I intend to keep both SUVs and use the Thar more as an open-top vehicle & for highway runs.
BHPian Touringlawyer recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I drive the soft top Petrol Thar AT, been about 1.5 Years and 18000 km.
Test drove the Jimny AT yesterday as I intend to buy it too.
Except for the lack of sheer power that the Thar has, and which Jimny lacks (smaller engine), which resulted in Jimny struggling to push beyond 80 Kms / Hour speed easily, I don’t have any complaints with the Jimny. None at all really. Even on the speed part, I don’t think the smaller engine with lower power output should be a deal breaker, because really how often do we need to cruise at over 100 speeds anyways? That’s just my opinion.
In fact, some clear advantages that Jimny has over the Thar, as I could see and experience in the test drive itself, are shared below:
- Jimny’s 5 Door setup, with a comparatively lower height, makes it much more family usable. I travel mostly alone with my dogs in the Thar, but even then I have felt the need for a 5-door vehicle.
- The boot space of Jimny is much better than the beyond-ridiculous boot space of the Thar. Thar barely has the boot space for 1 person’s luggage really (I am serious!!)
- The complete Metal body in Jimny definitely gives a much better sense of safety in case of a rollover or even otherwise. Though my Thar has a soft top but even the Hardtop Thar has a hard plastic top.
- Jimny has 6 airbags (Front, Side and Curtain) as opposed to Thar’s front airbags only. Again, this is a huge positive in my opinion in favour of Jimny.
- My Petrol Thar currently gives me fuel efficiency of about 9-9.5 km/l (prior to the 10,000 km first service, I was getting more in the range of 8-8.5 km/litre), and I am hoping Jimny’s should have a clear difference of 1-2 km. Let’s see how this goes.
Do I love my soft-top Thar, ABSOLUTELY! But will I buy the Jimny, ABSOLUTELY! More so for my old baby (my dog) who has difficulty getting to the Thar back seat, and I travel a lot with them.
I intend to keep both the Thar and the Jimny, and use the Thar more as an open-top vehicle for the “wind in the hair” feeling (I hardly have much left though) and for the highway runs.
As the vehicles age, will share more comparisons, especially the off-roadability part. Hoping to have the Jimny soon in the garage.
Keyword: Thar owner shares 5 clear advantages of the Jimny over his SUV