[SUVolens]

It’s been nearly three weeks since I drove back from this year’s Ladakh adventures. Since then, I’ve put in another trip to the mountains (this time work), wrestled with a bout of the seasonal flu, and generally debated with self on penning down the Jimny experiences for all here. While plain laziness got me this far without scribbling a word, objectivity won out in the end, so here I am, trying to put together in words the journey of 3000 kms over 9 days.

Some of you are already familiar with my occasional posts and know that I drive a MT Zeta in Bluish Black. But to set the context properly, it’s fair that I give a small rundown of the vehicle to start with:

Mine’s bog standard by intention. That means – no tyre upsizes, steel rims, and everything as it came from the factory, bar the pair of OEM foglamps that I’d installed more for visual symmetry than for any real use.
Given how the Jimny is built meant I’d have to make some concessions to the limited space inside to make it suitable for overlanding over long distances. The following are a list of accessories I procured, in chronological order:

1. Rear windscreen defogger wire cover. This turned out useful eventually, since the luggage piled up higher than the exposed cables and probably would’ve snagged/damaged them on the rougher patches.
2. Cargo net and luggage hooks. Again, a big thumbs up since it held all luggage together and prevented them from bouncing about.
3. 20 L range extending petrol tank. Really great product found on Amazon https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B09...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 While planning, it was clear that there would be patches of travel where our tanks just won’t suffice, hence.
4. A seat-back organizer https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Again, great for storing those extra bottles of water that the Jimny is just not built to accommodate, as well as other trip knickknacks.
5. Some seat hooks https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B0C...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for hanging those hats and garbage bins
6. A sunglass holder https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...0?ie=UTF8&th=1
7. Some blind spot mirrors https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to watch out for those rocks below the undercarriage while off-roading.
8. And the most imp accessory of all – a TPMS system https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that worked like a charm!

I thought this kind of made the little Jimny as ready for the haul as it would ever be, and I wasn’t wrong.

Our adventure was to have 8 people in total. Three in the Jimny. Three in the ScorpioN and two in the Thar. The other two vehicles belonged to fellow TBHP-ians Roshun Povaiah and Suman Ghosh, and we’ve been friends and travel mates for over two decades now. The trip itinerary was something like this:

Day 1. Delhi to Udhampur
Day 2. Udhampur to Srinagar
Day 3. Srinagar to Leh
Day 4. Leh
Day 5. Leh to Hanle via Pangong
Day 6. Umling La and Hanle
Day 7. Hanle to Leh
Day 8. Leh to Manali
Day 9. Manali to Delhi


A well-packed Jimny is a happy sight

On the road again (shot from the ScorpioN)


Day 1. The long highway run to Udhampur

Truth be told, in the 1500 odd kms that I had raked up in the Jimny, prior to this trip, I had made my peace with the fact that this was not the car to set land speed records in. I was never uncomfortable with that, since I generally find it easier to stick south of the speed limits than north. Still, jokes had to be made in the present company and the running one was that they (the Mahindras) would already know the meal orders for the Jimny occupants, and have our choices preordered and ready by the time we pulled up at each rest stop. Turns out, unnecessary. Although the other two remained largely invisible in my windscreen for most of the first day, we never pulled up too late either, keeping a steady 100 comfortably and gaining a stellar fuel-efficiency to boot. The only bit of adventure that punctuated day 1, was a broken bridge just before Jammu, that required all vehicles to get down to the riverbed and cross/get hauled out with tractors-on-the-ready to make a quick buck. Being ahead of the pack at this time, I decided to cut away from behind the long queue of anxious sedans and hatches and lowered the Jimny from a steeper angle into less than knee-deep waters. In 2WH. Turns out I shouldn’t have. We stalled within seconds, the rear wheels just not finding traction among the loose, round river rocks below the water.
A quick glance out of the windows and I could only see eyeballs from the assorted buses, cars, motorcycles (yes, them too) and tractors, all staring at us. Glee writ large and a tractor was already making its way towards us. The shame.
Without a moment wasted, I jammed the shifter to 4H, waited only briefly for the green lamp to lock-in and hit gas. All eyeballs swiveled with the black streak that shot clean out of the river and didn’t stop until it had reached high ground, back on the highway. Hahahaha! So long suckers!
The Mahindras later reported that I may have caused some kind of a stampede with our derring-do and that resulted in a massive jam on the river and got them stuck behind a melee of stranded cars and super-busy tractors.


The crossing (taken from the ScorpioN)

We reached our hotel just after daylight went out. Highlights from the day:

1. The Jimny is a happy cruiser with three + luggage on board, between 90-110 kmph where allowed. This also gives a pocket-friendly gas mileage of 17 kmpl +/- The ride in front was never a cause for complaint, and neither me or my passenger complained of a bad ride all through the 12 hrs we took to complete this stretch. The rear passenger was an unproven quantity, for this was a first for us. Pleasantly enough, she reported that there was no discomfort for lack of space or harshness of ride. I am 6’ and my passengers 5.2’ on average. Ergo – a semi-loaded Jimny passed the highway tests just fine.
2. While hi-speed stability on the Jimny is reported anywhere between bad to acceptable, I found no unpleasant surprises on this route. Cross-wind vulnerability is evident at some places, but it’s not as if you are getting blown into the weeds. The slow and easy steering is predictable and once you’re used to and at ease with this vehicle’s nature, it is no more harder to helm than any other car. The much harried OEM 195/80 R15 rubber work great. Period. They do not lack in grip, don’t tramline over ruts and provide excellent ride-cushioning even when the car hits a bad patch at speed. Most crucially, for me, they don’t rob any more power than they need to, from this modest engine.
3. The Jimny isn’t a diesel and therefore, asking it to bring to the table gobs of torque is futile. On that riverbed, I bet diesels would’ve powered through without summoning 4X4. The Jimny will not reward you for being lazy. Nope. You want the demon? Get involved.


The Trio

Next: Udhampur to Srinagar

[SUVolens]

Day 2. Srinagar

Our original plans did not involve traversing Kashmir enroute to Leh. We were to reach Leh on the second day itself, after a stop at Manali. However, the Himachal tragedy put paid to those plans. If everything went well, we planned to descend via Himachal, but approach would need to be the longer, more gradual Kashmir-Zoji La route.

I’ve done this umpteen times now, and didn’t necessarily rue the extra day required to be in Leh. Srinagar has always been close to my heart. The food, the lakes, the incredible old architecture.. I was in fact looking forward to Day 2! This was engineered to be a short run – 5 hours max between Udhampur and Srinagar. Fantasies of food at Ahdoos, a quick trip across the lake to our reserved Houseboat and then an evening of relaxed exploration in the backwaters of the Dal, which is available only on special request to your shikara boatman. But, you know – best made plans of mice and men..

Getting an early start out of the Udhampur hotel, saved us precious time over the bad/damaged stretches before the famous tunnels by simply being ‘ahead of traffic’. We emerged gleefully into the valley, out of the excruciatingly long Shyamaprasad Mukherjee tunnel and just as we were tossing around ideas of things-to-do in Srinagar, our radio squawked – the ScorpioN (4Explor AT) had gone into ‘limp mode’. The dreaded BSVI DPF gremlin has struck! The Mahindra stories are my friends’ to tell, so I will just cover it by mentioning that a good couple of hours were spent with escalations and solutions via the local M&M service network. The Thar (petrol, MT) too had displayed starting problems from the beginning and all of this was making us nervous for these two as we approached higher altitudes. At the same time, I couldn’t conceal a sense of invulnerability through my rock-basic Jimny, with everything mechanical and almost no fiddly electronic bits. But I was afraid to make this too evident, lest Murphy showed up.



The climb towards the Valley begins

Interestingly, the change of character of the general route, brought about noticeable changes in the Jimny experience. Leaving behind open, multi-laned highways and getting tucked into the mountains was something my Jimny was doing in earnest for the first time ever. Even with an early start that we managed, there was no escaping ponderous trucks carrying freight up to the Valley and beyond and given that Indians have a total of ZERO road etiquette when it comes to sticking to speed lanes, these lumbering beasts were arranged like a minefield all over the generally excellent roads leading us up. Here’s where the Jimny started to really shine! Playing between the 3rd and 4th gears, the little car just whistled through slow traffic like one of those 80’s arcade games we grew up on. It just wouldn’t break a sweat and before too long, it was our turn to complete go beyond radio range of the other two SUV’s with much larger footprints. I started to thrill at the pluckiness of this bug and made a mental note to exploit later, all that could be wrung as the terrain shifted from easy to challenging. Quick check with the passengers (I’m thoughtful that way) and no one was complaining. The Jimny rolled and galumphed around bends and bumps and sped down great big roads of the Valley, as if telling me – relax Mister. You’re in my backyard now.

Srinagar was everything I’d hoped for. Except we skipped Ahdoos despite my loud protests. Everybody wanted to try ‘someplace newer’ and regretted immediately after the rubbish fare from one of those much raved about lake-front restaurants. Take my word for it – do not go by online reviews for most things. They just don’t know what they’re talking about.







Day 3. Srinagar to Leh

Last year, I was doing the same route in a friend’s XUV700 and remembered that the journey till Leh was now over fairly great surfaces and would get us into our hotel by sundown. One small difference – we had started from Sonamarg and hence had a 2.5 hrs extra distance to cover this time. Early start again.

Almost got hit by a local car on the lake boulevard just as I was pulling out of parking. The man was tearing down the road at 6am and it was only because I saw a flash of him in my rearview, and a hard tug on the wheel that prevented him from t-boning me and ending my good moods. The resulting lag, also meant I lost sight of the other two, who’d moved on ahead on a less familiar exit route from Srinagar and trying to catch up led me through narrow lanes of the sleepy city till I finally found them topping up somewhere near the very edges.

The run up to Sonamarg was uneventful. We arrived to find the hamlet still barely stirring and made quick work of whatever breakfast was manageable. And then began the climb in earnest, up towards the famous Zoji La. The Jimny was still performing admirably, dispatching corners after corners with a shrug. Altitude still wasn’t playing spoil-sport, although considerable elevation was gained with each hairpin. It stayed up with the more powerful duo effortlessly and even paced ahead when the chance arose. Zoji La came and went by in a flash and we decided to push on without needless stops. Lunch would be somewhere after Lamayuru or when the stomach grumbled. Kargil went past around midday and Lamayu too passed by without anyone really signaling for a lunch break. In fact, lunch happened well past 3pm, at a small gathering of dhabas, just before the climb to Photu La.

I’m not sure what bit me a little after lunch. Maybe I overate and needed to be at the hotel sooner than later. Or maybe I was starting to get a tiny bit bored. Or just the sight of wide, curving highways among stunning vista. I just let the horses loose. And when you let ‘horses loose’ in a Jimny, on a road constantly going upwards, you need to understand that the experience would be very different from say, a turbo-charged, 150 bhp+ DSG equipped VW.
The Japanese mill snarled and rasped under the hood as I swapped cogs in my best Paul Walker impression, my passengers woke up groggy but wide eyed and the Jimny clawed at the horizon without hesitation. I’m telling you all right here and now – don’t despair by its highway lethargy. This car can be as much fun as a barrel of monkeys when you have the intent. It has enough composure to hold its line, as long as you have the measure of its super narrow power-band. 2,500 – 4,500 RPM – that’s where it’s all at. Below it is driftwood and anything higher is simply noise. A Hyundai Elantra that had overtaken us 10 mins earlier, saw us in its rearview, barreling down like a screaming banshee and politely sidestepped out of the way. The Thar and the ScorpioN too came up in view and vanished, and only when I saw them far behind and above on the last hill, did I let go of the reins and burble down to an easy gallop. Darkness was approaching and my Zeta had crappy lights.








We rolled into our Leh hotel around 7pm. Another 13 hour drive-day. But, we had entered paradise.


Next: The unbelievable route to Hanle

[SUVolens]

A critical look at the Jimny driving experience

Day 4 was a designated break-day at Leh. A few of the travelers were first-timers to Ladakh and deserved a sight-seeing around Leh, one of us had to break away from the trip and return for a personal engagement and most importantly, the three back-to-back drives deserved a breather in between, before we headed into rarified air.

I feel, this would be a good opportunity for me to get into a more critical description of the Jimny, having covered approximately 900 kms over flat lands and hills. Truth be told, the sections after Leh were so involving, a totally objective review may not be possible, so let me do it while the others discover Leh.

Let's start with luggage capacity:

I have never really wanted to fix a roof-top carrier as a personal preference, so whatever luggage we had for three, had to go into the boot. Our last major overland was done in our (now sold) Endeavour, and with the third row folded flat luggage capacity was nothing short of a rugby flied. We are light packers anyway and luggage for three was restricted to two backpacks (40+20 litres), a shoe bag, a carton of emergency kit and the 20L jerry can.
When I swung open the boot door with all of these gathered on the floor, the task looked daunting. But as you can note from the photo in the first post, they all went in peachy and then sat snug under the cargo net stretched between the wall hooks. The luggage never rose above the rear sightline, so I'm guessing that a fourth person and his luggage would also have gone in at a push. So, luggage capacity is adequate if you are a frugal traveler.

From the driving seat

There have been more than enough written on this, but this is a purely personal angle. I'm tall and not very heavily built (not skinny either). I prefer my seat close to the steering for an elbows-bent position and my palms are almost always at 10-to-2 on the wheel. I find this allows me all-day driving capability without any major discomfort.

The Jimny has a few design problems for the above setup. First, no wheel reach adjustment - this means at my preferred position, my legs will get splayed out on either side. The right knee doesn't complain, but the left one taps into the center console. This isn't as bad as some cars can get, and after a while, I could ignore it easily. The seats themselves (front) aren't the widest, either for the back or for the bottom. But the fabric and the cushioning must be really well-engineered. All-day driving didn't produce any fatigue, there were no periodic calls from the body to get out and stretch and since the car doesn't exactly produce massive G-force around corners, bolstering works just fine. The abnormally tall headrest isn't the best for shorter passengers and they may request a neck-bolstering pillow.
The ICE and it's lack of physical controls is the next bugbear. At the very least, a nice round volume dial would've been an improvement over the touch-screen or steering toggle, which aren't the most intuitive or responsive. But while on the steering, I'd have to say that the control stalks on either side are a masterclass in simplicity and function. I put a lot of importance in how cars are designed for ergonomics, and it is clear how far apart a Suzuki stands from a lot of our homegrown brands and many foreign ones as well. They are so easy to activate even with your ring finger or pinky, without an mm of movement of your palms on the wheel. Extremely well damped, so lane-change indications are never a hit/miss. The large, accessible hazard warning button, the superbly sized and damped A/C controls (manual in the Zeta, mind it), everything shouts an attention to detail that belies the initial impression. It's suddenly apparent that the large touchscreen ICE was a much later addition and hence it falls afoul of the general ergos.

Appreciating the Jimny on open highways, is an acquired art. I got that much from my initial days. Now, a good 2k kms into the car, the engine and gearbox seems to be working out their kinks as we speed northbound at 100 kmph. The shift is no longer as notchy as when new. It isn't buttery..more like baked cheesecake. The engine runs at 3000 RPM or a smidge below and isn't loud at all. You don't even need the music or a loud conversation to try and mask it. And the ride is sheer comfort, both back and front, until you inattentively hit an unruly patch and the rear might step out just a bit. I guess here's where the damped steering and the slow old world system come into play. The car is easy to bring back into line and never does the wheel wrench at your hands.

When the climbs began after Udhampur, a few newer facets emerged. I have no direct recent comparison other than the Endeavour on these roads, so I'll use that as a template. The contrast couldn't be more stark - barge-like extremities to the little tugboat here. Twice the power output and more than thrice the torque from a turbo diesel to boot. 6 speed Auto, 5-link rear suspension, IFS, full-time 4WD...you get the picture. The Endeavour would ferry all on-board in complete bliss. If you wanted to, you could simply tilt back and sleep through the entire journey (and I've had my fellow-travelers subject me to that irritation before). Not so the Jimny.
This one wants you and your passengers in the 'here and now'. It's like being at a football match and not the opera. You can't just tip the shift into one cog or the other and think it'll chug its way up like a powerful diesel. And you'll not rest easy behind a smoky truck because you know there simply isn't enough room or opportunity to pass it till it allows you to. No Sir. From inside the narrow Suzuki, you're always scanning the gaps and the road 50m ahead. There's always a gap and there's always a cog to take it. Intent is the name of the game!

You know what - I just re-read what I wrote and realized that I haven't really anything bad to say about the Jimny. Sorry. It's just that I hadn't had anything to criticise up till Leh. But it wasn't all hunky-dory all the way. Things were about to change..

[SUVolens]

Day 5. Leh to Hanle

The problem with the journey to Hanle from Leh was that whichever route you approached it over, none of our fuel tanks were expected to give us the range required for the full round-trip. The shorter, well-metalled route via Chumathang was 220 kms one way, with Karu (20 odd kms outside Leh) being the last chance to fill up. At least, the route via Pangong had a chance to top up at Tangtse with the bonus of the magnificent Pangong Tso and a further route that promised to be longer, but eminently more adventurous. We chose the longer route.

All three cars filled their tanks to the brim and topped up the jerry cans as well. Anecdotally, when I tried opening the lid to my jerry can, it refused to budge at first, and then, with some wrestling, opened with a mighty WHUMP! that scared the living daylights out of the poor filling station lady. I was secretly pleased - the can had just passed with flying colours, trapping every bit of the NCR air inside as we rose up to Leh. Good chances it won't leak petrol fumes inside the cabin as we now rise towards the highest motorable road in the world. It didn't.

Chang La came up at around 8am, having left our hotel at 6. The MID had been steadily dropping outside temps and a km before the third highest pass, it slid past -2 deg C and the snowflake symbol came up. Snow began appearing on the shoulders of the road and suddenly I discovered one more tiny detail about the Jimny - if you open any of the doors while the car is in motion, the MID goes full amber, along with the usual 'door open' alerts. Cool, huh?
The snow on the ground never went above a couple of inches max and that's for the whole journey. Didn't call for 4X4 at all, on account of snow at least.



Refuelled at Tangtse around 10:30 am and suddenly became aware that we were in the middle of a Ladakh 'Bandh'. No restaurants open for the entire day on the route. With a full day ahead on the road, the prospects of only dry fruit and biscuits deflated all souls. Still, the show had to go on..



Midday and the lake still held on to its magical colours. There was barely a soul in sight, which in its own way is a blessing. Pangong Tso was ruined forever for the serious traveler, ever since 3 Idiots. The lake shore encroachments by campsites, restaurants and 'Idiotic' props skyrocketed after the movie featured this location, and the once pristine environment became a carnival ground on most days of the year. Never since 2008 have I had this natural beauty all to ourselves for the entire time we were there.



Surprisingly, a well-surfaced road stayed with us long after we had left behind Pangong and its suburbs. It still snaked in and out of the region with occasional glimpses of the lake, but at least for the next couple of hours, we rode tame. And then it happened - suddenly the tar vanished! A small army checkpost was about all the warning we got and a quick chat with the lonely sentries later, we descended into 4X4 Disneyland! All around us, there was just a sandy scrubland, with telltale trails that gave away car tracks running all over the terrain and seemingly headed to the same direction. Some of us had offline maps downloaded on our phones, just in case, but I guess we needn't have worried.



Once on this terrain, the convoy simply broke formation, each car choosing it's own track and let fly. We were careful at all points not to stray into grassy patches for fear of damaging concealed fauna, but wherever the ground was dry and gravelly, the steerings would twirl merrily. With not another soul on wheels in sight, the cars ran wild, swerving, sliding, yumping for kilometers until we grew breathless just from the excitement of it all. Small water crossings slid across our paths, helping wash off some of the underbody from time to time. The ScorpioN entered one of these with some gusto for the slo-mo camera and emerged at the other end missing the front number plate. We didn't notice this until much too late of course. The Jimny revelled like a lamb released from confinement on the meadows. This after all is it's true calling. I recalled old 90's ads for Maruti and Ceat tyres. The Gypsy in Ladakh and another Gypsy, presumably in Kaziranga. That old, venerable 4X4 has bestowed a full load of DNA into this one (more of this later in the trip). Every inch of this over-simplistic little jeep, just thrills to every demand you make on the slide. No longer laid back or lazy, I could almost visualise those round headlamps gleaming in excitement. It is here on this terrain that you'll fully begin to appreciate the evolution of engineering over 5 decades. How can such a diminutive car take so much thrashing and shrug it off like gulal? The suspension, the steering and the visibility seem to come together as Holy Trinity, catching everything the terrain throws like the best juggler in town. Here again, I'd like to draw on past experience from the Endeavour and its behaviour over somewhat similar terrain between Nubra and Pangong Tso.
The much heavier kerb weight of the Ford gave it two drawbacks to the cricket-like Jimny (see what I did there? ) - it tended to bottom and recoil harder over yumps at speed, and the size (much longer wheelbase) and weight made it handle like a schooner in a typhoon over the rough. Also, the always-on 4WD nearly never allowed the dramatic slides the Jimny is capable of in RWD. This is just fun stuff of course and in real life, why would you play the fool instead of enjoying the ocean liner ride of the big American, but just in case..

Just once, in the middle of this revelry, we found ourselves on the wrong side of the er.. road. So intent were we on playing cowboy, we (well I, since I was the lead car), led the troops up to a dead end and the only choices were to backtrack a few kilometers, or try and climb back onto the main track, over a sharp rise that was at least a couple of feet high. A quick visual appraisal made it plain that 4H wasn’t going to cut it. So, a deep breath, clenched buttocks and 4L it was going to be. Quick glance in the rearview and I saw the ScorpioN and the Thar too lining up behind and waiting for me to make my attempt. The Underdog needed to perform. Smaller wheels, lower output.. here goes.
Inching up to the kerb, I tested the approach gingerly. Nothing brushed. A little more gas, the front wheels scrabbled up the loose gravel and anchored on top. So far so good. More butt clenches and some more gas - the Jimny scrabbled for grip and swayed a tiny bit before leaping up and away from the field below. I pulled ahead and parked on the side, hopped off to film the other two make the same climb. No drama. The Scorpio scrabbled just a tiny bit but came up effortlessly. The Thar, I don’t understand this - it came up like there was no difference in elevation at all! Almost with a smirk. R.E.S.P.E.C.T! This video is available for viewing on my Insta account of the same name as here.





Just a little before Nyoma, the black strip reappeared, just as we came up to the beautiful Indus, snaking it's way down to our neighbours. The beauty of the spot literally stopped us in our tracks and we decided to cool it for the rest of the way to Hanle.

Hanle itself is quite different from how I was imagining it. One of the super-rare Dark Night Preserves of the world, and India's only one till date, I was imagining a quiet little, sparsely pouplated hamlet. Not so much. The opening of tourism to Umling La since 2019 has apparently done a number and the locals now thrive on hosting this craze for the 'highest motored' experience to the hilt. The village itself shows all the signs of unorganised commercial explosion and it made us glad to have chosen our own stay well outside of the crowded center. And the enterprising owner had even devised a sort of solarium/astro dome over the dining area that kind of offset the otherwise modest (but very clean) huts set up in a row. We were now within striking distance of Umling La, and more importantly for me, under the spectacle of a night-sky that shows the Milky Way to the naked eye! I could hardly wait..

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by SUVolens

Day 5. Leh to Hanle
Attachment 2510411

Lovely thread, eagerly following it. You should consider moving it to Tlog section though.

[SUVolens]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Lovely thread, eagerly following it. You should consider moving it to Tlog section though.

Thanks! Actually, I’ve been feeling bad about hogging this thread over the last few days myself. Didn’t mean for it to get this lengthy

I’ll migrate it to the other thread as suggested Mods, could you pls help me with this? I’m not quite sure how to do it. Thanks!

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by SUVolens

Thanks! Actually, I’ve been feeling bad about hogging this thread over the last few days myself. Didn’t mean for it to get this lengthy

I’ll migrate it to the other thread as suggested Mods, could you pls help me with this? I’m not quite sure how to do it. Thanks!

Report all your posts to the mods using the tool/button on the left adjacent to the thanks button and indicate that you would like these to be moved to a separate thread of its own under the travelogues section.

[SUVolens]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

100% true. The way the Jimny performs in this power band is a revelation. Only downside is the mileage which goes south real fast. Can you share the mileage displayed in these speeds?

Hi. I never really run with the real-time mileage display on to note this specific number so I couldn’t say for sure. But this much I can vouch for - even with the most heavy foot, I never saw the average F.E. (which is always on for my long hauls) drop anywhere below 13 kmpl. The mixed drive-style between Srinagar and Leh, which was mostly uphill, churned out an average F.E. of 14.5 before I switched off the motor at Leh. The downhill run between Leh and Manali, which was as enthusiastic or more, esp over the shortcuts in 4H, yielded an even better figure. And most shockingly, a full tank of gas from Keylong, got us across clear to Delhi! I was trying for range here and it pleasantly surprised me when I had to refuel only around Majnu Ka Tila - a distance of 575kms before I reset it to zero.
This flies in the face of range-anxiety and reports of poor mileage from the Jimny. Go figure

[Aditya]

Delhi - Srinagar - Leh - Hanle - Umling La - Manali - Delhi in a Maruti Jimny - Posts moved to a new thread.

[megazoid]

sensational writing SUVolens. Was terrific to read. You and the Jimny make a great pair for outdoor stories. How much is it on the odo now?

[SS-Traveller]

Loved your tongue-in-cheek style of writing, describing an area we have visited too long ago. And the very positive review of the Jimny was equally heartening to read. Let's read the rest of your adventures on this trip soon, as well as the versions of the other two BHPians (and their pics).

[SUVolens]

Originally Posted by megazoid

sensational writing SUVolens. Was terrific to read. You and the Jimny make a great pair for outdoor stories. How much is it on the odo now?

Thank you! Appreciate you spending time on it. By now, I don’t think I have more than 6k on the odo. I don’t get to drive much around town, but I sure am looking forward to another trip north when the unseasonably warm weather starts to back off.

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Loved your tongue-in-cheek style of writing, describing an area we have visited too long ago. And the very positive review of the Jimny was equally heartening to read. Let's read the rest of your adventures on this trip soon, as well as the versions of the other two BHPians (and their pics).

Thank you! I got a bit distracted with the week and should be able to pick up the journey by this weekend. The Jimny isn’t entirely without flaws though. But it’s extremely cheery disposition is infectious and you soon forget the quirks.

Mod Note: Please use the EDIT or QUOTE+ (multi-quote) button instead of typing one post after another on the SAME THREAD!

To know how to multi-quote, click here.

We advise you to read the Forum Rules before proceeding any further.

[SUVolens]

Day 6 - Umling La finally!

Despite the freezing temperatures outside at night, sleep wasn't hard to come by inside the cozy huts of the resort we had booked. Small spaces are more efficient that way. And the clean beds and bath (with ample hot water supply) certainly helped. We had planned to depart for the last push towards Umling La by 8am and didn't veer too far off schedule. A breakfast of steaming poha, eggs and parathas, under the toasty sun-dome proved just the ticket to recharge us for the day.

A quick check on fuel range in all three vehicles and it was decided that there was enough gas in all to make it to 19000 ft and back - a roundtrip shy of 200 kms. We had two choices: the shorter but entirely off-road route that went right from the camp. Or the fully-metalled, longer route that exited left. We chose the latter, having had our fill of adventure on the ride from Pangong.
Hanle is at an altitude of 14,750 ft and the road was to take us to 19,040 - a gain of 5,250 ft in less than 100 kms. We were in for a ride alright.

The double lane narrow strip of tarmac that snaked its way away from Hanle made it's business clear from the very first milestone - it would take us all the way to the top of the highest hill you can drive to in the world, but what it graced by way of a smooth top, it would extract a price by way of steepness. The climbs began relentlessly and we had soon chugged our way past the first of the two passes that needed crossing to gain Umling La. And here's where things started unravelling for the diminutive Suzuki.



Somewhere past a signboard starkly declaring "You are now higher than the Everest Base Camp", I suddenly became aware that the Jimny was reluctant to move past the second gear without threatening to stall. In fact, there was no way I could hold the tachometer past 2000 in anything above 2nd. This didn't make sense. It weren't as if the car was pointed up a steep slope or anything. Still, 1st is where it was all at and you could get the engine thrashing about at 4000 RPM and the moment taken to swap to 2nd, the needle would drop to 2500 and stay firmly between 2500 and 3000, if the accelerator was feathered judiciously. The Thar and the ScorpioN in the meanwhile, opened up massive gaps between us and made them even wider by grabbing every shortcut trail they could find! And here I was, clearly struggling. Then it dawned on me - TURBO! I was the only NA engine among us and since my 2006 Scorpio, I've only ever driven turbo-diesels and no longer used to the 'old world' non-turbo motors. The rarified air at 18,000 ft+ had done its number on the Jimny. Memory flashed back to '94, when I was astride my RE Bullet, chugging up towards Tasngo Lake in Sikkim. Or trying to. The trusty old bike simply refused to put down any power at all - just a lot of hissing and stalling. I also quickly figured out another important aspect of the Jimny. The meat of the power was between 2200 and 4500 RPM. And without turbo-assist, I would need to do the work to keep the shifting continuously on between 1st and 2nd, to make any progress at all. Get ambitious and the car would simply lug and stall. And so it happened that for the first time in the trip, I fell back well behind the two Mahindras in the mountains and caught up with them only 15 mins later when they were resting and shooting me struggling up the hairpins. Sure, I could've roared up all the way in 1st and closed that gap, but when you're watching your DTE (range) with one eye and the road ahead with another, preservation is the name of the game.


The Jimny wheezes up towards Umling La as shot by the waiting Mahindras

As if this wasn't humiliating enough, another gremlin cropped up on the way. I experienced a near-total lack of brake pressure, near about the same time as this loss of power. Around a bend, trying to hold the car in the said powerband, I almost nosed into the Thar ahead as the brake pedal suddenly floored without any corresponding response! I was bummed. This lack of brake-pressure continued sporadically all the way to the top, and now, having read the experiences of several other altitude faring Jimny's it appears to be connected to the booster simply not building enough pressure with the combined effects of low ATM as well as inadequate RPM. But back at that time, I had started worrying about brake fade in the pads from all the dusty terrain and hectic drive cycles. Anyway, Umling La soon came up on the windscreen without the fanfare of its predecessor - Khardung La. It's a bit anti-climactic if you ask me. Barren all around for the most part and without the sense of occasion that some of the other Ladakhi passes. Still, 19,040 ft and there we were, breathing without too much difficulty and managing to retain our breakfast without embarrassing incidents.







The way back, we ditched the tarmac in favour of the shorter off-road trail and boy did it pay off ever! The initial kms offered an unparalleled view of the surrounding peaks while the cars cruised through a meadow and lulled the senses into a stupor. And then suddenly it was Disneyland all over again - the uncensored version. It was here and much later, over the Gata Loops (enroute to Manali on the return leg) that I got the biggest payoff from the Jimny since purchase.

This 4th Gen Jimny didn't fall far from the tree, as the saying goes. Cushier suspension, more in-cabin features apart, the DNA download from the Gen 2 we know here as the Gypsy, is a 100% complete. To set the frame, we had descended below the altitude ceiling of a low-wattage NA engine by now and power was back on at normal levels and the brakes had almost regained their full composure as well. The Jimny had transformed into something of a Mohammed Ali - all floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee bits of it While the ScorpioN just ahead of me, dialled on the 4H from it's electronic controls and waited for confirmation, the mechanical Jimny was already slotted in 4H and twiddling fingers impatiently on the hairpin that took us down over moonland. And then, as soon as the space widened, we were off like a shot! I could swear that the wheels of the Jimny never really touch terrafirma, flying up and down shortcuts, over sand and ruts and skating across major imperfections. It's all child's play and as long as you got the hang of that narrow powerband and are up to some energetic shifting, you would almost never, ever, get stuck. We reached Hanle almost in half the time we took to go up the tarmac road and a good hour ahead of the Thar that had elected to take the smoother ride back, since one of the occupants was a bit green in the gills from all the altitude.


A quick tuck into the Hanle Observatory


Jimny country

Thrilled from the day's adventures, that night we were fully poised to take in the real magic of Hanle - the nightsky. This can neither be described in words, nor do photos do justice. Just imagine being below a canopy of stars that's highlighted with The Milky Way like something straight out of a Marvel blockbuster. Everything else pales instantly and you're reduced to insignificance, a speck of dust with a lifetime of aspirations and disappointments.







The next day, we emptied the jerrycans into the cars before heading back to Leh. One among us would fly back home to Mumbai from there and the remaining six, begin the journey back home. We had information that the Manali - Delhi sector was now open to traffic and this was both shorter and more scenic. Thanks to the Atal Tunnel, Leh to Manali was dispatched within 12 hours of driving. A well-deserved feasting on trout and mulled wine at Manali and we headed back home the next day. Worth mentioning here, after Leh, all the cars refuelled at Keylong, to avoid rush inside Manali. The Jimny made it home in that single fill - a distance of almost 700 kms. So, there's that too

[dearchichi]

I was waiting for this installment of your trip report. As usual, it made good reading.

A couple of questions:

1. Did the braking issues linger until you got back low enough en-route to Hanle? When did it recover, and would you make such a trip again considering the uncertainty this throws up?

2. I'd be very keen on you comparing your now-sold Ford Endeavour 3.2 and the Jimmy related to highway usage. Discounting absolute torque and power figures and tank capacity, how would they hold up against ride quality, driving comfort and passenger comfort for 4 adults? I'm evaluating the manual Jimny over other options, almost exclusively for highway use but also to frequent back country locations, and would like a reliable, comfortable performer.

Thanks for your time.

[SUVolens]

Originally Posted by dearchichi

I was waiting for this installment of your trip report. As usual, it made good reading.

A couple of questions:

1. Did the braking issues linger until you got back low enough en-route to Hanle? When did it recover, and would you make such a trip again considering the uncertainty this throws up?

2. I'd be very keen on you comparing your now-sold Ford Endeavour 3.2 and the Jimmy related to highway usage. Discounting absolute torque and power figures and tank capacity, how would they hold up against ride quality, driving comfort and passenger comfort for 4 adults? I'm evaluating the manual Jimny over other options, almost exclusively for highway use but also to frequent back country locations, and would like a reliable, comfortable performer.

Thanks for your time.

Thank you for taking time out to read through my travelogue and the appreciation. To answer your questions:

1. The situation of total-loss-of-brakes, presented itself perhaps not more than thrice and all of it was while climbing uphill towards Umling La - so I’d hazard at altitudes between 18,000 and 19,000 ft ASL. Thereafter, the brakes did remain spongy and less than satisfactory, even by Jimny standards till until we had descended below 17,000 by my estimates. Till date, I personally have no idea what the correlation was between this mechanical aberration and altitude/outside temperature/braking frequency or intensity (there are many theories floating about overheated brake-fluid and corresponding degradation of braking).
Back in the NCR, and since Manali on that trip, the brakes have reverted to normal and there are no complaints, so would I undertake another such trip in the Jimny? Yes, I would. For 99% of its life with me, the Jimny would not scale altitudes above 18,000 ft ASL. And those too wouldn’t be that often. If the fault was connected to extreme altitude, then it won’t recur. But if there are other factors like faulty engineering, cold weather etc, I trust Maruti to take note from further user-complaints and issue a recall. They can’t afford not to. And besides, once you’re aware of a few quirks, it’s not that difficult to look out for them and accommodate for recurrences with modified driving. The Jimny is an analogue vehicle. It’s best used with a similar attitude.

2. I compared these two for sheer lack of options. My transition from one to the other, have left even my most steadfast friends baffled. Honestly speaking, the Endeavour 3.2 and the Jimny simply bear no comparison. They’re not from the same planet. The Ford is (was?) a cruiser like no other available for sale in the country at that price point. For 4 with a month’s luggage on-board, it is comfortable, quiet, efficient (well almost) and unruffled over the worst the journey can throw. It is also UNSTOPPABLE by vagaries of terrain. These facets I can endorse myself by multiple cross-country travels in it in all compass directions, as far as Bhutan, Goa or even Turtuk. So, if you’re lucky enough to live in an area which doesn’t bring down the curtains on a diesel car in 10 years of its life - there can’t be a better travel mate for highways.
The Jimny, it’s a fun car. It can never be as comfortable or as highway capable as the Ford, but that doesn’t mean it’s a car restricted to the badlands only. That’s an error most ‘reviewers’ are making in haste. As borne out from my recent travels, within existing speed limits of the land, the Jimny is comfortable with three on board and maybe even four. But three is better or oxygen gets depleted quite fast in the small cabin Kidding.
It’s frugal enough (cheaper per kilometer than the Endeavour, almost by half), more enthusiastic on typically congested paths in our country and my favourite part - it’s virtually indestructible and you needn’t worry about expensive bills should your misadventures catch you out. Not something that can be said for any other decent SUV I’m afraid. For the use description you’ve mentioned - perfect. And better in manual Zeta (less electronics to go wrong). I hope I’ve been of help.