So I finally got to take the new Jimny out in the city in the rain.
What a cool little car! Great view out the windscreen, nice gearchange, tight turning circle, easy to park, tonnes of headroom. Seems far too cheap for a car with a proper 4x4 transmission.
The cons: Skinny little tyres don't feel too good on wet greasy asphalt in 2WD. With the 4x4 engaged your confidence in it goes up. It needs a 6th gear, 3,000rpm at 100km/h would get old pretty quickly. Very short wheelbase with a high centre of gravity so it's not built for high speed cruising and I don't know if it's really a car you'd want to spend all day on the open road in.
I kinda irrationally want one though. ! I know I would find all sorts of excuses to go off-road if I had one.
Needs aftermarket wheels with fatter road tyres, and a set of rough steelies with serous mud tyres for going on adventures in!
slarty45,
Aug 19, 3:34pm
McLaren designer Gordon Murray has bought a new Jimny
s_nz,
Aug 19, 3:40pm
Thanks for the review.
FYI the Jimny has a part-time 4wd system, with no center differential. This means it should only be engaged in off road & low traction situation, not wet or dry asphalt.
If I ever brought one I think I take off and sell the stock 195/80/15 tires, and put on 215/75/15 BFG KO2 All terrain tires or similar. Looks so much better with slightly more chunky tires.
[edit] - I quite want one, but it doesn't really fit my needs (child transporter)
richardmayes,
Aug 20, 11:32am
s_nz - is that why you see so many Suzuki 4x4s being towed behind motorhomes on A-frames? The back axle is completely switched out when 4x4 is disengaged?
I didn't think to check what size the standard tyres are. I know they looked pretty skinny as I walked away from it in the carpark. Definitely didn't feel very good on wet roads, even mentally allowing for the type of vehicle it is.
s_nz,
Aug 20, 3:13pm
My understanding was that the previous generation Jinny had 2H, N, 4H & 4L positions on the transfer case. As such putting the transfer case in neutral isolated the main gear box. This is especially important if an auto gearbox is wanted as dragging an auto car wheels down for long distances without the engine running (input shaft turning) will damage it due to lack of lubrication. The vast majority of auto cars (excl automate manuals) need extensive modification to be used as a toad. I think the current Jimny has electronic 4x4 selection and lacks the neutral position of the previous generation.
I think the above, along with other factors like small size and light weight made the Jimny popular for wheels down towing.
With tires, wider tires can give issues with hydroplaning in the wet on a light weight vehicle, but the chunky 215's isn't too much of a change from factory and definitely look nicer.
richardmayes,
Aug 20, 4:01pm
This had a selector lever on the floor behind the (manusl) gear lever. 2H, 4H and 4L. Quite a heavy little lever but it did have a very short throw on it.
jenny188,
Aug 20, 4:11pm
and he leaves the Jimny in the shed at takes out the McLaren on rainy days, yea right.
bwg11,
Aug 20, 5:34pm
I've driven an auto and it really was brilliant and I'm sure the manual would be even better. Their off-road capability will be excellent if they are half as capable as the previous model. They are busy at 100kph but we are not allowed to go faster. Some have suggested bigger feet, l agree it would help cosmetically but there really is not a lot of surplus power and wider tyres and aggressive tread patterns soak up power. The steering is rather low geared and dead. If they could pull bit more, l'd have one as a toy, and around town hack in a flash. In lime green of course.
Cant understand why they Don't copy a WW2 jeep or a landrover using modern methods of construction and say a 1.5 L turbo with a proper trans that will mud plug and cruise at 100kph The jimmy looks good but hell who would want to throw that into a corner at 100kph in the rain. If ssangyong can produce a 4x4 korando (have a look at the specs) for 36k what are suzuki thinking.
s_nz,
Aug 22, 2:56pm
A copy of a WWII era jeep or land-rover, with a 1.5L turbo engine isn't going to be a viable product for a mainstream brand. By the time you made altered the design suffichently to meet modern crash & emissions requirements, the vehicles would have lost much of what was great about them (simple & lightweight). You are then left with a poorly handling, uncomfortable vehicle with extremely limited mainstream appeal.
In the open off roader category there are a large number of ATV options of similar dimensions to a willis jeep that will put its off road ability and performance to shame.
As an example this RZR RS1. It's road legal with a number plate, wof, rego etc, can do 100km/h etc.
My bet is that most Jimny buyers are buying the car primarly for on road use, and want features like doors, side widows, roof, aircon, heater, highback seats, suspension more comfortable than leaf springs etc. I think the styling of the Jimny will win it many sales to those who don't ever plan to go off road. Looks like a mini Wrangler or G-class.
I think the pricing for the Jimny is very sharp. It starts at $25,990 +ORC, with the spec price so $29,990 +ORC. To my knowledge this is the cheapest SUV with low range 4x4 on the market by quite some margin.
I looked up the Korando. The first and second generation were jeep like, but the production of the second generation ended in 2006. A third generation went into production in 2010, and a 4th generation in 2019, but both of these were softroaders, compeditors for the likes of the Kia Sportage.
franc123,
Aug 22, 3:21pm
As per above the market is too small at it would actually be too expensive and difficult to build. You need to take into account how soft, mushy and superficial the SUV market is now, start banging on about gear ratios and approach angles and chassis construction and any other traditional element associated with hard core 4x4 customers and you get blank looks, start talking about bluetooth and streaming and hands free operation and touch screens and how many of your kids iPhones can be paired at once then you might get interest.
bagal,
Aug 23, 9:40pm
Might not end up too much different from the Jimny.Wheelbase is 88" as per series land rover, ground clearance, approach and departure similar.
A bit disappointing they didn't include a 6 sp with a lower first and slightly higher 6th, and provision for easy fitting of recovery points.
That aside, more than happy with mine. Just waiting for a soft top version to come!
.
s_nz,
Aug 24, 12:19am
It doesn't seem like the fitment of recovery points for off road use is too problematic, as long as one is willing to trim the front bumper.
You are right about the transmission's though. 5 speed manual & 4 stage auto are both pretty disappointing for 2020. As is a non telescoping steering column.
I think you might be overly hopeful regarding a soft top. They are getting rarer and rarer these days. Takes a lot of engineering effort to get the safety stuff right (incl roll over protection) to meet modern standards.
Are you running the factory tires on yours?
rj-001,
Aug 24, 7:38am
He sold his McLaren F1 a few years ago because he said it became to valuable to enjoy using it and something about speed cameras. This and Jimny mentioned in a recent MotorSport Magazine podcasts and also Chris Harris Collecting Cars podcast
bagal,
Aug 24, 7:30pm
Thank you for the references to recovery points. I was looking at a replacement bumper, but it seems they don't have built in recovery points either.
Still on factory tyres. Have had a quick look but not fixed on anything yet. Any ideas for mud terrains?
s_nz,
Aug 25, 12:06am
It seems that recovery points integrated with and aftermarket bumper / bull bar aren't very common. Recovery points under the nose of the vehicle of the same style I linked to above seems to the most common way it is done.
If the aftermarket bumper sits higher or at the bottom of the than the chassis rails, cheap hooks might do the trick. Otherwise the plate style shackel on recovery points like I liked to above.
Personially I would keep the stock bumper or go for an airbag approved bars from the big Aussie brand names, with separate recovery points.
In terms of tires, This guy is running Goodride 30x9.5 Mud terrain tires. They are pritty cheap at $180 each (not fitted) from here: https://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=6006 Stock tire is 693mm diameter, and the above is 749mm, so 8.1% bigger. Anything over 5% bigger diameter needs a cert to be road legal. Questions are if you need to stay within 5% of stock, if you want to retain the stock wheels, how much money you want to spend, and how aggressie you want to go.
215/75 R15 is roughly stock diameter, and fits on the stock wheels I think.
BFG's are well regarded, if expensive at nearly $500 each. they have the MUD TERRAIN TA KM2 in this size.
Chief Draftsman at work has traded in his old car on a mucus green Jimny. Will try to borrow it soon so I can review. Must be just about the only new car left with a manual gearbox?
He seems pretty happy about it! Doesn't intend on going far off road in it, being an old hand he just likes having a gearbox, and being an intellectual smart-arse contrarian type he loves being on the road in a slime green box, says it's the easiest car to find in the supermarket car park that he's ever had. Couldn't care less if some other damn thing has 15% more cowbell.
intrade,
May 20, 10:51am
there is a few but yea increasingly rare gratewall ute come in manual ;)
aoc1,
May 20, 12:01pm
Suzuki Swift and Baleno both have the manual option.
bagal,
May 20, 7:53pm
I've had a manual Jimny in Kinetic Yellow since February. Love it. Kind of retro. Not a grand tourer though, pretty busy @ 100.Suzuki Ignis is also available in manual.
sw20,
May 20, 8:19pm
Hyundai i30N, Toyota 86, Toyota Yaris GR-Four, Skoda Octavia, Kia Rio, Kia Picanto, Fiat Abarth 595, VW Polo, Renault Megane, Subaru WRX and Ford Fiesta all available with a real manual box.
pandai,
May 20, 8:41pm
Those are awesome. UK owners are selling their used ones for more than new price - there is a waiting list there of a year as well as rumours that the model will be discontinued because it can't meet emissions standards.
I'm after a 4x4 and it's really hard to work whether I should be looking at a used Prado or a new/near new one of these.
headcat,
May 20, 9:20pm
So somebody else bought a car that he likes. What business is it of yours?
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