Not very good in the wet on roads?

I'd like to start by saying I'm a pretty sensible driver, I don't drive excessibly fast but in the same respects I don't drive like an octogenarian. I'd say I was a carefull and cautious driver.

However, I've spun the Jimny 3 times in the wet now! Well, ok, one of the times I didn't actually spin it, I just felt it go a little out of control round a corner whilst it was raining but managed to straighten again. These were all at low speeds.

Is there something wrong with my Jimny or is this normal? I've driven variety of different cars and occasionally when I get a powerful hire car I'll drive it like I stole it but I really do take care of my car!!!

You need quality highway tyres to get any decent road-handling out of the Jimny. I run a good set and have off-road tyres for playing. It all depends, I guess, on what you are planning to do with the Jimny. If it is mainly bitumen then get road tyres with big grooves and wide sylphs but if it is a good mixture of on/off road then buy M/T tyres and just take it easy in the wet on the roads. Jimnys are somewhat top heavy and the narrow track, short wheelbase set-up does not contribute anything to road-holding ability.

One soon learns to drive within the Jimnys' capabilities.

I've never really had a problem with the jimny tailing out unless provoked, but my cornering speeds are probably a bit lower due to MT tyres and a lift. What are your tyre pressures at? the jimny only needs some where around 25 psi.

If you've got Duellers on, swap them for something better.
The bog standard Jimny I drive in Cyprus has them on and it's a nightmare if the tarmac is damp.
I'm waiting while they are worn down before changing them. It has no roof so isn't driven in the rain. When I say damp tarmac, what I mean is when someone is running a hose pipe and the water runs out onto the road, especially on a hill and on a bend. It will slide the back out at less than 2500rpm in 3rd, going up hill on a bend if it's wet. Luckily, the understeer pre-warns you a little. LoL

Well that's what I find, I would say, "Change the tyres."

K

Yeah I have deulers on, I thought Bridgestone were decent tyres! Will I have a similar issue when the snow arrives? Although I suppose during the snowy season I can switch to 4WD.

As far as I am aware I shouldn't drive in 4WD at all on tarmac due to transmission wind up, but someone was saying this is only on cars pre-2005, is that right or are they talking rubbish?

I'm not sure if it's ok on the post 05 cars to drive in 4wd on dry tarmac, mine's a 2001 over here and a 2000 in Cyprus.

To me, and this is only my opinion, the Bridgestones feel as if they have too much 'nylon' in the rubber or perhaps just too hard a compound, I don't know.

I've had Bridgestone Potenza's on my 'normal' car and I found them incredible in any conditions. Mind you, they were worn out after 8000 miles of heavy going. LoL!!

I've never used the Duelers in snow, perhaps fortunately, so can't comment on them.

I would say to change them when you can.
Kumho KL71's are good??

K

I'm suprised you've spun it 3 times!
I've tried a few times to provoke the rear on mine in the wet with very limited sucess.

Check tyres pressures and tyres and then slow down a bit

Just out of interest was it always the same place you spun it? Reason I ask is I used to use a petrol station on busy fast road in London. You would have to pull out of it pretty sharpish and the road was always exceddingly slippy pressumably from oil and diesel being on peoples tyres as they left the forecourt.

Never had any issues in mine and that was with Insa Turbo Sahara's, i expected it to be terrible but it wasnt.

On my colways m/t i would drift every corner in the wet it was so backend happy! Deffinatly a wake up call after a night shift

My new m/t grip quite well i have to be really giving it some to even get a little wiggle on a corner


When i was running road tyres i dont think the back end slipped once on mine

I have dueller h/t's on my jimny and it's been my one and only car so it's safe to say that I have probably ragged it a few times but I still find that it's dead easy to slide especially on damp or wet bends/roundabouts. It doesn't usually understeer first so I don't think I'm going too fast but that's just me.

When I bought my Jimny I was surprised how easy it was to drive, because I had been driving my SJ for many years! Jimny has longer wheelbase than SJ and it's also much wider. And I have welded rear diff on my SJ, so imagine how it drives on ice and snow. I don't think I spun the Jim even once last winter, and I'm driving on M/T's throughout the year. And I hate having an open rear diff for now, because I can't push it into good fully controlled drifts on wet tarmac!

Offroad suzuki's are drivers trucks, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone who does not have experience driving RWD cars, especially in winter! I won't let the missus drive the Jim when the snow is on the ground...

So, this is not a problem with Jimnys, it's a feature!