Bought a Jimny for the winter!

Thanks for all the replies so far, fuel economy isn't really that important if it's being sacrificed for traction. She works mostly within a 6 mile radius of the house and when we had the bad weather a couple of years ago the housing estates were a nightmare to get around, especially a few of the more hilly areas. So is in not advisable to run the jimny in 4wd on Tarmac? I had a 3ltr swb shogun years ago and that could be driven in 4wd constantly if preferred.

the jimny is only part time 4wd so doesnt have a centre diff therefor if you drive in 4wd on a high traction surface (dry to wet roads) the transmission winds up and can do serious damage to shafts etc as when you turn the outside wheels travel further which the centre diff on say a defender allows for (or something along those lines).

snow covered roads mud gravel etc are fine for 4wd as there is limited traction which means the tyres can slip abit re-leaving any tension in the transmission.

Ah right, I had just assumed the diffs on each axle would have allowed that to sort out the differences within the drivetrain left to right, and front to back. Well hopefully she won't read this as I've been toying with a 90 van for a while and she was nipping my head to buy 1 of those instead of a jimny! Money makes the world go round though and right now shelling out big money wasn't on my priority list.

ME13OSE wrote: Ah right, I had just assumed the diffs on each axle would have allowed that to sort out the differences within the drivetrain left to right, and front to back. Well hopefully she won't read this as I've been toying with a 90 van for a while and she was nipping my head to buy 1 of those instead of a jimny! Money makes the world go round though and right now shelling out big money wasn't on my priority list.

Don't panic, the jimnys are heroic in the snow! Mine got me everywhere last winter and showed up many other 4x4s. For what you want it for it'll be perfect, the LR90 would have cost far more too.

If you're not going off road standard A/T tyres are a good compromise. It all depends on your existing tyres wear wise or you just want the looks.
My wife is a mobile hairdresser and comes across similar situations to those you have described.
It's the urban estate roads that are the worst for uncleared snow and drifts as generally the main roads are ok.
I know someone with a BMW and he couldn't get off the estate in snow! Of course we should all fit winter tyres like our continental cousins :ohmy:
She used 4wd for the first time last year and came back raving about how stable the car felt.
Never any problem on A/T tyres and of course they are ok on dry roads as well.
As said as soon as you hit dry or just wet tarmac switch back to 2wd!

Just really looking for something that will get her out of anything the urban winter jungle might throw her way, and the tyres thats on it are not too clever, and possibly double up for a bit of light offroading for me