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Car Forum / UK Car Forums / 4x4 Cars (UK group) / December 2005Suzuki Jimny
Am looking into buying a car have seen at the local showroom. Suzuki Jimny, 2001 Any opinions on these, parkers gives them pretty good reviews, apart from practicality and comfort, the reliability seems pretty good, and I am only after something small for me and my wife, cheers in advance Rob > Am looking into buying a car have seen at the local showroom. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > practicality and comfort, the reliability seems pretty good, and I am only > after something small for me and my wife, cheers in advance What do you want the car for? My mum has a Jimny 2001 hardtop. It's good off road and it's been totally reliable since new. I borrowed it for a few weeks so here's my verdict. Great driving position around town - high up, good visibility. Pity about the door handles resting against your knees. Nippy enough if revved hard Awful bouncy ride over potholes and uneven tarmac roads Uncomfy, thin seats. Bouncy ride on the motorway, hates crosswinds. I drove 600 miles in a day in it once. Uneconomical over 60mph. I used more fuel going to London from Manchester than I did in a 2.0 Mondeo . Boot space totally useless unless you fold the seats down. Even for two people on a weekend away.. Tiny. Good off road Light controls Despite the negative points, it is actually fun to drive on the road, it's revvy and handles well enough, even if it does bounce around a bit :-) If you are going to go off road a lot with no luggage, then it's a great little tool but if you're mainly going to be on road I think you'd get very weary of the noise and the bouncy ride very quickly - at 70mph it's doing 4500rpm in top gear so motorway journeys are long and unpleasant. Potholes make it very bouncy and crashy to the point of giving me a headache. If you are not going to be off road much, or just the odd dirty track, then get a small modern hatchback, they are 1000 times more pleasant to drive hth Mike "Mike P" <not@here.com> > Despite the negative points, it is actually fun to drive on the road, it's > revvy and handles well enough, even if it does bounce around a bit :-) [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Mike I am going to take it off road, but yeah is mainly for road use, no motorways, only local A roads, I just needed something small n cheap, which this one is, nice to look at (well I think it is lol) Thanks for the VERY informative feedback though, its WELL appreciated! > "Mike P" <not@here.com> > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Thanks for the VERY informative feedback though, its WELL appreciated! Mind you dont tip it over! Tim.. >> "Mike P" <not@here.com> >> [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >> >> Thanks for the VERY informative feedback though, its WELL appreciated! No worries :-) Go to a dealer and take one for a good drive on some of the roads you use. You might like it! My mum thinks her's is great but her previous cars have been 2 Lada1200 saloons, a 2CV , an SJ410 and a old shape Vitara... > Mind you dont tip it over! I haven't yet :-) It's not actually that bad. I've cornered faster in it than I would expect with no problems at all.. It's a LOT more stable than the old SJ410 and the ride is Rolls-Royce like compared :-) Mike P > >> "Mike P" <not@here.com> > >> [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] > > Mike P hello all i'm also shopping for a Jimny at the mo, just as a play car really and was wondering if anyone out there knw the tallest tyres that will go on (i fancy some mud terrains) but have heard that jimnys are not as easy to lift as say the earlier SJs? cheers, Rich ps anyone with a jimny want to swap it for a 94 4runner 3.0td?! > Am looking into buying a car have seen at the local showroom. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Rob What is the centre diff, is it perm locked or open diff, dont know what I am talking about, its just something someone asked me to ask.....he says something about testing the 4WD, and if its a locked diff or something, you cannot test it onroad?? Please forgive my ignorance, the world of 4x4 has always fascinated me, but not been able to get into it before, but I am a willing pupil :-) Rob >>Am looking into buying a car have seen at the local showroom. >> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Rob Rob I see no one has answered you question. Diffs let the wheels on the outside of the bend spin faster than those on the inside of the bend. It does this by transferring the power to the wheel that has the least resistance. See all the spinning wheels in the snow this week! The jimny has permanent drive to the rear wheels through the rear diff. This gives you one wheel drive, the standard method for most vehicles including front wheel drives and permanent 4X4 if the diffs are not locked. Back to the Jimny. The transfer of power from the engine to the front and rear drive shafts does not go through a diff, but uses a chain. The front wheels have locking hubs with no central diff on that axle. The locking is by vacuum controlled from a lever/button in the car. This makes for a good set-up. Economical rear wheel drive on metalled roads. Lock those hubs while moving straight ahead and you have the front two wheels always driving. The rear could loose traction and spin a wheel, but the fronts will spin at the same rate. My wife has one that i get to driving when my LR is in for a oil change. Andy <<SNIP>> > Back to the Jimny. The transfer of power from the engine to the front and > rear drive shafts does not go through a diff, but uses a chain. The front [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Andy How on earth does it go round corners without a diff in the front axle? I thought the Jimny was mechanically pretty much like the coil sprung Sammys available everywhere else in the world before the Jimny came along? Simon H > How on earth does it go round corners without a diff in the front > axle? Unlocked hubs, so the wheels aren't connected to the driveshafts. >> How on earth does it go round corners without a diff in the front >> axle? > > Unlocked hubs, so the wheels aren't connected to the driveshafts. OK, then. How on earth does it go round corners when in 4 wheel drive? Simon H >>> How on earth does it go round corners without a diff in the front >>> axle? >> Unlocked hubs, so the wheels aren't connected to the driveshafts. > OK, then. > How on earth does it go round corners when in 4 wheel drive? Very badly. >>>How on earth does it go round corners without a diff in the front >>>axle? [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > OK, then. > How on earth does it go round corners when in 4 wheel drive? Tyre slippage, which is why 4WDs without a front-diff should never be used in that mode on tarmac.  SignatureEddie eddie@deguello.org <<SNIP>> > Tyre slippage, which is why 4WDs without a front-diff should never be used > in that mode on tarmac. Eddie, Please give some examples of 4WDs that don't have front diffs... I'd like to find out how they work. Hydraulic drive and skid steer? Could be interesting Simon H >>Tyre slippage, which is why 4WDs without a front-diff should never be used >>in that mode on tarmac. > > Please give some examples of 4WDs that don't have front diffs... I'd like to > find out how they work. Hydraulic drive and skid steer? Could be interesting Vitara, for starters. But, AFAIK, the Vitara has a "proper" driveshaft and transfer box to allow selection of 2H, 4H and 4L ratios. It seems to work OK, as long as you remember never to engage 4WD on tarmac. SignatureEddie eddie@deguello.org >>>Tyre slippage, which is why 4WDs without a front-diff should never be >>>used in that mode on tarmac. >> Please give some examples of 4WDs that don't have front diffs... I'd >> like to find out how they work. Hydraulic drive and skid steer? Could >> be interesting > Vitara, for starters. But, AFAIK, the Vitara has a "proper" driveshaft > and transfer box to allow selection of 2H, 4H and 4L ratios. > > It seems to work OK, as long as you remember never to engage 4WD on > tarmac. Is it the *FRONT* diff that's AWOL or the centre diff? I strongly suspect the latter. >>>Please give some examples of 4WDs that don't have front diffs... I'd >>>like to find out how they work. Hydraulic drive and skid steer? Could [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Is it the *FRONT* diff that's AWOL or the centre diff? I strongly suspect > the latter. Hmmm... I didn't think it had either, but now I'm not sure. Hopefully SWK will be along shortly to confirm either way. SignatureEddie eddie@deguello.org >> Is it the *FRONT* diff that's AWOL or the centre diff? I strongly >> suspect the latter. > > Hmmm... I didn't think it had either, but now I'm not sure. Hopefully > SWK will be along shortly to confirm either way. Actually, having thought about it a bit more: you're probably right, or it'd never get round corners even on the loose surfaces that allow for slippage. SignatureEddie eddie@deguello.org >>> Is it the *FRONT* diff that's AWOL or the centre diff? I strongly >>> suspect the latter. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > it'd never get round corners even on the loose surfaces that allow for > slippage. LOL! I wondered when the penny would drop! Jimnys, Vitaras, Series Landies, Toyota Hi-luxes and loads more older types have a part time 4WD system which has a differential at each end but NO CENTRE DIFF. Centre diffs are a feature of 'permanent' 4WD systems as found on Range Rovers, Defenders, Explorers, etc. In order to emulate the 4X4 mode of the part-time systems a permanent 4WD needs to lock the CENTRE diff to distribute drive 50/50 front/rear. Simon H >>Actually, having thought about it a bit more: you're probably right, or >>it'd never get round corners even on the loose surfaces that allow for >>slippage. > > LOL! > I wondered when the penny would drop! Never really thought about it that much, I just knew that using the 4WD on tarmac was A Bad Thing. > Jimnys, Vitaras, Series Landies, Toyota Hi-luxes and loads more older types > have a part time 4WD system which has a differential at each end but NO > CENTRE DIFF. Series Landies? Really? I'd always imagined that they had full-time 4WD. > Centre diffs are a feature of 'permanent' 4WD systems as found on Range > Rovers, Defenders, Explorers, etc. In order to emulate the 4X4 mode of the > part-time systems a permanent 4WD needs to lock the CENTRE diff to > distribute drive 50/50 front/rear. "Emulate" seems an odd choice of word there, but yes. SignatureEddie eddie@deguello.org > Series Landies? Really? I'd always imagined that they had full-time 4WD. Nope - part time. No centre diff. Stage 1 V8 was first with permanent 4WD. Tim "ntlworld" <news@ntlworld.com> > Rob > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Andy Thanks for the answers Andy, much appreciated!!!! |
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