Bouncing across a dried-up riverbed in the Garhwal Hills in a bright red off-road car, going at a fairly decent clip, is quite fun. Before anyone starts on the environmental impact of all this, let me clarify that all requisite permissions had been taken for the drive. In fact, we drove past significant stone and rubble clearing as well as mining operations on the river bed due to the debris brought down by a cloudburst a few years ago.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I was among those driving the new fifth-generation Suzuki Jimny, which is expected to be launched in India in June this year. This longer version is only made in India and the five-door avatar of the off-roader is a successor to the Maruti Gypsy, which is essentially the second-generation Jimny. Off-road driving enthusiasts, the armed forces and paramilitary forces among others have been asking Maruti Suzuki to bring in successors to the Gypsy for years. So why did the country’s largest carmaker take its own sweet time to bring in this car?
Before we answer that question, let me get some of the technical aspects of the car out of the way. The five-door Jimny to be sold in India will come with Maruti’s most expansive range of colour options. I drove a ‘sizzling red’ and the ‘kinetic yellow’ was also showcased at the drive. Several other options, including two-tone roofs, will be available for buyers.
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What’s under the hood
The car has a 1.5-litre K15B engine with just over 100 horsepower and options of a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. The automatic one has the option for selecting low-ratio and two-gears. Jimny will also have a 4×4 transfer case, with the ability to shift from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive on the ‘fly’. There will only be two specifications of the car, the ‘Zeta’ and ‘Alpha’, the latter having additional features such as tinted glass, alloy wheels and a larger infotainment screen. You read that right, the Jimny comes with all the modern conveniences of driving, including multiple airbags.
But do not think that having all the mod-cons makes this car ‘soft’. On this dry riverbed, Maruti Suzuki had established six courses to demonstrate the abilities of the car. With sharp approach and departure angles, the car can find grip over rock beds and even on slippery slate surfaces. It can also wade through water, which was two feet deep at the site. Its size might be diminutive for some, but off the road, the Jimny can keep up with the best of cars. And the ultimate compliment would be to compare it to Sugar Ray Leonard, who is pound-for-pound considered the greatest pugilist of all time.
On-road performance
After spending a hot morning seeing what the car can do when pushed, I took it on Uttarakhand’s state highway 77 that connects the Dehradun-Haridwar highway to the town of Narendra Nagar, which is 16 kilometers above Rishikesh. It’s a narrow road but has been freshly re-laid ahead of the G20 meeting scheduled at resorts near Narendra Nagar. Fresh tarmac on twisty mountain roads and little traffic, what else could one ask for? The Jimny made it all the more fun. The steering snaps back a bit on such twisty roads and you had to keep positive control and follow the ‘thumbs out’ offroad rule, but the overall ride handling was, well, surprisingly superb.
There is negligible body roll and even when you are speeding through some bad patches, like I had earlier, the ride is still comfortable. And while the four-speed automatic might sound ancient to some, it does get the job done and for hill climbs it is possibly a better bet. The Jimny also comes with a ‘Hill Hold Assist’ to prevent it from rolling back and a ‘Descent Control’ function that limits the car’s speed on steep offroad declines to just five-kilometers per hour, without the driver needing to push the brakes.
Made for the 2020s
My father went through three Maruti Gypsys back in the day, which were rather basic. No creature comforts other than an air-conditioner on the last couple of them. The one-litre F-series engine on Gypsy had half the power of the new Jimny, but it could go almost anywhere. Other than a transfer case and a four-speed manual gearbox, there were no ‘conveniences’ in the car, not even an audio system. The fourth-generation Jimny is a comfortable place to be in. It is a vehicle clearly made for the 2020s.
I’m not sure how the Gypsy lovers will react to the Jimny. It’s possible the armed forces might not even get it. I did like it. I might want that ‘rustic’ feel occasionally but I do like having automatic air conditioning and Apple CarPlay in a vehicle. Call me soft if you want, but there’s nothing wrong with that. However, Maruti could well make a stripped-down version of the car for the forces and other special purposes such as for safari in the core areas of National Parks.
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Comes at a cost
There are a few issues with the Jimny. It is narrow and only a four-seater. The luggage space is limited but it’s more than adequate for a camping trip where you won’t need oodles of clothing. And because you can accessorise the Jimny with functional roof rails, if you have to carry fishing rods along for that secret fishing hole, there is enough space. The roof rails could also fit your ski equipment, your canvas tents, sleeping bags and almost anything. It can also function as an attachment point for a canvas shelter around the car. If only two people are travelling, there is more than enough space to sleep.
The Jimny is not expected to be cheap. While Maruti Suzuki claims 30,000 bookings have already been made, the prices will only be announced on 7 June and are said to start around Rs 15 lakh. The pricing will probably weed out ‘tashan’ drivers who tend to show off by fitting oversized—and completely inappropriate—wheels and tyres to a perfectly good-looking SUV.
The car takes on the Mahindra Thar, which has a diesel motor and a two-wheel drive option as well. The fact that 1,00,000 Thars have been sold since its launch in 2020 shows there’s a clear demand for offroad lifestyle vehicles in India. Maybe that’s why Maruti is finally going to launch the Jimny. And the latter is a far better car on the tarmac.
If you want an all-wheel drive experience with space and comfort, the Grand Vitara AllGrip is a better bet. But if you really want to go anywhere, the Jimny impresses.
@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)