Maruti Jimny: A 2020 Thar owner's opinion on space & ride quality

It is a global well proven product and that is very much evident from the fit and finish generally. It surely is an attractive vehicle.

BHPian justwheels recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got a recent opportunity to test drive the Jimny at Suraksha Nexa Electronic City (Hosur Road Branch) with fellow TBHPian @robimahanta. For reference, we both own the all new Thar (Diesel and Petrol respectively).

While a lot has already been written about the Jimny and enough videos cover the characteristics, sharing few of my own thoughts. It is a global well proven product and that is very much evident from the fit and finish generally. It surely is an attractive vehicle.

Looks and Street Presence

Jimny is a cute looking vehicle and surely stands out in the showroom filled with too many lookalikes (try differentiating a Fronx from the Grand Vitara). It is the one vehicle which carries no family look and is refreshing to see.

We all know it is a small vehicle and Thar, which is it's obvious comparison, is really large for a 3 door, compared to this. But that seemed to be attracting a couple of ladies who were checking out the vehicle. It will tick a few boxes for the compactness and cuteness for sure.

For reference I am 5 ft 9 inches and I stand quite tall to the vehicle.

Inside Space

While Thar is officially a 4 seater, it has enough width to accommodate occasional 3 at the rear. Jimny on the other hand is ONLY 4 seater. You literally feel you could enter from one side and open the opposite door right away, it is that narrow. You will rub shoulders with your passenger even in the front, period!

But it is a very well put together cabin and I must say the quality feels way better than the Thar.

The A pillar is narrow and aids in the view of outside, way better than the thick trunk like A pillar of the Thar. I never had to lean to see the right corners in Jimny, which I often do in the Thar.

Rear seat space is ok and I had enough knee room when seat was set to my driving position. But a slight rearward push of the front seats robs away all the knee room very fast. Too many well built tall passengers might be a squeeze here.

With driver seat in my position:

With front seat pushed back:

Boot - (Thar you listening?)

It has a very useful boot. I saw a couple of families very interested to check the boot space and that shows this Jimny will target a lot of varied customers and simply having 4 doors and usable boot makes it so much more attractive.

Ride Quality

Honestly, coming from the All New Thar, I was blown away, period! Yes it has all the characteristics of a ladder on frame chassis, tall boy design (read body roll), but it is so much more live-able than the Thar. We took one small bad patch during test drive and where Thar would have been all bouncy and would be throwing all its passengers around, Jimny was so composed. The damping was great, the bouncing was not there and unless you took the bad road at a substantially high speed (~30kmph or more), the rear would not jump. I was royally impressed.

A small video might give some idea of the damping.

One thing I did notice that Jimny holds the gears much longer, but that puny engine becomes just more loud in the process. While Jimny will do most things offroad great, it will surely fall short in legs on the tarmac.

Overall, I came out very impressed by the little wonder. Will I trade my Thar with it, NO. Thar is an emotion much bigger than the Jimny, with whatever shortfalls it has. And Thar's engine and gearbox is way more superior to what Jimny offers. For my usage, Thar works out better. But, if I had the moolah and the wherewithal today, I would have used all possible means ("sam dam dand bhed" - persuade, purchase, punish, and exploit the weakness) to convince my wife to trade her Punch with the Jimny. It will be a good addition in any garage, unless you need a 5 seater without compromise.

While discussions on the price will never end, it will be even more fueled when the 5 door Thar is launched. I am sure Mahindra will not find it easy to price that thing, when the 3 door Thar prices are already touching 20L OTR in Bangalore. Well time will tell.

All in all, Jimny is an attractive proposition for anyone willing to buy it.

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