Maruti Suzuki Jimny Goes On A 2,200+ km Road Trip

In January this year, I acquired the Maruti Suzuki Jimnyin its Alpha MT trim, almost on a whim, and you can read about my initial, everyday ownership experience of the Jimny here. With mixed use, including everyday commuting and a couple of long-distance trips to the mountains, we finally decided to let the Jimny stretch its legs over a 2,000 km drive from Delhi to Assam. This is that story in brief, about what it was like going on a multi-day, long-distance drive with the Jimny across the breadth of India.

Also Read: Maruti Suzuki Jimny Ownership Review

Maruti Suzuki Jimny Goes On A 2,200+ km Road Trip

The Maruti Suzuki Jimny goes on a near 2,300 km road trip from Delhi to Assam.

Much has been talked about the Jimny’s off-road capability, so here we will only focus on touring. Our regular car for long drives is a Renault Duster 1.3 MT, and before embarking on this trip, we had some apprehensions about how comfortable the Jimny will be on a trek of this magnitude. In the end, the over 2,000 km drive in the Jimny proved to be a pleasant surprise. However impressed we were with the Jimny, it still has its limitations as a touring car, but are those deal breakers? Read on to join us during our experiences with the Jimny on this three-day cross-country drive.

Agra-Lucknow Expressway (ALE) is a straight strip of tarmac which is boring, but allows you to cover distances easily.

Also Read: Jimny Goes Road Tripping To Shangarh

Day 1: delhi to kushinagar (910 km)

We hit the road from Delhi at roughly 5:40 am, heading east to Noida and Greater Noida and then southeast towards Agra on the Yamuna Expressway, before heading east again on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway (ALE). The speed limit on the ALE has been revised to 100 kmph, although some signages still mentioned 120 kmph as the speed limit.

The Agra Lucknow Expressway

Just after 6 pm, we cruised into Kushinagar, just short of the Uttar Pradesh – Bihar state border. The day’s drive took us from Delhi to Agra, then Lucknow, and then a short stretch of the Poorvanchal Expressway before we got off to bypass Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and then onwards to Kushinagar, just over 900 kilometres.

Tea break before Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh

Day 2: Kushinagar to Siliguri (580 km)

From Kushinagar we once again set out early, around 6:30 am and after filling up fuel, entered Bihar through the Gopalganj border and then bypassed Muzaffarpur. We stopped for a cup of tea at a roadside tea stall near Muzaffarpur, before stopping for a quick brunch on the highway, before Darbhanga. From then on, we drove on, bypassing Araria and then onwards to Siliguri via Naxalbari. By the time we rolled into our digs for the night in Siliguri, it was almost six in the evening, and dusk was approaching.

Stopping for a tea break near Muzaffarpur, Bihar

Day 3: Siliguri to Guwahati (480 km)

This was to be our last straight day of driving and we started out at a leisurely pace. Through the Hasimara forest we drove, the so-called narrow strategic corridor connecting the rest of India to the North East. This is also tea country, and Hasimara is close to the Dooars region of north Bengal, known for its expansive tea plantations, as well as to Bhutan. We encountered traffic on the highway out of Siliguri – trucks, commercial buses, and few passenger cars. And it is on such stretches that the Jimny’s Achilles Heel starts to show up. If you desire to overtake slower moving vehicles, the Jimny just doesn’t have the punch for such quick manoeuvres.

Rolling through some villages in Bihar

The 1.5-litre engine is not underpowered per se, but you will have to plan all your overtakes. There’s no rush of power to get ahead quickly, and once you accept its performance limitations, it’s fine really. It’s almost as if this endearing SUV will tell you – “slow down, enjoy the view, I will get you to your destination with enough time to spare.” Thankfully, most of the stretch is a wide highway, and not very heavy with traffic. By 5 pm, we rolled into Guwahati; it was an easy drive from Siliguri of around 9.5 hours.

On the way from Guwahati to Jorhat

Day 4 & 5:

We made a pit stop in Guwahati to spend some time with friends. The agenda was to see an ailing childhood friend, and to get the Jimny’s second service done in Guwahati. The drive from Guwahati to Jorhat was uneventful, and by the time we set out, it was almost early afternoon. The Guwahati to Jorhat stretch is mostly in excellent condition, and we had the good fortune of spotting a herd of wild elephants while crossing Kaziranga National Park.

Wild elephants near Kaziranga National Park

We took a brief halt for lunch at a friend’s place at The Kathoni, Kaziranga, before the final 90 kilometres to Jorhat. In all, Jimny proved to be a comfortable and planted vehicle for highway use. By the time we rolled into Jorhat, the Jimny had covered almost 2,300 kilometres from when we set out from Delhi. Is it practical for long drives? Definitely, but with four people on board, it will be a bit of a squeeze when it comes to luggage.

The Jimny on a break on the outskirts of Agoratoli, Kaziranga

Performance

The Jimny can comfortably sit at triple digit speeds all day long, if expressway duties are required on inter-state drives. From a standstill to 80 kmph, there’s enough performance to rub shoulders with other cars. But it’s from there on, upwards of 100 kmph where it doesn’t feel as “quick” as other compact SUVs with turbo-petrol engines. If you’re looking for quick overtakes, you will be disappointed with the Jimny and should best look elsewhere.

Fuel efficiency is best at consistent speeds of between 80-90 kmph; above 100 kmph is when the Jimny gets thirstier!

Fuel Efficiency

The Jimny is happiest and the most efficient at speeds of around 85-90 kmph. Maintain speeds below 90 kmph and you will be rewarded with very good fuel efficiency. I saw an all-time best fuel efficiency of over 17 kmpl when driving for a long stretch at below 90 kmph. Upwards of 100 kmph is when the Jimny begins to get thirstier and average fuel efficiency figures dropped to 12.5-13 kmpl. The small fuel tank however, is a bummer and range is limited, so the Jimny requires more frequent fuelling stops on a long drive. Average range on a tankful is around 450-460 km depending on driving conditions and speed.

Ride Quality & Dynamics

The Jimny feels quite planted at speeds of between 80-100 kmph. Even with its body-on-frame structure, the Jimny feels planted and stable at 100-110 kmph, so you can cruise comfortably on highways without being bothered by unnecessary rocking and a bouncy ride quality. Having said that, the ride quality and dynamics aren’t as good as the Duster’s but better than a lot of similar ladder-frame chassis SUVs.

The front row seats for driver and passenger are comfortable for long drives.

Seating Comfort & Ergonomics

Front seat comfort is pretty good for long drives, although the same can’t be said for the rear seat, which lacks under-thigh support to offer comfort for long hours on the road for passengers. The only gripe I have is the driver’s footwell, where I constantly looked for a comfortable position for my left foot, when not using the clutch pedal.

Brakes

The brakes of the Jimny take some getting used to. The bite isn’t urgent, and while it’s good enough for off-road use, or adventure drives, the lack of better bite is something which you will yearn for on a long highway drive. Once you get used to the brakes it’s fine, but better bite from the calipers would have been welcome for highway duties.

Air-Conditioning

The Jimny’s AC is excellent! The cabin is cooled in no time, and in fact, it will chill you in minutes. From all the different vehicles that we have owned in the past, the air-conditioning of the Jimny by far tops the list.

The Jimny’s AC is excellent and the stock Arkamys sound system is very good!

In-Car Entertainment

The Jimny’s stock Arkamys sound system is pretty good. For the kind of music we listen to, I don’t think we need any upgrades in terms of aftermarket speakers, a subwoofer or an amplifier. Yes, the stock music system in the Jimny is pretty good – better than average, in my book.

The LED lighting set up is more than adequate for night driving.

Lighting

With the stock LED set-up (Alpha MT), lighting is pretty good and offers very good visibility. I usually avoid driving late into the night on long trips and this is what we followed on this drive as well, choosing to turn in early and start at a reasonable hour after each night halt. After all, driving is about enjoying the ride, and there’s no point rushing it and being exhausted at the end of the day’s drive.

Luggage Space

For two people, the Jimny has adequate boot space to carry luggage for a trip extending up to a week. Even for three people travelling, luggage space shouldn’t be much of an issue. For four people travelling together, boot space for luggage will be a squeeze, and could be somewhat of an issue, unless the passengers pack light!

Long Drive Best Practices

We usually avoid driving late into the night or stretch our drive time. Some folks prefer to start early and drive late into the night. For us, I prefer starting between 5-6 am and making a halt just after sundown. The idea is to have a relaxed shower, and light meal and get a good night’s sleep before starting the next day’s drive. This works well for us, and exhaustion isn’t much as well over long drives. At almost every halt, I wipe down the windshield and headlights and check the tyre pressure visually.

In all, we covered nearly 2,296 km from doorstep to doorstep.

Route Choices & Night Halts

Some homework is required before embarking on a long drive on planning the route and night halts along the way. On this route, there were a couple of options, at least till Siliguri, in terms of night halts and route choices. We decided to do some homework and a friend who regularly does Delhi-Siliguri recommended the route and night halts. Unlike more popular routes, a night halt in Siliguri is ideal, before the last leg of the journey.