One fine day, Maruti Suzuki decided to give me the Jimny AT for a month and the timing was perfect as the Mumbai monsoons were at their peak and so were the roads (being in bad condition). I decided to use this opportunity to use the Jimny as my daily commute and boy, did it feel so good!
I’ve always been a big fan of the Jimny’s suspension setup. The ride quality on rough roads is fabulous. I encounter a number of rough patches on my way to work and I’ve never had to slow down for any of them when I’ve been driving the Jimny. I’ve also found the compact size to be very useful when swerving the car around in tight situations, but small isn’t always good because although this SUV has a limited footprint, the turning circle is actually wider than the Toyota Fortuner, which means cornering isn’t really easy, and the Jimny’s heavy steering also requires more lock-to-lock turning.
The 1.5-litre K15B engine is very smooth and equally lazy. It takes a while to respond to throttle inputs and with the sluggish automatic gearbox the Jimny doesn’t feel quick off the line. It has a decent low-end for city driving and the top speed I managed at a filming location was 140km/h, but it took a while to get there. In mixed driving conditions the best fuel efficiency I got was 12km/l and the lowest was 9km/l.
Driving the Jimny has always been a joy. I often found myself taking it for a drive for no reason. It’s one of those cars that has a lot of flaws and yet still looks really lovely, such is its character! It’s a lot of fun to drive and anyway, you don’t have to go fast all the time to enjoy it. A few niceties like a front armrest and a few more storage spaces in the cabin would make the Jimny really complete.
My team even took it on a few off-road excursions and needless to say, the Jimny is one of the best around. It simply shines when you’re tackling those nasty obstacles and narrow trails. That’s how good it is. The Jimny also has a lot of potential for modifications and I’ve seen many owners spruce it up to make it more capable.
The Jimny has a very cold air conditioning and the audio system is decent. The display is good but the car could definitely use better speakers. The headlights are decently bright and the headlight washers also do their job very well. So, it was time to say goodbye to our Jimny. 1 month passed in a blink of an eye and we said goodbye to our car.
So, can you live with a Jimny? I think if you can look past some of its shortcomings, you definitely can. It may not have all the perks of other sub-4m vehicles like the Kia Sonet for the same price, but it’s a very capable and well-designed vehicle. It scores top marks when it comes to the basics of a true SUV, and if you enjoy driving something that has a lot of personality and is unique in its own way, you’ll like the Jimny.
The vehicle is currently available at eye-watering discounts and at these prices, the Jimny is indeed a no-brainer. This is the right price for it and at under Rs. 14 Lakh for the top-of-the-line Alpha variant, on-road, the off-roader is a great buy.