Alex Kersten pitches the Land Rover Defender against a tiny and cheap Suzuki Jimny over a wet, muddy and rutted off-road course. The result isn't as clear cut as you'd think.
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Why discriminate on tyres?
The graphics at the beginning of the clip tells us the Defender's on all-terrain tyres and the Jimny on 'standard'. Given how everyone bleats on about what a difference tyres can make I would have thought it only fair for Autocar to put the Jimny on all-terrains too.
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So a 12 grand Suzuki on road tyres can pretty much keep up with the world's `greatest off-roader' on all terrain tyres... terrible backing music!
Suzuki will rust and fall
Suzuki will rust and fall apart in 5 years, defender will still be running in 30, not exactly a challenging course, dirty water and a few humps and bumps. A defender can tow 3.5 tonnes, how much can the suzuki tow? You can add raised air intake and winch to a defender, raise the suspension, put underbody protection on it.
2yr old Jimny?
Are the Suzuki press fleet lending out 2 yr old cars now or was the poor Jimny lent to you by a well meaning owner?
Don't be fooled
We have a little competiton called the Bridgstone Fundi Challlenge in South Africa. This is the first year that our club is competing. The competition is Mercedes Gwagons, Land Rovers, Toyota's and every other kind of 4x4 you could ask for. The competing Suzukis are standard except for raised suspension (usually about 40mm) and AT tyres. We have two teams in Jimnys in the final (6th event of 6) one in the top 5 out of a total of 60 cars. Only 30 cars will compete in the last event. The last event was won by a Jimny. Another event saw two Jimnys take 1st and second place. Mercedes Gwagons have won this event for years. This year it seems victory is not quite so sure. PS. In the last even the Jimny had to tow a Toyota Hilux through thick sand with the hand break pulled up. The Jimny Aced it. Thus far I have yet to find an obstacle that a landy or any other vehicle can do which I can't. I have managed a few that other vehicles couldn't. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=493409907353144&set=a.493408354019966.124982.200362536657884&type=1&theater
Rust and Fall?
I'll never knock Landys ... they are quite capable for the most part. But a Landy fan knocking the reliability of a Jimny .... really? I see a lot more SJ's and Samurai's around than series 3 Landy's. Have you seen how sturdy they build the hinges on the bonnet of a Landy? There is a reason for that. You know what they say about people that live in glass houses.
Suzuki will NOT rust and fall
I have a Colombian friend who owns a farm in his home land ( not related to drugs B.T.W)
He happened to own an old Jimny (not the same model as in this movie) and a Defender.
He told me that of two, he would rather go around his farm with a Jimny as it was almost as good on off roading as the Defender but 10 times more reliable!
His last Jimny lasted over 20 years most of the time off roading. It was still a good runner when he sold it.
Weight
Good video. I've often wondered about the value of a genuinely lightweight 4x4 but hadn't realised the Jimny had this capability. Years ago I read an article in Motor Sport about someone who drove through the then Yugoslavia in the early 1950s. He took a Morris Minor rather than his Bentley on the sensible grounds that if it got stuck it could be manhandled out. Similarly the original VW staff cars used by the Wermacht and then adopted by enthusiastic Allied victors were lightweight go anywhere vehicles. Once on a wintry bike ride came across a Panda 4x4 stuck in snow with a slightly bigger and more powerful Diahatsu trying to pull in out. the two of us got off our bikes and pushed both cars off.
5 years? have you ever owned or
5 years? have you ever owned or even driven one. Ours has been in the family for 13 years and 91000 miles now and there's not a spot of rust on it, it's never failed to start, broken down or failed an MOT, nothing has fallen off or broken and apart from servicing consumables it's had 3 sets of brake pads, a set of discs a battery and an exhaust, don't know how much it will tow but it was never marketed as a tow car and you can fit the rest to a Jimny too. It may not be quite as good as Defender off road but it is a lot better on it.
