5 Accessories for your used Suzuki Jimny

 

The Suzuki Jimny has a well-deserved reputation as a giant-killing off-road monster. Because it’s so small and light, it can boldly go where most other 4x4s would hesitate. Now, there’s a new, better Jimny on the market, which takes all that’s good about the old one and improves it even further. But that doesn’t mean that your old Jimny has to remain outclassed by the younger model – there are plenty of things you could fit to your used Jimny, to make it better than ever. We investigate 5 of the most worthwhile accessories.

Lift kit

One of the outgoing Jimny’s few weaknesses was that it sat rather close to the ground. This made that the rear suspension’s pick-up points rather vulnerable over large rocks, and could hamper your progress over very rough terrain. will make a huge difference to your cross-country abilities, without incurring too many penalties in the Jimny’s ride quality.

Bigger wheels and tyres

Another solution to obtaining extra ground clearance is by fitting bigger wheels and matching tyres – owners talk of a 15mm gain in ground clearance just by doing this! Bigger wheels and meatier tyres will also lift the differentials further from the ground, improving clearance over large rocks. Of course, being a Jimny, the stretched gear ratios which go hand in hand with oversized (15-inch) wheels and big tyres will make it even slower on-road (and a bit thirstier), but the off-road benefits are indisputable. Selecting knobbly tyres will also improve traction, making your Jimny even more unstoppable out in the bush.

Off-road bumper

You didn’t buy your Jimny just to look good, you bought it to go to hard-to-reach places. But what if you could improve its off-road abilities even further, and make it look a whole lot more butch at the same time? Fitting an off-road bumper will dramatically improve the Jimny’s approach angle, and at the same time help to protect the slightly vulnerable radiator (which takes in air from the lower bumper grille – ready to be punctured by an errant tree branch). That it looks great, and even accommodates your standard fog lights, is an added bonus.

Infotainment Upgrade

One of the old Jimny’s weaknesses was in its audio system – it featured technology which would have been acceptable a decade ago, but we’re used to much better now. Fortunately, you can fit a with Bluetooth and even satellite navigation at a pretty reasonable price. And, seeing as these Jimnys are rather slow, on-road in-car entertainment is a must!

Roof rack

You are obviously well aware that your Jimny is a very small vehicle – that’s part of the reason for its off-road brilliance, after all! But the problem with such a small vehicle is that cabin space is severely limited. You can either take a few passengers along for the ride (with all the seats in use), or you can take some luggage with you (with the rear seats folded down), but never both at the same time.

However, you can solve this problem by fitting a roof rack. This will liberate enough cabin space to carry your mates on an adventure, with their luggage (or things like your camping gear, jerry cans and spare wheels) on the roof. Sure, the aerodynamics (and thus performance and economy) will suffer, but it’s not like you’ll be able to go fast anyway, so this doesn’t really matter...