Future of the Jimny

Here in the UK a 1.3 Jimny costs £125 to tax if it is made before 2001, and £200 (£180 for the 1.3 VVT) if it is newer.

This is why I have a December 2000 model

The only issue I have is the lack of permanent 4WD, (unlike the Terios, but a 2000 Terios usually needs welding underneath, and lacks a low range.)

With such a short wheelbase and rear wheel drive,there is a tendency for it to swap ends very easily in slippery conditions, meaning that you do need experience of driving short part-time 4wd vehicles in wet and icy conditions, possibly this is why there are so many rolled ones in scrap yards. :blink:

Up until the beginning of last winter the tax rises and fuel rises had killed the 4x4 market. A number of local car dealers would not take 4x4's in Part Exchange as part of a sale.

However, the hard winter soon reversed that. Suddenly everyone wants a 4x4 as a back-up and the trade in price of my Range Rover dramatically increased almost overnight. I would suspect this contributed to Suzuki keeping Jimny sales going in the UK as before this they kept forecasting its demise.

On a modern housing estate in suburbia we were literally snowed in for a number of days with the only way in and out being on foot, with the exception of 4x4s, including my Jimny. My wife loved getting waves from the pedestrians as we drove past!

Martin

Hi

My 2001 Jimny soon needs a replacement and Suzuki in Sweden (and Denmark) do not sell Jimny anymore because it lacks esp and are prone to roll over.

I am looking at Jeep Wrangler JK 2 door, modell 2012 with Pentastar engine, Jeep do change the model more offen than Suzuki do with the Jimny. But wrangler is twice as expensive and is very heavy on petrol.

Hopefully Suzuki will uppdate Jimny soon with a new model with esp, traction control better ground clearance etc.

Traction control on the wrangler is almost as good as a locker according to Jeep.

blog.chryslerllc.com/blog.do?p=entry&id=270

In Brazil they are going to build Jimny late 2012, can it be a new Jimny model? Nice that Jimny is expanding and not totaly forgotten.

"The plant in the city of Itumbiara, about 300 kilometers south of Brasilia, will have an initial capacity of 7,000 Jimny models a year and begin operations at the end of 2012, Suzuki said in a statement."

From www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/markets/newsfee...x?id=138501958299891

racionauto.blogspot.com/2011/04/suzuki-j...er-fabricado-no.html

Best regards from Sweden

Omar Brännström

Traction control on 4x4's that work in the same way as on landies IS as good as lockers, by no means a hardcore substitute but if you have the skills to build it into a truck it would make for something very good off road.
Anyone who's driven or seen a landy with it on will agree how good it is. Even on the 2wd freelanders, i've seen one waving a wheel and the tc pulled it through so 1 wheel drive!

Omar Brännström wrote: Hi
"The plant in the city of Itumbiara, about 300 kilometers south of Brasilia, will have an initial capacity of 7,000 Jimny models a year and begin operations at the end of 2012, Suzuki said in a statement."

That's some good news ! 20-25 Jimnys/day :laugh:

mcjimny wrote: Traction control on 4x4's that work in the same way as on landies IS as good as lockers, by no means a hardcore substitute but if you have the skills to build it into a truck it would make for something very good off road.
Anyone who's driven or seen a landy with it on will agree how good it is. Even on the 2wd freelanders, i've seen one waving a wheel and the tc pulled it through so 1 wheel drive!

I'm completely sold on landrover's traction control system. My mum and dad love anything with the little green badge and have a freelander2, new range rover and a Puma defender 110. Even the freelander2 was amazing in the snow with road tyres on and i was completely blown away by the performance with TC set to "snow" mode. It went up an icy hill that other cars were sliding down backwards and it didn't even struggle. Just drove straight up.

I always considered myself a 4x4 purist and thought of traction control as a gimmicky crutch for 4wd newbies but i'm definitely a believer now. I don't know how other 4x4 manufacturer's traction control systems compare but, having witnessed the landrover system in action, i was VERY impressed.

Funnily enough, the 3 year old freelander2 on road tyres seemed more stable in the snow and ice than the brand new range rover with goodyear wrangler MTs. You'd think they'd constantly be tweaking the TC system and making it better or maybe it's the vehicle weight difference or very different tyres.