Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5 Door: The Bonsai SUV!

SUV. The car type that every buyer aspires to buy and the category that every manufacturer wants a piece of the pie of today. The result is quite cringeworthy, honestly. Give a car slightly more ground clearance than a typical sedan or hatchback and voila! You've designed an SUV! What hurts more is that these pseudo SUVs are some of the highest selling car models in the country today. Few SUV buyers even know what the S in the name SUV stands for. It stands for "sport". It means going higher, farther and deeper into terrain that few would dare to even enter. It means discovering new places, making new friends, experiencing new cultures and making new memories. More than anything else, it means freedom. Freedom from being limited by the road conditions or the terrain or the weather while choosing where to travel next. Sadly, very few cars available on a budget in India today can provide you with that freedom and the ones that do, are so one dimensional, they feel out of place when they hit smooth tarmac. These vehicles therefore became the "second car" in affluent garages, again something that a typical middle or even upper middle class buyer cannot afford. Like it or not, India is still a one car per garage country and there's very little space for lifestyle vehicles to sell. That's precisely the reason why Suzuki's highly popular 2nd generation Jimny which was sold in India as the Gypsy went on to become an off-roading legend but didn't do anything spectacular on the sales charts for Maruti. That's precisely why Maruti decided not to bring the 3rd generation, 3 door Jimny to India. That's precisely why the legendary "Safari" badge, once known for making its own road, today sits on Tata's front wheel driven flagship car, the standout feature of which are the bright red interiors.

Things started changing however, post the pandemic. The YOLO (You Live Only Once) culture started to gain prominence. Simultaneously, we had a huge surge of online content creators creating beautiful travel content from the Himalayas, planting the seed of adventure into our heads through our screens. In 2020, Mahindra also launched the new 3 door Thar which looked much like a Jeep Wrangler, did much of what the Jeep Wrangler did, while costing only a fraction of what the Jeep Wrangler costs. Needless to say, it was an instant hit. This could not go unnoticed by the largest car manufacturer of India: Maruti Suzuki. They wanted a piece of the adventure pie. They also could not afford to directly launch the 3 door, 4th generation Suzuki Jimny from the international markets in India since it would just not work in a one car per garage country like India. So Suzuki engineers went back to the drawing board with the Jimny, extended the wheelbase, gave it 2 doors at the back, carved out a very usable boot and in the process, created an SUV which is as practical as it is capable. After yoga, ayurveda and the decimal system, this just might be the India's next big gift to the world. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the Maruti Suzuki Jimny 5 door!

Take any capable off-roader. The Wrangler, the G-Wagon, the Defender or even our desi boys the Thar or the Gurkha. The one thing that's common between them is the size (and the owner's attitude). They are all huge and command phenomenal road presence. One look at the Jimny and you're overwhelmed with those coochy coo kind of vibes. It's not a Rubicon kind of badass, it's a Mini Cooper kind of cute. Looks can be deceptive though because beneath the skin, the Jimny is a hard core off roader, equipped with Suzuki's Allgrip Pro system which comes with a proper 4*4 transfer case with 2H, 4H and 4L ratio selectors. For the 4*4 newbies, it means you can drive the Jimny as a 2 wheel drive when the road is smooth in its 2 high ratio. You can slot it into 4 wheel drive, that's the 4H ratio when the road conditions become a bit slippery and a bit steep. When the conditions really deteriorate and you need maximum torque at all 4 wheels, you can slot it into the 4 low mode (4L). That shortens the gear ratios much like how we change the front gear on a bicycle and gets you out of the trickiest of situations if you're smart, lucky or both. The Jimny comes with a 1.5 litre, naturally aspirated, 4 cylinder K15B engine which produces 100 odd bhp and 130 odd NMs. Again, these figures seem cute. However, the Jimny's capabilities come from its weight or rather, the lack of it and not from its power figures alone. We've seen videos of the 3 door Jimny do some spectacular off-roading and putting larger SUVs to shame in some places. There is absolutely no doubting the Jimny's capabilities when it comes to tackling off-road terrain. How is it on road though? How civilised and livable is this new 5 door Jimny? Lets find out.

When it comes to interior design, Suzuki have followed the modern classic approach. The Jimny comes with analogue dials for the speedometer and the tachometer and gets a digital dial in the centre for other read outs like odometer, fuel economy, etc. The squared out instrument cluster reminds you of the old Gypsy and brings back that sense of nostalgia. Another thing that brings back that nostalgia are the scratchy plastics all around and the utter lack of storage spaces in the cabin. Apart from the glove box, the very slim door pockets and two excuses for bottle holders in the place that could've been the centre armrest, there is very little storage space in the cabin for knick-knacks like mobile phones, wallets, keys, water bottles, coffee mugs, etc. It is also a very narrow cabin. Some would call it cramped while some would call it cosy. One thing is for sure, the lack of width leads to a lot of compromises in practicality. Say for eg, the driver's seat does not have height adjustment. Why? Because your hand wouldn't fit in between the seat and the door to adjust the seat height. Moreover, you are seated to close to the right window that you are very likely to bang your elbow into it while turning the steering clockwise. The door pockets are suited to fit in newspapers or maps, both of which are redundant in this digital age. The front seats though are comfortable and supportive. They may not have very good side bolstering or lumbar support adjustment, but all in all, they are a nice place to be in. The rear seats lack underthigh support and are best suited for kids over long journeys. The width is also limited and ironically, the Jimny that gets 5 doors can strictly seat only 4 adults. The only good part about the rear seats is that you are seated higher up than the front row and with a good glass area all around, the cabin feels roomier than what it is. Coming back to the front seats, the visibility outside the windscreen is phenomenal. Despite not having height adjust, I could see both corners of the bonnet very clearly, without having to stretch my neck out like an ostrich. The ORVMs are large and vertical giving you a good view of the horizon you leave behind. There is also a kink in the front window lines enhancing front lower visibility so you don't have to drive off-road leaning out of your window. The seatbelt operation is smooth and they fit in with a reassuring click. All buttons are placed well within reach and they all work with that Japanese, reassuring click. What's further reassuring is that the Jimny comes with 6 airbags as standard. It also comes with important active safety features like electronic stability control, traction control and electronic brake force distribution apart from the mandated ABS. I have seen videos on YouTube of our desi vloggers doing stupid things with the Jimny and getting away with it. One was pulling the handbrake @ 100 kph and the other was panic braking from 80 kph without holding the steering wheel. Both got away with it thanks to the safety systems doing their job well. You also get other good to have driving aids like hill hold assist, hill descend control and auto engine start / stop. Apart from the general lack of cabin space, there is no such usable feature that the Jimny skips on. The climate control works brilliantly, partly thanks to the small cabin and partly also due to the UV cut glasses keeping the heat from the direct sunlight from entering the cabin. You can connect to android auto and apple car play wirelessly and hence get various phone apps and Google Maps directly on your infotainment display. You get auto headlamps with washers up front and a defogger with a wiper and washer at the rear. The throw and spread from the LED headlights is surprisingly good. You do not need a hadlight upgrade on this one. Keyless go, push button start and cruise control further add to your driving convenience. Though having a front camera would've aided in off-roading, having just a reverse camera that works in real time, without any lags is a welcome feature. Thankfully, there is no sunroof to stick your child out of or letting a waterfall in from. Nor is there any internet inside. Moreover, you cannot even start your car and air conditioner or check your car's air quality index using your mobile phone. Heights! Thank you Maruti. For letting men be men.

So how is the Jimny to drive on road? I had the privilege of testing the on and off road ability of the automatic variant through Bombay's perfectly well maintained, carpet smooth potholes, so lets find out. Lets start with the specs this time for a change. 100 odd BHP. 130 odd NMs of torque. 5 speed manual gearbox. 4 speed torque converter automatic gearbox. 195 section, 15 inch wheels. 210mm of ground clearance. 300 odd mm of water wading capacity. So on. So forth. You know what? Once the Jimny gets rolling, it takes these seemingly underwhelming set of numbers, crumples them and throws them right out the window! Yes it's underpowered but it's also light. Yes it's under tyred but you don't feel the lack of grip. Yes this torque converter has only 4 gears but the gearbox is mated to this engine reasonably well. You also get the option to slot it in the L mode which basically keeps it in 1st gear for tough off-roading and climbs. There's also an option of keeping it in 2 which basically lets you do mild off-roading in 2nd gear alone. Then there is the o/d off function which restricts the gearbox to operate only between the first 3 gears, not letting it shift into the tall 4th gear which is actually an overdrive cog and ensures smooth sailing at low triple digit speeds. In the city, this gearbox does its job just well. Sure, you do not get pushed back in your seat on hard acceleration like how you get in a turbo diesel or a turbo petrol engine but the acceleration is not lacking in any way. Maybe at triple digit speeds this engine and gearbox would begin to struggle but those speeds are barely legal in our country anyway. What I particularly liked is the sound that this engine makes. Very quiet, very refined when driven maturely with a light foot. Once you build up the revs, you get a nice, raspy exhaust note, coupled with a sweet sounding differential whine and both combined really appeal well to your auditory senses. 

We move on to that one quality of the Jimny that really destroys anything that comes around it at that price point or even beyond: the ride quality. What a ride! The suspension feels over engineered for our nasty potholes. The Jimny just happily rolls over them making you feel like a fool to think that these potholes were anything close to nasty in the first place. There is also not much body roll to speak of. Even at high speeds. Even at 100 kph, the Jimny doesn't feel unsure or unstable. It's a very flat and mature ride that can chug thousands of kilometers in one go without letting fatigue set in. The whole body on frame and suspension construction feels robust and overall the Jimny feels extremely solidly built, giving you that indestructible feeling. When it comes to ride quality in a body on frame vehicle, the first gen Toyota Innova has always been the benchmark in my opinion. Well, not any more. This pocket rocket goes one up on even the legendary Innova when it comes to the plushness and the maturity of the ride. Forget off-roading. If there's one reason why you should buy the Jimny, buy it for the ride quality.

The leather wrapped steering feels nice to hold and easy to steer. There is a slight amount of heft and feel to it that adds further to the character of the Jimny. You feel that you are driving an off-roader. You feel that you are doing something macho. The steering itself though, is not very sharp and rightly so. This is ultimately a body on frame vehicle and not a monocoque corner carver. A sharp steering on this can end up very badly in novice or stupid hands. The turning radius too is a bit on the longer side and will take some getting used to. The only chink in the Jimny's armour when it comes to the drive is the braking set up. There is just no initial bite and it takes a very hard flexing of your right quads to get sharp braking out of it. Maruti surely needs to look into this or provide performance brake pads and lines as part of accessories. Speaking of accessories, there is a whole lot of official accessories available on Maruti's website. Some useful, some not quite so useful. Though an official air intake snorkel is not yet available, the Jimny is constructed such that you need not cut any bodywork to accommodate a snorkel. Just remove the side panels and it creates the perfect opening for your snorkel. Moreover, Maruti provides you a blank canvas to play around with in the Jimny. There are already a tonne of accessories and performance upgrades available in the Japanese and the South East Asian markets for you to tune your Jimny to your liking. If you feel that 100 bhp is too less, you get bolt on turbo kits from reputed aftermarket brands like Greddy that can take the power delivery to over 200 bhp! If you feel that the tyres are skinny, there are various size upgrades available from brands like Goodyear, Yokohama and BF Goodrich. If you feel that the ground clearance isn't enough or the wheel arches are not big enough to accommodate the monster tyre you wish to fit in, various lift kit options from brands like Ironman are already available in the Indian market for you to tweak the Jimny's butch appeal to your taste. Just buy a stock Jimny and tune it to your liking one upgrade at a time. The only thing that will remain unchanged is the lack of cabin space.

All in all, I came back impressed from the Jimny's test drive. A detailed comparison with the Thar will be coming up next and hence my comments are reserved there. If you want Japanese quality and reliability. If you want a lifestyle vehicle which can also be your every day driver. If you want phenomenal ride quality in the city and that freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want, do take a test drive of the Jimny. It may not be a butch, badass, "tu jaanta nahi mera baap kaun hai" kind of vehicle to bully other vehicles with. It is for the progressive generation. The ones who have been there, done that and wish to take that been there, done that quotient one notch higher. The ones who value function over form, relationships over winning arguments and making memories over making wealth. If you are that kind of a guy, go get your dream home and as the tagline of the Jimny says: Never Turn Back!

Happy Driving!