Maruti Jimny Review: Can It Double Up As A City Car?

The Maruti Jimny is the only off-roader in Maruti Suzuki’s India portfolio. It is more than capable, so much so that it is considered the chief rival of the legendary Mahindra Thar, despite being priced significantly lower. But while the latter can’t be considered as a comfortable city commuter, the Jimny might just have a few tricks up its sleeve, thanks to certain characteristics. We will discuss those traits in this road test as we find out whether the Jimny can double up as a city car for your family. Let’s begin:

Design

The Jimny might not give off the typical offroader vibe at first glance, courtesy of its compact dimensions. But it looks purpose-built, with all the boxy and square styling elements, the heavily cladded wheel arches, and the upright stance that defines its exterior styling. 

Despite the flat bonnet and some chunky elements like the bumper giving it a rugged look, the Jimny looks quite ‘cute’ with its 15-inch wheels and compact dimensions. It is also a head-turner, especially in this bright Kinetic Yellow shade. Moreover, given that the Jimny is a global product, the depth of modifications possible with it are endless. You can literally convert it into a baby G Wagon with the right set of mods. 

Interior

The Jimny’s interior is old school: rugged, and built to a purpose, and the focus towards functionality is more than apparent. Everything not only looks solid, it actually is! You won’t find much soft-touch materials, as that’s limited to the grab handle. That said, the plastics have a nice texture to them, and don’t at all feel cheap. 

The steering gets a leather wrap and behind it is a rather old school instrument cluster reminding you of the Jimny’s heritage. The analogue cluster is heavily inspired from the Gypsy, but has been given a slight modern touch by integrating a black and white MID display. That said, a coloured display would’ve been more apt here.

The three dials for the climate control look well designed and go well with the power windows and traction control switches below it. The most modern and premium bit for the Jimny’s cabin is its 9-inch infotainment system, which looks slightly out of place in what is otherwise a very rugged and function-focused cabin. 

Even the seating has been engineered with function in mind. You sit high up, and get a commanding view out the windscreen. The bonnet edge is in your line of sight, which will be a major confidence boost for new drivers. Height-adjustable seats, along with a telescopic steering wheel, would’ve made the deal even sweeter. As for comfort, the cushioning is soft, but underthigh support and side bolstering doesn’t feel good enough for long journeys, and is just adequate for city usage. 

Cabin practicality

The Jimny wasn’t really engineered with practicality in mind and that shows inside the cabin. Storage options are limited with 6 spaces coming in the form of 2 cup holders in the middle (shared with rear passengers), a small space in front of the gearbox (smaller in the manual), the thin door pockets that will just hold a couple of magazines at most, a decent sized glovebox and pockets behind the front seats. 

The lack of bottle holders on the doors surely goes against the narrative of the Jimny trying to double up as a city car. 

Charging duties are imparted to the two 12V sockets (one front and one in the boot), and the single USB port offered at the front. The rear passengers will have to rely on their personal power banks as there is no dedicated port for them. 

Rear cabin experience

Talking about the rear, there is enough space for two passengers. Head, knee and legroom is ample and you can even stretch your legs to a certain extent. The backrest gets 2 recline angles, which can be adjusted according to your need and comfort. All’s well and good for short city stints, but longer journeys will cause fatigue to kick in due to the lack of underthigh support. 

Rear passengers will certainly appreciate the big windows that offer a good view out, which compensate for the huge front headrests that block the view ahead. 

Fun fact: You can remove the front headrests and recline the seat fully to open up a lounge-like seat. Can be a neat camping trick!

Boot space

When you eventually go camping or grocery shopping in the Jimny, the 208-litre boot space will and should accommodate most of your stuff. Even airport runs can be managed with some planning – stack the luggage vertically and use small suitcases. 

The boot isn’t the biggest in all fairness, but you get 50:50 split folding that liberates more space. But they don’t fold flush with the boot floor. 

One unusual complaint is with the tailgate, which takes its own sweet time to open because of the hydraulic struts, and it can’t even be forced open either.

Features and safety

Despite being an off-roader at its core, the Jimny takes care of the passengers on the features front. First of all, the aforementioned 9-inch touchscreen system looks and feels premium. Operating it is easy and it gets wireless Android auto and Apple CarPlay, which has been integrated well. The graphics are nice, the response is quick and the overall experience is lag-free. You even get dedicated buttons beneath the screen, which makes toggling between menus a breeze. Here’s a table of other features that the Jimny offers:

While the Jimny covers the basics right, features like automatic wipers, an auto-dimming IRVM, a 360-degree camera, a tyre pressure monitoring system, height adjustable seats, and telescopic adjustment for the steering wheel would’ve made the overall cabin experience even better. A few of these features should’ve definitely been offered, especially considering the price point.

Coming to the safety aspect, the Jimny offers an impressive kit right from the base variants. Six airbags, ABS with EBD, hill hold control, rear view camera with sensors, ISOFIX mounts and 3-point seat belts with reminders are all standard features. 

For reference: The 3-door Jimny had scored 3.5 stars under the Euro NCAP crash test

The execution of the angle of the rear view camera, however, could’ve been better. And in typical Maruti fashion, the rear seats don’t get a load sensor. As a result you’ll have to keep the belts buckled in even if there is no one sitting on them if you don’t want to hear the beep for 90 seconds. 

Drive experience

The Jimny gets the option of a sole 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, which can be paired with either a 5-speed MT or a 4-speed torque converter automatic. Output figures are 105PS and 134Nm, which isn’t exciting in any sense. 

Still, the performance is enough for city usage. It has enough poke at slow speeds to keep you going with the traffic flow and only quick overtakes will require you to stretch out the engine. On test with us was the automatic gearbox, which is quick and smooth in equal parts: shifts down when you ask for quick acceleration and does so without jerks or any real delay. 

Cruising at highway speeds is okay too, and you’ll only feel the lack of power while overtaking. Overall, the engine and gearbox pairing is hard to fault, especially in city conditions. But it will let you down on the fuel efficiency front as we managed an average of around 12kmpl in the city. Given that you don’t get performance that’s exciting, this low fuel efficiency figure feels disheartening, especially by Maruti standards. 

We won’t be getting into the 4x4 drive modes of the Jimny in this city-oriented review.

Ride quality

Despite being a ladder-frame chassis, Maruti has managed to give the Jimny a balanced ride. While you can’t expect sophistication levels similar to the Fronx and Baleno, it is still pretty comfortable over bad roads. Potholes or rough roads are absorbed smoothly and silently, and it takes a really sharp bump to send a shock through the suspension. 

There is slight side-to-side movement on broken roads, but it isn’t unsettling. High speed highway stability is also good for such a car, and the best part is while others have to slow down for broken roads, you can just go on uninterrupted in the Jimny. 

The steering wheel is of a typical off-roader: slow. So going around a corner will take more steering lock than usual cars. Its turning circle is wider than usual too, so U-turns in tight spaces will require some additional effort going back and forth. 

The weight is also on the heavier side, which offers good feedback around corners. But you won’t find yourself hustling the Jimny around corners, as body roll creeps in rather quickly. 

Verdict

Before jotting down a verdict, we have to reaffirm the fact that the Jimny isn’t a city car at its core. It is an off-roader first and anything else second. And despite that, the Jimny manages to find a good balance of being an offroader and a city car. 

Sure, it isn’t the most practical, but it offers a decent list of features. Sure, its off-roading traits make it less comfortable, but that in turn helps it on broken patches of road where other cars struggle. Sure, the drivetrain has been engineered with off-roading in mind, but it still offers a ride and performance package good enough for the city. 

It is a good city car for a small family but not one without compromises: this line sums up the Jimny perfectly. That’s because at the end of the day, this car is a style statement and a lifestyle choice, and the real fun lies in off-roading with it.