One fine day Maruti Suzuki decided to hand me the Jimny AT for a month and the timing was just perfect because Mumbai’s monsoon was at its peak and the roads were at their peak too (of being in bad condition). I decided to use this opportunity to use the Jimny as my daily commuter and boy it was so good!
I have always been a big fan of the Jimny’s suspension setup. The ride quality on bad roads is fabulous. I encounter multiple bad patches on my way to work and I never had to slow down on any of them when I was driving the Jimny. I found the compact size also to be very useful while darting the car in tight scenarios but small isn’t always good because even though this SUV has a limited footprint, the turning radius is actually wider than that of the Toyota Fortuner which means taking turns isn’t really easy and the Jimny’s heavy steering also requires more turns lock to lock.
The 1.5-litre K15B engine is very smooth, and equally lazy. It takes time to respond to throttle inputs and with the slow automatic gearbox, the Jimny doesn’t feel quick off its feet. It does have a decent low-end for city driving and the maximum speed I managed on a shoot location was 140 km/hr but it took quite a while to reach there. Under mixed driving conditions, the best fuel efficiency I got was 12 km/l and the least was 9 km/l.
Driving the Jimny was always a fun affair. I often saw myself taking it out for a drive without reason. It is one of those cars that has a lot of flaws and yet feels very lovable, such is its character! It is very fun to drive and you anyway don’t need to go fast always to have fun. A few niceties like a front armrest and a few more storage spaces in the cabin would make the Jimny truly complete.
My team even took it out for a couple of off-roading excursions and needless to say, the Jimny is one of the best out there. It just shines when you tackle those nasty obstacles and narrow trails. Too good. The Jimny also has a lot of potential for modifications and I have seen a lot of owners spruce it up to make it more capable.
The Jimny has a very chilled AC and the audio system is decent. The screen is good but the vehicle surely needs better speakers. The headlamps are decently bright and the headlamp washers do their job nicely too. Soon enough, it was time to say goodbye to our Jimny. 1 month passed in a jiffy and we said goodbye to our car.
So, can you live with a Jimny? I think if you keep aside some of its shortcomings, you definitely can. It may not have all the goodies of other sub-4m vehicles like the Kia Sonet for the same price, but it is a very capable and well-engineered vehicle. It scores full marks when it comes to the basic fundamentals of a real SUV and if you have a thing for driving something that has a lot of character and is unique in its own way, you will like the Jimny.
Currently the vehicle is available with mouth-watering discounts and at these prices, the Jimny is really a no-brainer. This is the correct price for it and for less than Rs. 14 Lakh for the top-end Alpha variant, on-road, the off-roader makes for a great purchase.
