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BHPian shibujp recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Finally, 3 weeks after seeing my Jimny in the flesh laid my hands on the critter. Took delivery earlier today. First impressions in no particular order.
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BHPian asingh1977 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Some observations:
The dilemma: Is this worth the 17L?
The answer: Depends on case to case. It is unique, 5-door, tested worldwide for many years, offers experiential driving, and is a lifestyle-altering device [for sure].
The vehicle has the ethos and spirit of an off-roader which will go anywhere/anytime. Urban or Jungle. Family or Single.
Will book, once the waiting simmers down. Is 24 weeks as of now.
**The car salesman sitting next to me: Kept telling me to not rest my hand on the shifter while driving. Habit from manual driving life long. I honestly did not know where to keep my left hand.
***Competent Nexa, Sector 34, Gurgaon. Well-behaved staff, and friendly. The showroom was mostly empty, so had a good time with the car and test drive. No rush for anything. Am Happy.
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BHPian SUVolens recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
It’s been around 9 days since I brought home our Jimny. In Bluish Black, manual, Zeta trim. And yes, all my angst and efforts paid off, and I completely avoided the unreasonable showroom demands of ‘mandatory’ add-ons etc. Simply cherry-picked what I wanted and rejected what I could get cheaper outside/buy later.
To get back to the car itself, in little over the week I’ve had it, it’s already clocked 1000 kms and I took it in for the first checkup yesterday, retro-fitting the OE fog lamp as the only concession to stock I’m making right now. Personally, I like the Jimny in its stock form and find a kind of unassuming, underdog charm to its lines and a vanity project, at least for my use case, is not on the cards.
Notable mentions in life with the Jimny over these 1000 km:
At least for now, till it doesn’t become a more familiar sight on the roads - this car sure gets a lot of attention. Strangers wave and make all kinds of appreciative gestures. I’ve had a middle-aged woman pull up next to my moving car, roll down her window and give me a wave and a huge thumbs up. I’ve seen cops writing a challan, stop and stare as I wafted by and this goes on. It’s all a bit too ‘celebrity’ for me.
The Jimny has been showing me spectacular fuel efficiency so far. A Delhi-Chandigarh run returned an indicated 17.1 kmpl and the tank-to-tank reconfirmed the exact figure. And city drive between Noida to Gurgaon and back on weekday peak traffic turned out 16! This is perplexing since I read so much about this car not being able to return above high single or low double-digit figures.
Part of this high efficiency I seem to be getting, I think I owe to the amazingly tractable little mill and the manual 5-speed combo. This setup always seems to shift up early and doesn’t knock or lug even in 5th, ambling at 40-45 kmph in city traffic. It simply crawls up flyovers in 4th or even in 5th, with nary a jar or judder and in fact, acts distinctly surprised if you double-guess and shift down as you would with other manuals about town.
The part about the gear shift is true, unfortunately. It’s a stiff one, not unpleasantly so, but not effortless by any stretch of the imagination. I’m used to it now, but shifting at a standstill is still a bother.
On the highway, this is just a lovebug. Anyone familiar with the 70’s Beetle franchise would get the drift. All that worry about the weak top end, 100+ cruising abilities, handling/stability etc, vanish in the slipstream within the first 10 kms alone with the Jimny. Something about its size, the view outside and overall demeanour, resets you as a driver and you tend to switch modes to ‘70’s flower power’ instead of the anxious, unrecognisably stressed person you’ve become in modern-day traffic.
You’re happy to have traffic pass you (most of them rubbernecking as they go), as you take in more scenery than ever through those innocent wide windows. The stock audio is perfectly in keeping with these demands, the pizza cutter tyres hold the road as well as you can hold a tune and the engine doesn’t bother you in la la land since you won’t nudge beyond 100 anyway. I think the hippie is strong in this one. Buy it for much more, and you’re likely to be disappointed.
I haven’t had a chance to test its off-roading chops yet. Need a couple of months more to bring that plan to fruition. However, near Himachal, I did manage to wade the car into a water-flooded road, where the water simply rose through the engine bay and poured out of the bonnet. I hadn’t figured it’d get that deep before it was too late! No harm done. No ingress into the passenger cabin, and the car shook it off like a happy puppy once we were clear over to the other side.
What don’t I like? Not much so far.
The halogen headlights on the Zeta are pathetic - worse than a 10-year-old WagonR. It’s almost as if Maruti knew people are going to change it anyway, and stuck to candles masquerading as bulbs inside that lens. Will need to replace it with better bulbs, since I prefer the retro look of the reflector to the more neo-LED setup of the Alpha. Just like the steel rims.
The driver footwell remains narrow on long drives, as I had suspected at our first-ever meet. And my large left foot eventually parks itself behind the clutch pedal at cruise, which can be potentially hazardous in case of a front shunt.
The lack of storage inside doesn’t bother me any longer. There are plenty of workarounds and in any case, I think it trains you to be more efficient in packing in these wasteful times.
That rear seat though - heh heh, I’m not going to end up there anytime soon on any kind of journey. No sir. Good for smaller people. Good for kids. For journeys with sensibly planned breaks. That’s about it.
So, overall - do I regret buying the Zeta MT even without a test drive? Nope. I’m glad I did.
Did I need this car? Nope. But I’m glad I got it anyway. I learnt how to drive in a Gypsy in 1984. I’ve transitioned through a bunch of disparate cars in these close-to-forty years of driving. It now makes perfect sense to me that I’m back on an old familiar playground, with old familiar tunes. This one is for my daydreams. For the express services, I’ve got the sedan.
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BHPian sammysossa recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I took delivery of my Jimny Zeta AT on the 27th and have done around 200 Kms since (some hills, some plains). I've been thinking of typing a review of sorts but didn't want to just repeat what all has been written (very well) before. So will keep it short (kind of):
All I talk about is Jimny these days and although initially my family was humoring me now I feel that they've had enough. A friend overseas and this forum is my only refuge, so thank you.
Here's what BHPian Vikram Arya had to say about the matter:
Congratulation on your Jimny. It's a neat little vehicle for the hills.
I was curious about what exactly do you plan to do with the portable jump starter. Your vehicle is brand new and the battery should last at least 5 years.
Storing a LiIon battery in an enclosed vehicle parked on a hot summer day can be very dangerous as the temperature inside the vehicle can reach 65C and even beyond. Now most of the branded jump starters would undergo a catastrophic failure much before that.
I have a NOCO GBX45 Jump starter that's rated at 1,250A. If you notice on the datasheet, it clearly says that the operating range is -20C to +50C.
If you're still concerned about a flat battery, you could keep a normal jumper cable although I don't see why would you need even that with a brand-new vehicle.
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BHPian Vid6639 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I finally managed to get a test drive of the Jimny and came back pleasantly surprised.
Since my earlier post was about the interiors and seating, I will only cover the highlights of the drive.
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BHPian hemanth.anand recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
The test drive vehicles reached Bengaluru yesterday. Today morning, I got a decent test drive at the Kalyani Nexa in JP Nagar. Me and my friend went there at 10AM sharp in a Gypsy. We were probably the first visitors of the day and hence, in an otherwise small showroom with limited parking slots, There was an empty parking spot just beside the brand-new Jimny TD vehicle. Parked the Gypsy beside the Jimny and took a couple of pictures.
Rishtey mein hum tumhare baap lagt hain
This one here is a Grey and is a very dark shade closer to black. Should've been lighter IMO. This shade of Granite Grey, the Bluish Black and the Nexa Blue are all very similar MSIL should've differentiated more I felt.
The Sales Executive came and introduced himself and without much formalities took my DL details and we went to the vehicle to start the TD. While I had seen the Jimny earlier, my friend hadn't seen it in person. While the car was being cleaned, we looked at the vehicle in detail. in another 5 minutes, we were ready to go. I took the diver's seat. The vehicle had run only 145kms. The cCentre console immediately and clearly reminds me of the Gypsy.
Remember this?!
I drove in some small lanes around JP Nagar. Due to the recently concluded elections in the state, all roads were smooth and nice. It was the first time I cursed the politicians for having done their work! Because of this, the drive was completely in 2H mode. The sales executive told that in some weeks, when one or two additional TD vehicles arrive, home TD will begin which will allow longer test drives. After 5 kms, my friend came into the driver's seat and he drove for another 3 kms till the showroom.
The vehicle we drove was an Alpha AT. The vehicle is so silent inside compared to the Gypsy. Overall suspension is on the harder side and well-sorted. Immediate suspension upgrade is not mandatory even for rough road conditions. We were first at a signal and the quick 0-60 was also impressive. It'll serve decent enough on the highways. If you want to race with a good sedan like Virtus or Slavia, you'll be disappointed but otherwise, you'll be good.
The Gearbox is eager to shift down I felt and hence the FE figures on the MID are in single digits. Of course, FE should be the last thing on your mind if you are buying this car. A Manual mode would've been nice on the AT. But like someone shared a video, Shifting L-2-D can give that manual mode. shifts are smooth and way better than an AMT (but nowhere close to a DSG). The turning radius is big but definitely doesn't feel so when driving. I drove through some really narrow lanes and it was easy to manoeuvre.
The space management inside is quite good and it doesn't feel small at all. It is officially a 4-seater and it is good for 4. Perfect vehicle for a group of 4 to go on a vacation.
While getting down one strange observation I made is that the "don't put your feet" warning symbol on the running board is only on the right side and not on the left side.
The sales executive informed us that they've received two Nexa blue vehicles for delivery. He informed me that some RTO formalities are pending post which it'll be delivered to customers in another week or so. Other colours are expected in 2-3 months he told.
While driving back home I took a Picture of the Jimny from inside the Gypsy. For the uninitiated, look at the console.
Ah now I remember!
In summary, if Gypsy is a human born in 1983, Jimny is the same person all grown up after 40 years... Mature, smart, smooth, planted, capable, Confident, not pretending to be someone else, small yet sure. if you are all of these and going through a MLC, this is the vehicle for you.
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Maruti Suzuki recently launched the Jimny 5-door in India. The off-roader is also set to go on sale in the Australian market soon but will have one major difference.
The Australia-spec Jimny 5-door will be largely similar to the Indian version. However, both versions widely differ when it comes to safety features. Unlike the Jimny 5-door sold in India, the SUV will get Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
The ADAS suite includes safety features like autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning and high beam assist. Now, it is worth pointing out that the Australian government recently mandated that all new cars introduced from March 2023 onwards need to be equipped with autonomous emergency braking as standard.
In India, the Jimny is only offered with a basic set of safety features like 6 airbags, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist, ESP, Hill Hold Control, Hill Descent Control and a rearview camera.
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BHPian astrodex recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Just brought my Jimny home today. Picked up from the showroom at 6 pm and went straight to change the boots to 215 Yokohama Geolanders.
I am not an expert in driving analysis, but compared to the Brio and Baleno CVT, the Jimny did not feel underpowered. Reading the reviews, I kind of expected it to be struggling to cross 100. The AT is a little noisy, like the Baleno CVT but it is predictable and linear. I didn't drive too much beyond 100, but crossed the 80 mark and the associated chimes came in quite fast and multiple times between traffic signals.
I also liked the height. Even though it has the same dimensions as say, the Nexon. Sitting next to one, you look into the Nexon. A Thar, sitting in the next lane, obviously, dwarfed both of us.
The steering, while not hard, needs some getting used to. At the gas station, I had trouble initially judging the turns required. On the road, it was a little better.
The things I don't like are the annoying chimes of the rear seat belts, the fixed driver seat height and the bad quality and even angle of the rearview camera.
I didn't notice much difference after changing tyres, but then I didn't drive too much either. It felt a little more surefooted but that might be me imagining things. Road noise also didn't seem to change much.
I really wanted the roof rails, but the dealership does not have them in stock nor does it know the price. This is the first Jimny they have sold and they are still getting the hang of things.
Here are the before and after tyre change pictures.
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BHPian Aditya recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Earlier this month, the Maruti Jimny was launched in India (read the full review here). The offroader is available with only one engine - a 1.5L, 4-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol unit that develops 103 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 134 Nm @ 4,000 rpm. However, Maruti has provided a choice of two transmissions - manual and automatic. Both transmissions come with a four-wheel drive transfer case.
The manual transmission is a 5-speed unit. The MT version of the Jimny is cheaper than the AT by Rs. 1.2 lakh. Additionally, it has a better ARAI-certified FE figure (16.94 km/l). On the flip side, the gearshift is heavy and notchy. The clutch is heavy too. Also, because of the three pedals, the footwell is cramped.
The automatic transmission is an old 4-speed torque converter unit. While 4-speed sounds old today, one must remember that this transmission has been around for a long time and is extremely reliable. It is also smooth in operation, which should make the Jimny easier to drive especially in bumper-to-bumper traffic. However, as mentioned earlier, the Jimny AT is more expensive to buy and has a lower ARAI-certified FE figure (16.39 km/l) than the MT.
So which transmission would you choose?
Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:
Jimny AT, without a doubt.
For one, I've given up on MTs entirely (unless it's a sports car). Second, the Jimny's AT might be antique & outdated ("OD" button from the '90s included, "L" mode, no manual mode), but it is smooth, has proven its reliability and is quite satisfactory within the city.
Does the job. The AT is the one I'd buy with this sexy car.
Here's what BHPian HappyWheels had to say about the matter:
AT all the way, especially if you are a newbie to off-roading.
Those few times that you might take it off-road, you reduce the chances of burning out your clutch by multiple factors just by this decision, as taking it off-road will be one major criteria for this purchase.
This pure-blood off-roader is going to see a lot of uneducated abuse by many newbie owners and even at the service center. Going with the AT will honestly save at least the clutch.
Here's what BHPian shancz had to say about the matter:
Voted for the AT and I still can't believe it.
My Gypsy memories are of 2-3 variants all with that signature engine-transmission noise and bouncing around in the front seat. I never imagined nor would I ever get an AT in that.
But the Jimny is different, I have seen a couple on the road and parked around. I know it's a thorough no-nonsense off-roader but it has a sophisticated and urban vibe to it.
Very rare vehicles can carry the fluorescent yellow/green shade and the Jimny carries it with elegance, and for that very reason it's at the top of the lifestyle vehicle list for me and if it ever happens, why not go all in and get the bulletproof 4-speed Ancient Transmission I (and we) have cribbed so much about on the S-Cross.
Life has indeed come a full circle.
Here's what BHPian karanddd had to say about the matter:
The manual without a doubt. It's an old-school car with an old-school charm. A manual really suits it. Especially because its engine doesn't make much power, I would love to have the ability to redline it in every gear in case I need to go fast (lol). A sluggish 4-speed AT is likely to make a slow car feel even slower.
Here's what BHPian astrodex had to say about the matter:
Honestly, I would have preferred a AT with more cogs, but given the options, it would be the AT. Jimny is not a fast mover anyway to make much difference between the two options, and the AT will make it a little better for city drives and make life easier during offroading for everyone except the experts. Also, most of the reviews have said the manual is quite notchy compared to other Suzuki vehicles. The only time manual would make sense is if you have a lot of highway miles since it would be a bit more relaxed than AT at 100km+ speeds.
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BHPian SUVolens recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I have had a Jimny booked since January and now that test drives are available freely at my location, I took two on consecutive days - fairly extended ones, totalling about 30kms over mixed surfaces including inner-city, off-road and open highways. Both were done in an Alpha AT trim and I’d like to present my experience for the rest here as follows:
I will update this view once I am able to get my hands on an MT. Till then, I don’t think I’ll pester my dealer for delivery. All in sweet time.
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