy cabin
b) Even though the height is low, there is ample head room even for 6 footers
c) Under-thigh support in the rear seats could have been a little better




Engine bay - neat, uncluttered


Tiniest AC compressor I've ever seen, yet does its job effectively


After a long time of owning SUVs, I see myself taller than an SUV

[pramods]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

Hi everyone, I took delivery of my alpha AT two days ago.
Unfortunately, I've been facing a problem.
The car seems to always pull to left, I spent more than 4 hours at the service center (not sure why wheel alignment should take this long) today and they tried to rectify the alignment. The issue still remains.
What should be my next course of action? I've talked to the dealer and they're telling they'll schedule a meeting with an engineer.

Swap the tyre sometimes; this helps. It's sporadic to have a wrong alignment from the factory. If it is, then the service has to do more than just alignment, they may have to do complete factory specs checks and possibly have to adjust a lot, which is not user-adjustable.

-Pramod
Note: I had to get this done on a first-gen Scorpio 4x4 AT in 2010, and it needed adding seams to get it right to the specs.

[vigsom]

Closing comments

I tried playing the devil's advocate with the Jimny but this cute SUV turned me around. I'd already mentioned that this is perhaps India's most polarized offering in recent times. My views of the Jimny are as follows:

1. If image isn't a bother, this SUV ticks all boxes

- Rugged? Yes
- Small form factor? Yes
- Reasonable luggage carrying flexibility? Yes
- Flexi seating? Yes (50:50 split seats in rear)
- Go anywhere capability (off road, no road, mountains, flooded roads, on highways, narrow streets)? Yes
- Senior Citizen friendly? Yes (getting into the front is easy, and there is the grab handle on the dashboard to pull oneself in. Yes, getting into the rear is a little more difficult than in front, but not a no-go)
- Modern bits (Push button start, power folding mirrors, ESP, Hill descent, Cruise Control, Auto headlamps) Yes

2. Makes a good case for use by the police and forces; perfect substitute for the old Bolero
3.Great substitute for a hot hatch too
4. Perfect blend of old world charm eg. old style 4WD levers with the more modern bits
5. The only vehicle I've seen which is under 4m length and has a longitudinally placed engine

Overall, a good one hour spent with what I'd call India's SUV (Super Utility Vehicle)!

[NirDiwakar]

Originally Posted by pramods

...they may have to do complete factory specs checks and possibly have to adjust a lot, which is not user-adjustable.

What is a factory spec check? Do they perform it at the service center?
You also mention you had to "add seams" what does this mean?

Thanks

[1.2GT3GT]

Originally Posted by SUVolens

The Jimny has only two ‘gauges’ - the tach and the speedo. All remaining alerts are via a multitude of lights on the dials or via the limited but comprehensive MID. For coolant temp, there’s a blue universal coolant symbol at startup, implying that the engine is below optimal threshold. This soon goes off, indicating normal operating temperature.

Earlier today, I was able to use an OBD scanner to monitor the coolant temperature of the Jimny from startup till the blue coolant temperature symbol turned off.

It was somewhere around the 55 to 57 degrees Celsius reading that the blue coolant temperature symbol turned off.

[pramods]

Originally Posted by NirDiwakar

What is a factory spec check? Do they perform it at the service center?
You also mention you had to "add seams" what does this mean?

Thanks

The service center should have the specs. The only adjustment during alignment for Jimny is toe adjustment. Camber and caster adjustment is fixed and can’t be done.
If with all the adjustment, your car is still not right then they have to check the original camber and caster specs and do the “adjustment” which will be adjusting using upper, or lower control arm or suspension geometry. This is what I meant with factory specs.

There is one more possibility, have them check the steering centre sensor, it may be misaligned and causing the problem, this is easy fix as this can be possibly done via software reset and realign the steering center in software.

I would swap the front tire and check, then steering center reset first and while they check the camber and caster

Did you change anything like tires? Suspension lift? Or any thing else in the car affecting the car suspension geometry?
-Pramod

PS: this specs might be same as the 2 door one
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/81...age=119#manual

[NirDiwakar]

Originally Posted by pramods

Did you change anything like tires? Suspension lift? Or any thing else in the car affecting the car suspension geometry?
-Pramod

PS: this specs might be same as the 2 door one
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/81...age=119#manual

Thanks for the detailed explanation, no I didn't change anything yet. I'd discuss these with them, fingers crossed.

[Vikram Arya]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Closing comments

I tried playing the devil's advocate with the Jimny but this cute SUV turned me around. I'd already mentioned that this is perhaps India's most polarized offering in recent times. My views of the Jimny are as follows:

1. If image isn't a bother, this SUV ticks all boxes

- Rugged? Yes
- Small form factor? Yes
- Reasonable luggage carrying flexibility? Yes
- Flexi seating? Yes (50:50 split seats in rear)
- Go anywhere capability (off road, no road, mountains, flooded roads, on highways, narrow streets)? Yes
- Senior Citizen friendly? Yes (getting into the front is easy, and there is the grab handle on the dashboard to pull oneself in. Yes, getting into the rear is a little more difficult than in front, but not a no-go)
- Modern bits (Push button start, power folding mirrors, ESP, Hill descent, Cruise Control, Auto headlamps) Yes

2. Makes a good case for use by the police and forces; perfect substitute for the old Bolero
3.Great substitute for a hot hatch too
4. Perfect blend of old world charm eg. old style 4WD levers with the more modern bits
5. The only vehicle I've seen which is under 4m length and has a longitudinally placed engine

Overall, a good one hour spent with what I'd call India's SUV (Super Utility Vehicle)!

Thanks for the lovely little summary of your driving impression. As you rightly mentioned, it offers most if not all the amenities while still retaining an old-world charm. There's something about this vehicle that stays with you long after the drive.

I do own a 2016 Gypsy King so maybe I'm biased but the place that I come from (Himachal), I can not possibly think of a better vehicle that can be your grocery-getter on the weekdays and allow you to take the road less traveled on the weekend.

I test-drove the Jimny on my last trip home and fell in love with it. It's a shame that it's not available here or I would have gone for it in a heartbeat.

Someday, hopefully soon....

[SithDefender]

Originally Posted by vigsom

3.Great substitute for a hot hatch too

Sir, I agree that it definitely has it's strengths. But to call it a hot hatch ? It does not have the power for that.

The small form factor and the 4WD are a boon. Yet, performance could (should?) have been much better, in my humble opinion.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Large windows for a "small" SUV; also note the airbag friendly seat covers
Attachment 2636539

Off-topic, but I couldn't "un"-see that back-channeled front passenger seat belts even when the seat is occupied. I hope that's a temporary thing and the owners use the front seatbelts properly.

PS: If it is the seatbelt warning chime that's bothering the owner, that's only for the rear seatbelts. Keep the rear belts buckled to avoid the chime. However the front seats have weight sensors and as such, don't need to be buckled in when unoccupied.

As always, thanks for the detailed review!