Re:What's your thoughts on power and braking with the Jimny?

ebc green stuff - good idea. Thanks. The website claims 10-15% improvement. That would make a noticeable difference.

Before you responded I had been wondering if the brake booster was working. I was pondering the idea of pulling the vacuum tube out and taking it for a drive to see how much difference there was on the braking effect. I might still do that as an experiment.

I'll probably have to put up with the performance issue. There's a thread here somewhere about someone fitting a turbo. As nice as that might be (I had a car with a turbo once - Nissan EXA. And it went like the blazes), I'm not going down that road.

In all honesty I would have your Jimny on a weighbridge and know for certain what it weighs. The manual is supposed to weigh 1060 kg but I could never get mine that light because of all the little light bits and pieces that you can't really do without, the best was about 1160 with only the minimum of protection and stuff. My newer automatic is a little less but I have sacrificed most of the guards on this and rely on being careful because I need the additional capacity for farm cargo. But you have an extra battery, winch, front bumper, slider bars, roof rack and larger heavier tyres as well as probably other seemingly insignificant things all of which add up. I'm just not sure you are going to make significant improvement without putting it on a diet. Forced induction is an option but it is filled with pitfalls like engine reliability and the additional power straining the chassis handling abilities. I'll also add that I have used my various Jimny on the front of my 1300kg sheep trailer for 10s of thousands of miles and even with the factory brake pads I have never felt under braked.

It's been on the weighbridge. Part of the process in getting the registration in my name. Unladen Mass: 1280kg. That was part of a series of tests to ensure it was okay to be registered, they loaded it up to simulate two people plus luggage 1442kg; four people plus luggage 1604kg; then plus cargo 1648kg. With its heavier springs, it passed and was certified okay.

So, there's extra weight, but the thing that got me was that the one I test drove from the used car lot was stock standard and it was kind of gutless too, and seemed (in my mind) to have poor brakes just like mine.

No wonder it's slow then, gvm is only 1420kg. I've had mine that overloaded on the farm twice and it's horrible to drive. If you are needing that much capacity regularly I might suggest transferring some of the weight to a trailer, try to keep the Jimny a bit lighter.

The Jimny is underpowered and under braked in my humble opinion, In both cases it's just enough. Hills will see the speed drop and a few gear changes and braking, whilst initially has good bite, lacks any further performance the harder you press.
As I said just my opinion and that of others may differ, and I am comparing to most modern euro boxes which is usually in your rear view mirror trying to get past. Bit of an unfair comparison, but that's life.
Just check everything is in good order, particularly the front brakes as said above, and enjoy it for what it is. Still going to make you smile.
 

Unladen is 1280kg. The weight is all bolted on. With two people that makes it about 1440kg without luggage.Scimike, I think you hit the nail on the head - underpowered and under braked. Though, in regard to brakes, I don't get a 'good bite' initially. It's pretty much progressive: the harder you push the quicker you stop. The car was put on a brake dynamometer (I think that's the correct expression). With the front wheels on the rollers and my foot on the brake the machine physically pushed the car off. With the rear wheel on the rollers no matter how hard I pressed the pedal I could not get the wheels to stop rotating. That was following new drums and shoes on the rear. Anyway, from a practical point of view it's the front that does most of the braking. So, my next set of pads will be something better than standard, as Lambert pointed out: EBC Greenstuff, or similar.There's plenty to love about them off-road. I've discovered that already. I just have to get used to having the feeling I'm driving an old truck. Taking off from traffic lights, by the time I'm getting into 2nd gear other cars are generally up my arse or changing lanes to get past me.