I’ve had my first brand-new car, the Jimny, for over five months, and I’ve enjoyed spending time in the off-road vehicle. My cars are never bone stock but I decided to keep the Jimny in factory spec form for a while before modifying it. Rather than adding an unneeded accessory, the goal was to drive the car over a variety of surfaces and log some more miles to determine what needs to be done. It appears that the Jimny has a lot more potential with a few modifications. However the emphasis is on adding the upgrades in order of importance.
The narrow factory tyres were swapped out for a set of Bridgestone Geolander AT tyres when I decided to replace the rims with a wider, more off-road oriented choice. There are many tyre options available for the Jimny, particularly if one is considering a 15 or 16-inch AT/MT tyre. However, I decided to go with the Geolanders since they seem to be more appropriate for the situations I drive in, which are primarily urban and occasionally involve uneven and broken roads and trails. It’s still an AT tyre, and in situations where it matters, the 235-section tyres outperform the stock and 215/225-section tyres that most customers choose these days. Other than this, the Jimny hasn’t received any other upgrade.
I intend to add a 2-inch lift kit which I feel will make it a sweeter off-roader thanks to the increased articulation and clearance. Most importantly, the options available today are from proven brands and improve the vehicle dynamics as well thanks to a stiffer setup that helps with controlling body roll and at the same time reduces the lateral forces or side-to-side movement which is quite evident in the Jimny. I recently drove to Goa and back and apart from it being a decent drive in terms of comfort and cruising ability, body roll can be a bit of a hassle. I’ve already tried out a few Jimnys with suspension upgrades from Ironman and ARB and one in particular that is locally produced. It is as good an upgrade as I had imagined and will be next on the list of mods for sure.
In terms of performance, I have no intentions of swapping the stock air filter with a conical-type performance filter, but I am curious to try out a throttle controller. It doesn’t increase power but is more like a quick throttle for your car. There are various drive modes and I want to try it out to see if it helps with quick overtakes and most importantly get to speed with lesser strain. Those out there who picked up their Jimnys during the stock clearance in December are luckier though, the money saved means that all the mods I intend to add come free of cost to them – a tale for another time.
