Rejiloining the fold

Sorry but this might get a bit long, but I'd like to explain my reasons for my decisions, and my Suzie history.
I started out running Suzuki stock man's when I was a kid on the farm, I learned about what they could and couldn't do stock.
I then used to run modified Sierra's in off road comps, but I won't go into that, slightly different vehicles and all.
I then moved into a 2003 jimny which I ended up modifying a lot, it's list was.
Bullbar
winch
Rear bar
Heavy duty axles
diff breathers
Crawler box conversion
Front and rear lockers
ARB compressor (under bonnet)
rear seats removed and roller draws installed
Cargo barrier
215 mud terrain tyres
Dual battery
Light bars all around
2" lift heavy duty
Return to centre steering dampener
110amp alternator 
full under armour with a custom heavy duty bash plate
extended braided break lines
2" extractors and full exhaust system

It had a lot of positives but it had its draw backs as well, and I dont need a lot of that on the new rig as well as wanting to get back to badics again.
these days as off road as I go is farm tracks with a lot of highway driving in between.

So onto the new, one problem i had which made me switch to dual cab utes for my last two vehicles was space. So I'm just awaiting delivery of a 2024 Jimny XL, I could definitely use the extra space and after a long long test drive I found it a lot less bouncy on the road but almost as much fun as a 3 door.

Anyway I'm only going to make a few simple changes to this one, but I'd like to give my reasons for my choices.
Light bar, no explanation needed there.
LED fog lights, just better then the halogen.
lights.
Diff breathers, reason isn't that I plan on doing a lot of wading, but to get into a mates property, you have to cross a creek, a little bit of rain, and it comes up quickly. So it might be 20cm of water going in, it could be 40-50cm when you need to leave.

Tyres, I'm not going up in size from stock, just switching to to 195/80 R15 Toyo open country. The reason not to go to 215's is in my past experiences for what I will be doing I won't need them, and bigger tyres lowers your power and changes the feel and handling. It's not bad, but I do notice it. Most driving will be getting there and it will be my daily drive as well.
I won't be upgrading the suspension or giving it a lift either, as I find it takes a bit of fun feel out of it and I want this not to be a vehicle so much as a fun mate.

Dual battery, I'm going an under seat set up with a 60ah lithium. Im also going to connect the rear lighter socket to it so its got continuous power for the fridge.

Arm rests, because I've gotten used to having them

Tow bar, that reason will become obvious later on

reserve fuel tank, only need a 25lt-30lt one

Custom shelf in the back, I'm planning on getting a custom aluminium one built to use the existing mounting points in the rear, I want it level with the back seat and around 200mm-300mm high, on top of that will be a cage made to fit the contour of the back, 450mm high with a door to fir outer two terriers in, hopefully there will be room above it for another cage that can fit small recovery tracks and a bit of recovery gear.

Throttle controller, just to smooth out the auto a bit, make it a bit sporty on mountain roads, and spend most of the time, especially off road in economy.

I really don't need much more then that, I might change a few things as I get to know it better but no point changing them until I do.

Now to the Tow bar, I will either be having built or buying an off the shelf motobike camper for it, I want to keep it light, my preference is to have one custom made, roller drawers on the bottom, stainless water tank behind it, nice open storage  and a flod out roof top camper on the top.
I had a set up like that for my last jimny and it was absolutely brilliant and you never even noticed that you were towing it.

There's a bit more to it then that, but that's the best off the top of my head.

I did forget that Radial arm guards are going on 1st, then eventually full under body protection.
And definitely an under bonnet ARB compressor.

We don’t get the XL here so I should imagine there will be a lot of people here who would be really interested in see photos of the standard car and all of the mods you have planned, plus a comparison to the 3 door Jimny, especially from someone who has a ton of experience.

Robin

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how it loads up for trips away, and how it goes without going nuts on the mods.
One thing they keep saying on Australian forums is put 215's on it, usually in conjunction with a lift, its like an unwritten rule your not allowed to question.
One of the things I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs pretty much stock compared to the fully worked up version.
Less weight and more power Vs serious modified offroader but less powerful version.

I have only had my Gen 4 for a month, it came with Bridgestone 195/80 and I swapped them for some Maxxis 215/75 which came off my Gen 3.

On the main roads you could fell the difference straight away, the steering was slightly heavier and fuel consumption increased by about 5-10%. After a week I was used to them.

Power wise I didn’t too much difference on the road, I suppose once the wheels are spinning it’s only change of direction when you feel it. There is a lot more power than my Gen 3, it will pull at least one gear higher up any hill.

I didn’t get chance to try it off road with the Bridgestone and haven’t been properly off road yet, so I can’t really compare, but I am sure the Maxxis will perform better even if they are heavier and sap a bit more power.

I guess the XL is a bit heavier than the 3 door and don’t suppose the engine power is any different, so you might notice the heavier tyres more.

The diameter of the 195/80 and 215/75 isn’t much different so 215s are easy without a lift.

Still looking forward to lots of photos.

Robin

The XL auto is 100kg heavier then the 3 door, that's pretty good considering the extra length and two extra doors. But the engine is the same so it's like having a 3 door with a bullbar on it, so adding bigger tyres will affect it a bit more, definitely something to keep in mind.
I don't think 215's would hurt it too bad in the economy department, but it comes down to what you gain Vs what you loose.
But my 1st mods will only add 41kg to the vehicles weight, the rest will add another 15kg for the small stuff, so 56kg there. (Excluding the rock sliders and long range tank, they will add another 9kg for light sliders and another 40kg for the tank)
Add my wife and myself and that's an extra 150kg, so just over 200kg there without adding any load in it out of the 345kg I have to play with.
Bigger tyres would add another 20kg minimum to that so if I put all that on too and I've only got 84kg left to load it up with, 20kg from that is a big chunk.

I know it can carry more just fine, but I want to future proof it from future government safety crackdowns (I.e money grabbing schemes) so sticking to the listed weights matter.
Everything I add is going to give me the maximum gain for minimal weight, both for that reason and to keep it light and sporty feeling.

You don't need a lift to run 215/75R15s they fit just fine, and Suzuki used them as the OE size on the limited edition Jimny Safari they offered in NewZealand.

Like you, I have a concern about the additional weight of the five door models over the three door given that the mechanicals are identical (right down to the gearing is the same), but given the performance that I currently have with the three door, I don't think the five door is going to suffer too much because of the additional weight - this is based on a crude comparison done simply by putting two more people in the back of the three door to simulate the extra weight.

I want to point out that I drive a three door manual and I'm considering a five door manual, the automatics are a completely different beast, and there's no way I would buy one. I bought the three door without a test drive, and had I driven a three door automatic before buying the three door manual, there is no way I would have bought it. In addition to the three door we have, I've also driven a three door automatic and a second three door manual, both "on loan" from the dealership and the automatic is sluggish beyond belief.

That said - the Indians who have the five door automatics say the problem is throttle response rather than a lack of power and the solution is a throttle controller - I don't see how, but I have no plans to find out.

@DrRobin - hopefully sometime between now and the end of the year, the local dealer here will get the five doors in, and again hopefully, there will be one in my driveway alongside the three door that we already have and I can do comparisons & take pictures - until then I have a spreadsheet of details pulled from the dealer brochures.

The throttle response in the auto is an issue, that's one thing I noticed on my rather long test drive before ordering one. But I currently drive a 2016 Tata Xenon diesel and its about the same as the turbo lag in it. If I drive both the same with gentler acceleration then it's not noticeable.
The addition of a throttle controller will apparently remove that problem, along with turning the OD off when you take off.
But after talking things over with the wife I've decided to hold off on major modifications until I use it enough to get a feel for what I need from it. But a dual battery is essential for me as life without a car fridge is unthinkable.

When I go away it's to mates farms, we have either a cabin or shearing quarters we use, so I don't need a lot of camping gear. (Beds, kitchen, air-conditioning ect)
So I'm looking at what my current vehicle can do, what I wish it could do better and I'm going to set the jimny up with that in mind. Honestly I don't need to replace it but my wife can't drive a manual so I needed an auto, for her and cruise control for me driving to the said farms.
I think after driving it for 6 months to a year will tell me I'd I need bigger tyres or just better tread, I definitely don't want to mess with the suspension or height, the Jimny is slightly better in ground clearance then my Tata and I've never gotten it stuck beyond the ability traction boards to get me out of trouble, and that was only when running LT tyres on it.
So I'm thinking a wait and see approach will be best for the Jimny, I dontvwantvto waste money fixing things that aren't broken.