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Maruti Jimny AT: Quick take on highway performance after 1000 km

22nd July 2023, 17:08 by Ananth Iyer

I think there will be fewer Jimnys showing up in the resale market compared to the Thar.

BHPian androdev recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have hit the 1000KM mark after a long highway drive and I can safely say the car is growing on me. I have been critical of the drivetrain in my earlier post - I am still critical of it but after driving for two days on the highway, I have a better understanding of what to expect from this car on the highways.

My route included 1 hr of Bangalore city, 4 hrs of highway and another 1 hr of rural broken/non-existent roads, returned by the same route.

While leaving Bangalore, it was raining cats and dogs. Being a sedan guy, I never really liked driving in the city when it rains. Jimny's cabin obviously gets pretty noisy when it rains, but it's a very fun car to drive in the rain. GC, suspension and automatic gearbox cope very well with water puddles, bad roads and slow moving traffic.

Highway section is interesting. This is the part I was very curious about. Let me break this down into different scenarios:

Cruising at steady speed: I'm happy to find that Jimny does a very good job between 70-110 kmph speeds. Everything feels effortless and the car also feels reasonably planted given high GC, etc. Most vehicles maintain this cruise speed on our roads, so you won't feel like a 2nd class citizen on the road. My journey time was more or less comparable to what I used to get with a good sedan.

Acceleration and braking: You will have to eat the humble pie when it comes to acceleration and braking. Picking up speed from 30 to 70 kmph is very slow and you have to watch every bum whizz past you. This can get frustrating if you are on congested highways where you need to slow down and accelerate a lot, especially if you are used to better cars. I did use OD off but it only reminds you that you are trying too hard! I did manage to keep pace with the better cars but I was trying too hard and I'm sure other drivers were just chilling. Get used to a lot of bullying!

Safety: Taking any sudden evasive action can be risky. I guess this applies to all cars of this category. Goes without saying that one needs to be aware of the car's limitations.

Higher speeds: As you go beyond 100, 110 kmph, etc. the wind noise and the overall dynamics become the limiting factors. I never wished the engine had more power because I didn't feel like pushing beyond 120 given all the wind noise and poor dynamics. Even with much more capable sedans, I stick to cruising speeds below 110 kmph, so I find the power to be adequate and higher speeds are too risky for this type of vehicle.

Comfort: AC is terrific. Front seats are not bad (my build is small at 67 kg). Rear seats will have a lot of bouncing and not that comfortable (I did not have rear passengers but I could tell from the way the rear bounces). I kept changing my left foot resting position to find a comfortable position but without success - it wasn't very painful but something I ended up doing throughout the journey.

Range: I think I got 400 KM range on full tank with mixed road conditions. I suspect FE penalty of AT is high if you drive in a spirited mode keeping up with the rest of traffic. The "distance to empty" information doesn't seem to be very reliable - especially when the tank is near full. One needs to start planning for refuelling after 300KM which is a bit low in my opinion.

The rural section is my main reason for buying Jimny and I couldn't be happier. Not just in terms of capabilities, but the unassuming grey Jimny really blends into the landscape without attracting much attention.

Miscellaneous:

Windshield is upright, so a lot of bugs get splattered during the night drive. This wasn't the case when I drive a sedan - I guess due to the windshield rake, most insects glide off. The wipers are not good enough to clean up the bug splatter affecting the visibility.
Lights do a pretty good job for night driving.
I really miss "auto rain wipers" as the rain was intermittent throughout the journey.
Car play froze a couple of times - I couldn't use navigation. How to reset without shutting off the engine?
Too many sounds/alerts/greetings in the car - feels like an old school railway station platform. Thankfully the 80 KMPH warning alert is gentle and doesn't bother me much. Rear seat belt alert is a horrible implementation - I dropped my rear passengers and went looking for a parking space and the damn thing started beeping all over again.
No decent space for water bottles.
Audio volume change control on the steering wheel is very poorly designed (too small and easy to accidentally change mode instead of volume)

I think there will be fewer Jimnys showing up in the resale market compared to the Thar. The lack of outright power and compact dimensions actually help Jimny filter out the buyers that are not its target market. Apart from subjective preferences, there is only one area Jimny is terrible at: picking up speed from 30 to 70 kmph. It is a great package for 0-30 kmph city driving, 80-110 kmph highway cruising and unpaved roads. In exchange for the shortcomings that are typical of such a high GC car, it does offer a lot of character and feel-good emotions. A car to grow old with.