6 months with the Jimny: Service, off-roading & highway drives

I have a roof box which is narrow and long and can hold a total of around 30-40 kgs of weight.

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2nd free service update:

Its been six months since Jimny came home and it was time for its 2nd service. Scheduled it at NEXA Kalyani service center on Kanakapura road. Jimny has run only 2.5k kms. I insisted for oil change and made sure correct grade oil (0w-16 fully synthetic) is used. Since it takes 3.6 liters, they fill it from the dispenser pipes in the service bay. To be sure, I followed the red color pipe used to dispense the oil till the storage room and took a picture of the barrel. Apart from that, I inspected the underbody thoroughly and especially the propeller shaft. there were no rubbing signs or such. Service advisor was professional and though he tried to push for service package, I was not inclined to get it. He was not pushy though. total bill came to Rs 1800/-.

- Waiting for its turn

- At the service bay

- No bangle or rubbing ring marks on prop shaft

- 0w-16 fully synthetic engine oil (Ecstar is nothing but Shell brand)

Off-roading:

Last week, we did another trip to Chikmangalur. Stayed at Bean Aroma Homestay. In the evening, we decided to visit Devigudda viewpoint. Took the estate trail. 4wd vehicles are preferred as the road is narrow, has few steep declines and inclines and deep ruts are present throughout the route. Jimny made it to the top easily. The last 50 meters section had a steep incline and deep ruts. Decided to park the car and walk those 50 meters. The panoramic view of the western ghats from Devigudda top was breath taking.

- 50 mtrs before the peak. parked safely.

- view from Devigudda peak.

Homestay owner Siddarth has immense knowledge in off-roading and is a Jimny owner too. At night, he took us to a offroad trail in the estate and gave many useful tips on off-roading. I knew Jimny is a capable off-roader, but the way it handled wet and rough terrain is a thing of beauty. He said there are 8 levels of difficulties in his estate trails and he took us to only till level 2. That itself was enough to know the capabilities of Jimny. No drama, no brute force - just graceful overcoming of all obstacles thrown at it. it can be termed as wolf in a sheep clothing. Narrow body made it fit into estate roads easily leaving enough buffer of one or two feet space for course correction if required.

-estate roads were like this

I have kept the car stock and don't plan to install unnecessary accessories which may increase the weight of the car without proper use case ( extreme off-roading). the stock Jimny with factory fitted tyres is good enough for my rides so far. Only thing which I am planning is to increase the storage space. I do have a roof box which is narrow and long and can hold 3 to 4 duffle bags and total of around 30-40 kgs of weight. Deciding which roof/cross bars to pick. Manufacture sold roof bars have weight rating for 15 kgs, which will not be useful. Might settle for Farad. they retail at around 20k. Attaching pic for reference.

- Inno roof box. fits the entire roof length perfectly. tall but not wide which is good to keep duffle bags with clothes

Highway cruising:

I find it easy to use the cruise control on highways. The only problem is when you apply brakes and come out of cruise mode, again when you reset the cruise button, it revs a lot to reach the set cruise speeds. This may or may not affect the fuel efficiency, which I am not sure. Overall, the average FE stands at 10kmpl. on highways it is 14kmpl ( speeds of 90-110 kmph).

Thats it for now. will keep posting as and when I have

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