Maruti Jimny is getting ready for India launch – Ahead of that, it has arrived at dealer yard
To conquer the lifestyle off-roader segment in India, Maruti Suzuki has introduced Jimny. It is being launched in only a 5-door avatar which will lock horns with other lifestyle off-roaders like Thar and Gurkha. Both of which are currently offered with a 3-door body only.
Jimny Off-road First Drive Impressions
Pricing is not yet revealed, but we expect that it will undercut Thar’s current Rs. 9.99 lakh (ex-sh). Thanks to Small Town Rider, we now have a glimpse of how Jimny fares off-road as he demonstrates the same in a dealer yard. Is it just a cute city vehicle as opposed to its burly rivals like Thar or Gurkha? Let’s take a look.
In the video, he demonstrates some of Jimny’s capabilities from within a dealer yard. Sure, this is not an off-road course, but it should give us an idea of what Jimny packs under its hood. Both manual and automatic variants have been driven. To aid its off-road endeavours, Jimny comes with 36-degree approach, 50-degree departure, 24-degree ramp over angles and 210 mm ground clearance.
Within the dealer yard, there were irregularities on the ground like a hump, and slight muck formation due to rains. He demonstrates this Jimny in 4X2, 4X4 High and 4X4 Low over similar terrains. Starting off with the 4-speed torque converter, it gets past all the obstacles within that dealer yard.
As soon as he hops into the manual variant, the car feels much more lively and fun to drive over the 4-speed AT. In both powertrain combos, Maruti Suzuki Jimny gets a 4X4 lever to shift into 4X4 High and 4X4 Low. On its instrument cluster, there is an indication when slotted into 4X4. That said, it doesn’t indicate whether it is in High or Low.
Maruti Jimny will beat Thar in sales?
The only way to figure that out is by looking at traction control indication, which will be off in Low range mode. Because of its peppy 1.5L engine and a low kerb weight of 1210 kg, it might keep up with Thar where the pace is concerned.
But, the main limiting factors for Jimny are its skinny H/T tyres, and lack of mechanical locking differential (MLD). For context, Thar gets MLD at the rear in top-spec LX trim and Gurkha gets MLD at both front and rear axles as standard fitment. Jimny gets 195-section H/T tyres while Thar gets 245-section A/T tyres.
5-door Jimny comes equipped with a sole 1.5L petrol engine with 102 bhp of power and 134.2 Nm of torque, mated to either a 5-speed MT or 4-speed AT. Bookings are now open across India. Launch is expected next month, May 2023. If priced well, Maruti Jimny has the potential to beat Mahindra Thar in sales.
