Hey Guys! Welcome to AKMotoblog,
How are you all? Many of you were asking for a review of MarutiJimny, You were waiting for it, right? So today we have got a detailed review of the MarutiJimny, On AKMotoblog.
Today I will clarify that should you consider Jimny or not, And also I have some special news for you. I will share a tip through which you can earn with your existing car. So without wasting any further time,
Let’s go into the Main Article.
Exterior
Now the Jimny will definitely remind you of the Gypsy, And if it does, Then let me know in the comments if you are a Gypsy fan or not.
The overall styling does feel like a continuation of the Gypsy family.
So it gets circular headlamps and along with that it even gets a washer, And it’s a very useful feature. So when you go off-road through mud or slush and make the headlamps dirty, With the help of the washer, you can wipe out all the mud from the headlamps. The front grille of the Jimny has been Indianised. The global version gets a blacked-out grille, While in India it gets chrome elements on it.
The bumper is completely blacked on both variants, Zeta and Alpha both variants get black color bumpers. The reason for that is in case you scrape the bumper while off-roading, The maintenance will be pretty less. And also the black bumpers give it a rugged look to the car.
Now as you move toward the side of the car, You will notice that the bumper does not go all the way to the wheel. It is designed so that the bumper will not scrape while climbing a steep incline. The tyre size happens to be 15 inches, And they could have been equipped with 16-inch tyres. But as they do not want to affect the ride quality, And keep the off-road as their priority, They have provided 15-inch tyres.
You can get 16-inch wheels from the aftermarket, But that might affect its off-road capability. Also, if you go off-road with low-profile tyres,
Then there are chances of tire getting cuts on it. When you take a wider look at the car you will notice a couple of things. Firstly the car is not that tall and it is smaller than me in height. And also the side profile somewhat looks like a G Wagon, Do you feel that as well?
I definitely feel so. Now let me show a few more highlights. The ground clearance is 210 mm which is great, And the car weighs around 1200 kg. And it depends on which variant and gearbox option you choose. Now, there is some uniqueness in its doors, In terms of length, The front door is longer than the rear door. And so the front door opens wider.
There is no difference in the door opening angle of the front and rear doors, But as the front door is bigger, It appears to open wider compared to the rear door. Getting in and out of the car is very easy. You don’t really have to climb inside the car, You can get inside the car very easily. Coming to the rear you will notice another different styling. On the other Maruti cars, The tail lamps are either connected or vertical like on Wagon R and Ertiga.
But on the Jimny, the tail maps are placed on the bumpers. According to me, the placement of tail lamps on the bumpers is not a great idea, Because the chances of getting them damaged are a lot more while off-roading.
Whereas Maruti claims that they have placed the tail lamps on the bumpers so that it would not hamper the boot opening area. And I think it might have been covered somewhere near the tire or something of that sort. So that’s why they are on the bumpers. Also, it is the only Maruti to have a spare wheel on the tailgate, And the tailgate itself is a side-opening door, And this is how it opens. The boot space of the Jimny is 219 liters. And it can be a disadvantage as if four people are traveling then there won't be much boot space.
Let me highlight two important aspects among which one is a major downside. So nowadays you get grab-style door handles on any car you purchase. But on Jimny, there are old-fashioned door handles that we used to see on Maruti 800. Also, the passive entry button is placed very oddly, And it looks like an afterthought fitment. So I feel that could have done it better on the Jimny. Also, your car is no less than real estate.
Either you use it yourself, or you can simply earn through it if you are not using it much. Excited to know how? You just need to join Zoomcar as a host and you can earn a fixed reliable income, By sharing your car. You have the flexibility of a few hours, Weeks, Or months, And it will be you to decide how much to charge for sharing your car. More than 2 million guests are registered on Zoomcar And Zoomcar verifies each and every guest before allowing them to book a car Once you register on Zoomcar as a host, you can share your car without any tension. You get 24*7 support and an option to chat with the guest. Also, you don't have to hand over the car physically, You can unlock your car through the app. And if there is any damage then Zoomcar will fix the car for you. You are just one click away from becoming a Zoomcar host and starting earning. So go and download the app right away.
Interior
Now to understand its interiors let’s understand its purpose first. The Jimny is not meant to be a luxurious or technology-loaded car. It is built to go anywhere, And it is built to keep you in comfort while driving around on and off the road. So the majority of interiors are covered with hard plastics, Even on the door pads. The overall fit finish is decently good, the Quality is also pretty good, And the touch and feel of the materials are also decent.
Now the steering wheel is similar to the other Maruti cars, With audio controls on the left and cruise control on the right. Also, the instrument cluster clearly seems to be inspired by the Gypsy. So if you have ever seen the instrument cluster of a Gypsy, Then you will realize that it is very much similar. There is a display in the center that gives all the driver-related information. You can check the mileage, range, and other information. Talking about the touchscreen system, Then on the top-end Alpha variant, it gets a 9-inch touchscreen display, And it gets features like an android auto, apple car play, and a reverse parking camera.
The seats offer great comfort, And both the front seats are pretty wide. So if you want to go on a long trip, Then you can sit and travel very comfortably. In terms of practicality, I am somewhat disappointed. Firstly you have no space to keep any bottles on the door pads, And at the most, you can keep some papers only. There are two small-size bottle holders in the center, And there is not much storage space in the center console. There is not even phone storage near the handbrake and the gear lever. There is some space above the glove box to keep your phone, And the glove box itself isn’t too big. The seating position is fantastic as you sit at a good height, But it misses out on features like seat height adjustment.
2nd Row
Now I am adjusting the seat according to my driving position So that I can show you the space on the back seat. Just for your reference, I am 6 feet tall, And in the back seat, I don’t have enough knee room and my knees are almost touching the front seats. There are two adjustable headrests And even the seat recline is decent enough but there is not really much space at the rear. Also, if you notice then it is not a wide car and only two people can sit here, Sitting three people can be a bit tight. There is no center armrest for the rear passengers, And the seat can fold down flat in a 50:50 format. So you have the option to fold the seat 50-50, And it gives you extra flexibility as it helps to increase the boot carrying capacity.
What I would highlight is that there are no AC vents in the rear, Also, the window area isn’t too big. The front windows are slightly bigger than the rear. Although these are the UV cut glass all over. There is no storage space at the rear or even on the rear doors. You get pockets behind the front seats, But other than that there is no storage space at the rear. You get a cabin light and that’s about it. Also, you sit a bit higher than the front seat which gives you a good view of the road.
On-Road Drive
Alright guys we are driving the Jimny and it comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine paired with 5-speed manual and 4-speed automatic transmissions. This engine is not the newly developed dual jet engine that Maruti is using in their new cars, It is the same old engine. According to Maruti, they are providing this engine as it is used in the Jimny sold globally.
I mean I am sure they must have worked with the transmission and engine tuning, But the point is the Jimny sold in India is a 5-door version, While the Jimny sold globally is a 3-door version. Now I will be very honest, The pick-up is actually very good and I have no problems with that. Overall drive quality is also pretty good, And I have majorly driven the manual variant and the car is pretty smooth. Body roll is controlled, Has a good pick-up, And even the torque is pretty good as well. So I don’t have any complaints about that.
But talking about the drive then it is easy to drive as the bonnet edges are clearly visible, And even if you used to drive a small car before, You will not have difficulty driving the Jimny. It might take a couple of days to get used to it. Overall it’s going to be very comfortable for you to drive this car. You don’t have to do frequent gear shifts.
As I am driving on ghats and twisty roads, I am consistently driving in the third gear at above 35. Otherwise, in some cars, you have to do frequent downshifts. So there is no such concern with Jimny, The car is very smooth and easy to drive.
Now what you need to know is that The Jimny is not just easy to drive, But even the overall ride quality is fantastic. I drove it on a really bad patch of roads and I had no problem with the car. The car is absolutely smooth, very comfortable, and you can drive it for the whole day without getting tired. One more thing, The gearshifts are smooth but the throws are a bit too long. So because of that, you have to put in some effort,
And when you switch on the engine, The gear lever starts with a shake and vibration. So you feel the vibrations on the gear lever, And some amount of vibrations on the clutch at higher speeds for petrol, Which we have never experienced with a Maruti car. So these are minor points that I am highlighting about this car that comes under the negative column. Another negative point is the engine noise is very much evident. So as I rev the engine, You can hear the noise coming from the engine. However there is almost no road noise, The cabin insulation is also fantastic, And even the steering wheel is light and easy and convenient to drive for an entire day.
So all these aspects are advantages of Jimny, And the negative points are not really something to worry about. The car really scores when it comes to ease of driving. And the best part is when I compare it with the Gypsy, The Gypsy used to be very stiff and while going over bad roads, The jerks used to hit you inside the cabin. In Jimny, you won’t even realize you are going through bad roads.
I mean you will feel the movement, But those jerks will not hit you. Try to understand what I am saying. You feel the movements but the jerks won’t hit you. And that is where Maruti has done a splendid job, And full points to them for this. Talking about the handling then I have not tested it a lot,
I am driving in Dehradun and I have not got a chance to drive it fast, And not that we have done high-speed runs on this car. But the car has been really comfortable and easy to drive, And on each turn and twist, I did not feel any concern with the body roll. Even the brakes are working really well.
Overall I am impressed with the on-road characteristics of the car. Just that I feel the performance might be dull if you try to go high speeds. The car might struggle a bit while overtaking over 100 km.
Now talking about the mileage, The manual variant will return 11-12 kmpl in the city, And 15-16 kmpl on the highway. Whereas the 4-speed automatic variant will return 10-11 kmpl in the city, And a maximum of 13-14 kmpl on the highway.
If you get more then it’s always going to be a big plus point. But what I think is being a 4WD car it will not return much fuel efficiency. It’s now the time to take the Jimny off-road.
Off-Road Drive
So here we are on off-road terrain, And the instructor has instructed me to drive on 4 low, And all we are doing is driving the car quite easily. The car is moving on its own without any extra effort. I am not accelerating at all and the car is moving. The traction was at 4 low, And now as I pushed the accelerator pedal, The car starts to move a lot quicker comparatively. So overall the pickup is very good, And the low-end torque that you require for off-roading, You get that easily. So it’s very easy and convenient to drive through bad patches of road. And here I am driving right now is a natural road, They have not built artificially for an off-road track. The overall drive of the car or the ease of driving aspect is clearly evident. And majorly I am not using the accelerator.
I am using the accelerator on very few parts for instance, As I have to go uphill I will just accelerate a bit and the car moved up. So all these aspects, Especially the low-end torque that you get when engaged in 4 high or 4 low, It makes driving effortless and it’s quite comfortable and easy to drive as well. Now here I have to go downhill and I am not changing any modes, I just need to go down as my instructor has guided me about it. All I have to do is come down quite easily, And there is articulation at the rear wheel, But the car did the job very comfortably.
The car is on a side incline but you will not feel nervous that the car is losing its grip, Or not having sufficient torque and power and will be stuck. No such thing over here and the car is moving very easily. You see, quite easy, there’s absolutely no problem with it. Now all I have to do is come down through this tricky patch as here we might lack the grip, And this is where we might struggle a bit, And the car might slip on such a rocky patch and so the grip is very minimal.
Now we will again get back into the water. So here we get down easily and again going through the water. And here I am accelerating a bit, but before that, I didn’t really have to accelerate. The car was going very smoothly and very easily on it. Now we got this patch of road ahead which has some easy patches right now, But some patches will be difficult for sure.
Now if you notice then here we are now completely off the road. And the patch where I am driving right now is not like where cars keep going through. It is a natural part where Maruti has done some reiki, And I am the first person to drive through this patch after their experts. So as I accelerate the car starts to move very easily.
Now here I am not accelerating. All I am doing is shifting it to 4 low and just controlling the steering wheel. I am not using much accelerator and brakes. And that is making the drive comfortable and easy. Now here there is an incline so let’s climb on it. The patch is pretty smooth and I am not having any problem climbing the Jimny up, And it might look easy on the outside but it is really a tricky patch to drive on. So I might struggle to drive over it,
And our car almost slid downside as it is a slippery patch and we had to drive on the edge. Now ahead there is a rocky incline, And the car is climbing without any accelerator inputs and it is going very easily.
Now here I have to turn left which seems very tricky, But I am able to make it comfortable. So what seems to be difficult when you look at it, The car is actually able to do it easily. And here I am again trying to do a little more difficult patch with a lot of rocks on this patch, Where we might even lose the grip. But the car did it pretty well without any kind of problem.
Verdict
Now the question is should you consider this car, Or should you consider this SUV or not. The answer is pretty simple.
Jimny is a great product, And it doesn’t really compete with cars like the Brezza, Venue, or Nexon. These cars are not their direct competitors. This car has been built for something else also. You are paying for the hardcore off-road capabilities of the Jimny. Of course, it has got looks, Not a feature-loaded car, And so the main expenses are done on those aspects which are technically not visible, Neither you can count them on paper like any other feature.
It has off-road capabilities that hardly any other car offers at this price point. I feel these aspects are just amazing of the Jimny, And the pricing of the Jimny will be out in the month of June. If the pricing goes up to 16-17 Lakh on-road then it will be an expensive car, And 13-15 Lakh I feel is a good price for this SUV. The actual cost is the underpinnings of the Jimny. So overall it is an interesting and exciting product, And I feel if you are looking for a different product that is decent in practicality but is a head-turner, Then Jimny becomes an excellent product. And also for those who do off-roading, And go over mountain trails, This car becomes an excellent choice to choose from.
So this was all about today’s article, See you tomorrow with an all-new article guys, Take care,
0 Comments