I have a plan! My commute over Lakeland roads could do with something 4wd and decent clearance on occasions. So figure a jimny as a daily and bike shifter should do the trick and provde a bit of fun.

Anyone got one? Thinking about sticking the Thule bike rack up top and generally abusing.

good idea as long as you swap the standard lump for something with a bit more poke- dead slow up the passes!!

92K over 10 years on mine. Great. Just had an alternator go. The only thing since new. More than fast enough for the passes. Country roads you know. Great in snow. For a 4wd surprisingly firm suspension. Works nicely with a load. We use it for camping with a roof box. 37mpg during horrible commuting. One of the few modern 4wd with a proper low ratio box. To all intents and purposes a Series landrover with no draughts.
Masses to do them if you want to.

good idea as long as you swap the standard lump for something with a bit more poke- dead slow up the passes!!

The Japanese model has the 660cc turbo three cylinder used in cars like the Cappuccino, which can be taken out to 700cc, and a bigger turbo fitted, which will give over 100bhp. A work colleague has had three Cappu’s and knows lots of tricks… 😀
Alternatively, you could put in a VAG 1.9TDi… 😉
Some interesting chat here about improving Jimnis:
http://forum.difflock.com/viewtopic.php?p=402329&sid=351b2dbc5f418de3ea9e148565c99cbb

Who cares about speed? 😉

Interested in following this thread, as i also really fancy one for a bike hack. I know there are one or two members of this parish who have them…

Here’s mine.

Thing with Jimnys are they lend themselves to upgrading like few other 4x4s out there. Don’t get me wrong, they’re pretty capable for what they’re designed for straight out the box, but with just a few mods they can become pretty extreme offroaders.

On road, they’re just alright. Offroad, they’re awesome.

Here’s mine: So far just done the tyres. Next on list is underbody protection, then suspension lift, then new transfer box for lower gear ratios.

Fairly low geared for road anyway aren’t they? Revving the nuts off to cruise at 60?

“My commute over lakeland roads”

Jimny would be perfect. If you said 30miles motorway a day I’d say no!

it seems as though every farmer or hobby farmer/woodsman has these in Bavaria/Tirol.

obviously a decent and capable motor.

Fairly low geared for road anyway aren’t they? Revving the nuts off to cruise at 60?

That the Jimny gearing is a bit high for offroading is a quite a widespread view. A common upgrade is a “rocklobster” gearbox which drops the ratios. This is especially so when fitting larger tyres, any bigger than 215/75/15 and the clutch starts struggling bigtime at crawling speeds, and power drops considerably.

Used to cruise comfortably on motorways at 70 – 75mph (although not on steeper uphills) with the old 205/70/15 road tyres. Now with the new muds, 65 is tops, and even that’s not overly comfortable.

My mother loves hers, they stay in middle of nowhere and are too old to leave the car and walk when its snowy. She had an 09 plate auto…….however she was 81 last month 🙂

I love my Octavia, it’s comfy, and great for longer runs, except I hardly ever do longer runs, and most of my driving is on local A, B and C roads, and narrow country lanes, many of which have pot-holes.
I’m seriously considering getting rid and buying a Jimny, and sticking winter tyres on it. A lot easier to park in short spaces, too.

I wouldn’t mind one, but doing 20,000 miles a year, and being a broad shouldered 6 footer, plus my 62 year old aunt driving one, I kind of think it might be a bit stoopid?

I looked at them and found the inside was just too small. Ended up buying a 10 year old 3 door Grand Vitara which is like half a size up from the Jimmy but more space, bigger engine and whilst it’s as basic as a basic thing, it rolls over everything and is fine on motorways.
Bikes fit on the back fine too.