The demise of the Defender

Aesthetically they missed the point by going retro but that's just me, I don't like retro styling. If I wanted a mechanically modern sj or lj I would build a restomod, a new car should look new, they managed it with the swift. Mechanically I love that the Jimny keeps itself true to itself with the solid axles and whilst I accept the need for the new technologies like tpms I would have preferred that a little more thought went into their operation so for example the pressure of the tpms alarm was programmable instead of a fixed parts bin special. 6 out of 10.

Groenewald wrote: What do you guys think of the direction Suzuki took with the Gen4?


 

I'm clearly biased as an owner, but I think Suzuki did a near-perfect job with Gen4, given the constraints around producing a car that meets modern safety regulations.  Aesthetically it's perfect - not a twee retro-pastiche like a Chrysler PT cruiser, but a design that maximises interior space while looking different to anything else on the round and having hints of the past. It manages to look cute without being girly and has road presence without being big. Genius design.

Less keen on the electronics and 'safety' systems, which are clearly just slapped on to get extra stars in safety tests, rather than adding anything worthwhile to the car or driving experience. More configurability in terms of disabling those functions (e.g. traction control when off-road, permanently disabling AEB etc) would have been nice. 

The engine hasn't been around long enough for me to have a real opinion. Although another 20bhp would have been nice, in truth 100bhp is enough and I'll swallow that and the relatively poor economy if it turns out to be bulletproof and cheap to maintain for the life of the car. If it doesn't then the basic normally-aspirated design hasn't been of any benefit and they should have just stuck a small turbo unit in.

Other than that I'd have liked to see better anti-corrosion from the factory and a volume knob for the stereo, but that's about it. It delivers exactly what most people wanted, a more modern Jimny with more power, better economy, more space and more comfort without losing any of the off-road capability. 

Don't blame Suzuki for the TPMS system.

It's a legal requirement and as a result, you are not able to mess with the settings. There has been a lot of discussion on this forum about changing the TPMS to suit personal requirements, but as you would be modifying a legal requirement you would be dabbling your boots in very murky waters.

The Gen 4 is an in your face proper 4x4 with no pretensions to be anything else. Its a box with nice square edges and I can get my 6' 2" frame into it with ease. I bought one because I loved the look of it and time hasn't dimmed that view. On a visual aspect the Gen 3 is close to the Gen 1 and the Gen 4 is close to the Gen 2.

Roger

The requirements to have tpms is a legal one but the value it alarms at is on Suzuki as is the inability for it to be turned off when engaging 4x4 or low or even recognition of 4x4 and an accordingly lower alarm threshold. On a vehicle designed to be used off road fixed tyre pressure is a bad compromise to make.

The legal requirement is for a visual - warning light on dash - and an audible - siren of some sort - to advise the driver that there is a problem.
it would be pointless to have the settings for either of these to be set so low that by the time they were activated, the tyres had been damaged or an accident had happened.
Bit like an idiot light for low oil pressure.
As far as I can ascertain, there is no provision in law for the system to be turned off if low range is selected. Probably because the number of vehicles that have that ability does not warrant a change in the law.

Roger

So why not have a system that monitors for relative differences between the 4 tyres? It's somewhat unlikely that all 4 would collect a puncture and deflate at an equal rate, couple that to a minimum pressure for 4x2 driving and off we go. This is the problem with modern one size fits all driving aids.