New Suzuki Jimny...Paramin?

bushwakka · Postby **bushwakka** » January 28th, 2014, 4:07 pm

What's the offroading guys opinion on the new Jimny being sold at Lifestyle? Is it tough as the older generations? Friend thinking about a small 4wd vehicle to make a paramin route quite regularly

Advised them against blowing money on 'suvs' with 4wd capability such as the x-trail, cr-v, grand vitara, tucson etc....what do you'll think?

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » January 28th, 2014, 4:37 pm

you know 2WD cars go paramin without issues right?

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » January 29th, 2014, 9:55 am

RWD vehicles have a hard time climbing the hills through Maraval side. We went up earlier this month and most of us were doing burnouts trying to get around some of the tight / steep corners. If it was wet, we would have needed to use the 4WD.. (In fact, some of us, me included, did get stuck higher up on some corners and needed to engage).

A FWD car, because of the weight bias over the front wheels will make those hills easier, but it would be real pressure for an automatic transmission equipped car. That same day we were following an old model Jimny up the hills and because of his light weight, he was embarrassing us up there. He made the drive seem effortless. The new model Jimny's as far as I know are tough as well and would be a good buy.. Their smaller size would be an advantage in the narrow roads also

bushwakka · Postby **bushwakka** » January 29th, 2014, 11:53 am

yea well, i don't know much about the offroading and it had seemed counter-intuitive to me at first that rwd would be at a disadvantage but i understand why now

my friend has it set in her head to get a 4wd vehicle to go up there regularly.......what about the 4wd gran vitara? I've heard that it comes with an LSD but I haven't seen that mentioned in the technical specs on lifestyle motors site

black start · Postby **black start** » January 29th, 2014, 12:24 pm

Running up them hills normal with a suzuki carry....

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » January 29th, 2014, 3:42 pm

3stagevtec wrote:A FWD car, because of the weight bias over the front wheels will make those hills easier, but it would be real pressure for an automatic transmission equipped car.

to me, the autos and cvt's have it a lot easier than the manuals. torque converter works wonders. put in low gear, and cruise at slightly higher than idle speed. 2000rpm <
small displacement and manual transmissions have to build rpm for torque 3-4k, then keep it there. not the easiest thing up and around the corners.

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » January 29th, 2014, 7:20 pm

I have a transmission temp gauge on my auto and the temps does climb quite a bit during constant hill climbs, especially when the torque converter is doing its thing to try and increase torque. Manual boxes generally come with higher ratios in the first 3 gears (when compared to a similar vehicle equipped with an auto).

Auto's do well on the hills, but if you push it, the temps can run high.. manuals have better gearing and no temp issues..

venum · Postby **venum** » January 30th, 2014, 4:20 pm

bushwakka wrote:my friend has it set in her head to get a 4wd vehicle to go up there regularly.......what about the 4wd gran vitara? I've heard that it comes with an LSD but I haven't seen that mentioned in the technical specs on lifestyle motors site

depending on where she going up there a 4x4 would be a better idea than a car

old school FJ40 is the B14 of those hills, but if she not going off asphalt\concrete surface then a car may be sufficient.

the small wheelbase of the jimny would be an asset as I remember some tight turns giving my 4x4 pickup some grief when I went

Manual will be better as 3Stage suggested as she not only has to consider the uphill climb but also the downhill decent and her brakes. if she get brake fade on the way down it can get scary.

bushwakka · Postby **bushwakka** » January 30th, 2014, 6:39 pm

^i feel he was just referring to avoiding rollback when stopping on such steep inclines and if u stop, having to move off again.

3stagevtec · Postby **3stagevtec** » January 31st, 2014, 12:30 am

The new grand vitara's come with full time 4wd.. It has a center differential which allows it to drive on hard surfaces with the power going to the 4 wheels. I never played with a full time 4wd system as yet, so i cant say if it will be any better than a 2wd on the hills (in wet slippery conditions). Of course, if you ever end up in difficulty, there is a lock for the center diff, which converts it to part time 4wd (superior traction that full time).

The 2.0L GVs are pretty powerful IMO and will climb those hills without much problem.. auto or manual..

One thing to mention, you should NEVER drive a part time 4wd system on dry hard surfaces.. it will cause severe wind up in the drive train and can cause premature wear / breakage of parts.. so be careful what type of vehicle you recommend.. especially for a female (or inexperienced) driver.

Pantos · Postby **Pantos** » February 9th, 2014, 1:35 pm

The only problem I can see is balancing clutch on those hills to start off again. Trust me, it scary if you don't know what you doing. PLENTY feathering and clutch burning to get moving with my 1600 3 door SGV, but once moving it will walk up almost anything.
EDIT: and oh yeah, the LSD works wonders especially around the sharp curves uphill where a wheel may lose traction be it in the front or rear.