First report

Thrust in the dust

Don’t get funny ideas. This subheading is just so that we get your attention. However, it does hold true in the essence that just as the Jimny entered our long-term garage, it rolled out the very next day to participate in the 2023 CarWale Off-Road Day! It was the smallest and the least powerful vehicle in the fray but surprised everyone with its agility, performance, and ability to get its tail out. We’ve put out a video as detailed as it can be and you can find a link at the bottom of this review.

Variant explained

The Jimny in our garage is a top-of-the-line Alpha variant with all the bells and whistles that Maruti offers with the SUV. This means it gets LED headlamps, touchscreen infotainment with a 7.0-inch display and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, height adjustment for the driver’s seat, climate control, and a reverse parking camera with sensors.

On paper, this doesn’t seem like a lot at that price bracket, but you have to consider that the Jimny gets 4WD with a low-range gearbox and locking differentials as standard across the range. It also has really high ground clearance and the ability to gobble up bad roads like a mountain goat.

Gypsy connect

When the Jimny was unveiled, we dug into our personal history to link it with the Gypsy, and that’s something we aim to explore. In our books, the average Jimny buyer will be someone who’s grown up watching the Gypsy in TV shows, movies, and advertisements, and will be more than stoked to own a bit of their childhood.

On-road driving

Our first order of business with the Jimny will be to make it feel like a fish out of water, that is, to use it in the city. We will also see what it is like to bake in traffic among Mumbai’s ever-growing vehicle population and parallel parking with a steering mechanism that needs 4.5 turns lock-to-lock, you get the drift.

Photography: Kaustubh Gandhi

CW off-road day 2023

Maruti Suzuki Jimny 1.5 AT First Drive Review