Gordon Murray daily’s a Jimny

This caught my eye.  collectingcars.com/podcasts/ Collecting Cars podcasts - Episode 21 Chris Harris interviewing Gordon Murray. 

Gordon Murray designed the Mclaren F1 [only other comparable car designer Adrian Newey - the man behind Red Bull’s F1 success]

Skip to 1;28:54 Gordon Murray on his Jimny: “it’s fun, I didn’t buy it because it’s got the best ride, I bought it because it’s small, it’s light, it’s under 1100 kilos, so it’s not going to slide sideways off the road like a Range Rover on the ice, and it’s fun’.

Reminded me of [Range Rover v Fiat Panda on ice] the RR may have been on the wrong tyres.



 

Whilst I'm a die hard Jimny fan I would disagree with his comment on the range rover sliding off the road unlike a Jimny. I would rather be in a Range Rover thats permanant 4wd & heavy in icey conditions than a Jimny thats 2wd, lightweight and rear wheel drive which dances aroud all over the places given the chance. Of course any car will slide on Ice but I've had multiple Jimnys slip up in icey or wet conditons whereas I can't recall my Range Rover giving the slighest hint of stepping out of line. I'm more cautious cornering in my Jimnys than my RR which i know will stay planted around a corner even at higher speeds. I will still take a jimny any day of the week though

Never had any issues with our 2020 Jimny in the bad weather.
So long as you drive it like a 4x4 and not a GTi it's fine. On the one occasion when l took a corner too fast in the rain, l thought l was in the kitty litter but the traction/stability control kicked in and saved me from a difficult conversation with the missus
(it's her car)

The only time I have been nervous about staying on the road has been with the Bridgestone dueler on. With all season or all terrain tyres on not a worry. Both my defender and disco were the exact opposite, sideways ready or not regardless of tyres.

Although it's almost certainly down to tyre choice rather than drivetrain capability, here's another amusing video of a large SUV being embarrassed by a Jimny.

 


l've got a Defender 110 and in snow the Jimny is definitely better, it's lighter and easier to make progress.

lt may also be because of the traction control and diff locks which my Defender doesn't have.

lf the Jimny was 25% larger l would sell the Land Rover and buy one for myself.

As it is, the Jimny is just too small, by the time l've got my tool boxes in the back there's no room for anything else.

We both love "Kevin" the Jimny though, he's a great alternative to a run of the mill hatchback. We swapped a VW Up GTi for ours.

The Up GTi is a superb little car, but my wife never used the performance and l got bollocked every time we went out in it for driving "too fast"