I’ve had my own Jimny for coming on to 6 years now. I love it. It’s simple, rugged, reliable and fun. There’s really nothing on the slow side of 60mph to dislike about it. Even round the town it jostles through the streets of Belfast as keen as any city car and throw it at an offroad center and it’s sure to draw a cheer or two as it cuts through areas no-one would expect it to (usually on the rev limiter). Even after 6 years it goes over obstacles that I really don’t expect it to. As my ability has honed its got better and better, to the point that there’s a bit of a fuss if I do end up getting it stuck (which happens every trip out!)
When they first started appearing at competitive RTV offroading events in 2010/11 there was a lot of “aww isn’t that cute…” banter aimed at Jimny owners. The SJ410/SJ413’s had largely dissolved/disappeared in the preceding years and although capable in their day had been largely forgotten by 2010. Jimnys at the time were only starting to drop into ‘offroad affordable’ sub £1500 category (i.e beat the tripe out of it, guilt free) therefore the game was largely dominated by Land Roverofferings.
The first year a Jimny entered the competition the driver won the cup with a Jimny fitted with mud terrain tyres and nothing else. Within 4/5 years the population of Jimnys competing at the offroad events exploded – today there are as many Jimnys as any other vehicle combined, such is their ability, reliability and ease of repair.
2018 finds us 20 years into Jimny production – now my research may not be 100% conclusive, but in my book that makes it the longest running mass produced car available new today.
I’m often asked about mods. It’s easy to go mad on upgrades, especially with companies like Jimnybits offering all sorts of suspension and drivetrain upgrades. My own personal advice is to keep it simple. You do not need to go mad.
Tyres. Keep them small. 195/80/15 mud terrains fit without any trimming or rubbing. They also do not adversely affect gearing:
The transfer box hangs low in them. Get it protected otherwise you will smash it off it’s mounts and I can assure you, that’s not a fun drive home. Offroad armory provided me this particular kit. I believe that they no longer stock them but you can get them fairly easily from Jimnybits or Bigjimny. This is the HD mount and bash plate kit:
Reinforce the steering/panhard bars. A bit of angle iron welded on has been good enough for me, although the MOT man took exception to it (once):
There are many other mods that can be fitted. But for being able to offroad and go nearly everywhere you want and not have stuff break, this works for me.
Which brings me on to this (for fun) video from Autocar. Absolutely reflective of the attitudes aimed at the Jimnys back in the early days and concludes in the same way.
The new Jimny is due shortly. Thankfully Suzuki appear to be keeping to the same recipe as before with proper offroady bits and the simple, rugged design. Fodder for the 2030 offroading season