"A showroom fresh Jimny is better off road, than a similar defender"

OK my take

firstly, a suzuki out of the showroom has small tyres, therefore worse in ruts.

zuks are lighter, so in certain situations it gives them advantages, but equally sometimes greater weight is no bad thing, if you want to get down to hard ground under the mud for example.

defenders have far greater towing capacity.

new defenders have fancy leccy trickery which means they are exceptionally good in most off road situations, such as loose gravel, which i believe the jimny has not got.

defender has alot of load space as stated, making it a farm ore practical vehicle

jimy is indeed smaller, so it will go places a defender cant fit.

equally, a jimny may be able to manage 650mm wading depth, but will it manage that in a raging river? i reckon that is for still water only, a defender, with superior weight and sure footedness could manage in a pretty fast flowing river. oh and yes the quoted depth is given as 500mm but i have photos of my 110 going through a 3 and a bit foot deep river - without a snorkel.yes it has a 2 inch lift and larger tyres, but it isnt 40 cm higher than a standard one

if a jimny goes wrong, it will cost the earth to fix, and you wont be able to do alot yourself. part of the joy of landys is if they go wrong they can be fixed. parts are interchangeable, its like a mechano set for adults. and if they break in the field they can be fixed. example, ok not a defender but a 3.9 efi rangey that was drowned completely, in what must have been 4 foot of water. got towed out, and 30 minutes of wizardry in the field and its good as anything, and drove home.

more aftermarket parts available for a defender also, so its is cheaper and easier to equip to suit

i know i have gone off from your initial question, but in my mind there is simply no comparison. yes both are off road vehicles, but they are totally differant.

also, i reckon if you had a test between a new model defender, with he electric wizardry and that, it will get alot further than a jimny.

oh, arent zuks known for falling over in a light breeze also?

i have been to a few AWD club trials and have seen how in-affective they are on any side inclines

Carpy - I think you've got spot on for pretty much every point.

The real answer is, they're different. Sometimes a Jimny will be better, sometimes a defender is better, usually it will depend on the skill of the driver. Either way, both are a riot to drive off road.

Buckshot is right too - Jimny drivers, in fact off roaders in general do have a good sense of humour. Lets face it, I can't join a landy forum without starting a thread like this can I?

My other aim with this thread was to be able to come to meets without being pitied for being in an inferior car - Jimnies are very good off road, but most people assume they're ****e because, lets face it, they look like the softest of soft soft roaders ever.

Anyway, I'm Richard, I'll be annoying you all for a while. Hi.

The boys got balls lol

lifechooser said:

Carpy - I think you've got spot on for pretty much every point.

The real answer is, they're different. Sometimes a Jimny will be better, sometimes a defender is better, usually it will depend on the skill of the driver. Either way, both are a riot to drive off road.

Buckshot is right too - Jimny drivers, in fact off roaders in general do have a good sense of humour. Lets face it, I can't join a landy forum without starting a thread like this can I?

My other aim with this thread was to be able to come to meets without being pitied for being in an inferior car - Jimnies are very good off road, but most people assume they're ****e because, lets face it, they look like the softest of soft soft roaders ever.

Anyway, I'm Richard, I'll be annoying you all for a while. Hi.

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hpw do mate, you arent wrong, im sure you will fit in here, if only coz you got the balls to post that AND take the ****, an important attribute!

in all honesty, i reckon you will have the zuk a few years, and if you end up getting more involved in the likes of pay and play days and what not you will eventually go for a lany. at whaddon, where a lot of us go on the weekends, there are a bunch of us, and there is often some damage to vehicles. blown diffs, sheared half shafts, water ingress in engine, wheel bearings, steering rods, you name it, thing is with landys they can be replaced without too much difficulty, at a cheap cost.

both have their advantages, and in the right hands ive no doubt a jimny can be pretty damn good in the rough stuff, both have posities and negatives, i reckon a landys positives outweighs a zuks on balance, but each to their own and that!

As I said earlier, I chose the zuk because it suited me. £2,500 for a 50,000 mile 52 plate. A landy would be several times that cost, and I don't want something which needs fixing regularly. I'm quite mechanically minded, but that doesn't mean I enjoy playing with rusty bolts.

Suzuki parts are quite expensive, but if I need to, then I can buy a whole new car quite cheaply . Working on them is as easy as a landrover, they're very basic too.

Whaddon is a bit far for me, perhaps I'll meet some of you soon at core, or in salisbury again.

lifechooser said:

As I said earlier, I chose the zuk because it suited me. £2,500 for a 50,000 mile 52 plate. A landy would be several times that cost, and I don't want something which needs fixing regularly. I'm quite mechanically minded, but that doesn't mean I enjoy playing with rusty bolts.

Suzuki parts are quite expensive, but if I need to, then I can buy a whole new car quite cheaply . Working on them is as easy as a landrover, they're very basic too.

Whaddon is a bit far for me, perhaps I'll meet some of you soon at core, or in salisbury again.

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you can get a rangey or a disco for a grand easy!

i consider driving down to core, no reason you cant drive up to whaddon

andyb66 said:

Nope, it's technically the non-road legal class but anyone can compete in that class if they want too.

I see that nobody has offered to turn up in their 90 and see if they can beat the Jimney in a trial. I mean if they are just toys driven by hairdressers what have you got to worry about?

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I take we're not talking std jemima's at this point.

I'm thinking body spacers, Spring over axle conversion and a 1.8 vitara engine??

lifechooser said:

That was the line I came out with when trying to explain to a group of Landzoners that they shouldn't worry about me, when I met up with them to tackle Salisbury Plain on Sunday. Everyone nodded, but in a 'yeah right whatever' kind of way.

I drive a standard Jimny, in gay blue. The only mods I've done are *slightly* bigger AT tyres, and recovery points front and rear.

I bought it after considering all the options and turned down anything from Solihull on the basis of reliabilty, fuel consumption, price and ability to park it in work's tiny spaces. That isn't to say I don't like landies. I think series 3 110 station wagons look fantastic, my uncle still owns the series 1 that my parents used as a wedding car in 1970, and I was born and bred in Solihull.

So, does anyone want to fight the corner for defenders? I'll start by pointing out that;
Jimny's have over 40 years of heritage, from the LJ (light jeep) through the SJ. The differences between them and an SJ are coil springs, fuel injected engine, switchable 4x4 at up to 60mph, and of course the body.
They're lighter and smaller which means they sink less in mud, and can get through narrow lanes with less difficulty. They also have shorter overhangs, and wheelbase giving better approach/departure and breakover angles. They even have a greater wading depth (650mm vs 500mm).

On the downside, their carrying ability is shocking, and you have to be confident of your sexuality to drive one.

But I stand by my point - an unmodified Jimny is better off road than an unmodified '90.

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and you wanna come out with us again!!

lifechooser said:

See you all at the next salisbury event

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you reckon:doh:

still trying to work out why a jimerny owner joined a landrover forum?

maybe we should join the jimerny forum and tell them there motors are ****e and landrovers are better and see what response we get

lifechooser said:

Whaddon is a bit far for me, perhaps I'll meet some of you soon at core, or in salisbury again.

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SCOR have a trial at CORE on March 7th, then Nellies Dell April 11th; both fairly close to you......well close than they are to me and I have to be there

Would standard cars stand a chance at one of those? I've never been to one, let alone tried it.

redhand said:

I'm thinking body spacers, Spring over axle conversion and a 1.8 vitara engine??

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You should read my earlier post in this thread.........it just has the addition of MT tyres....and the mandatory recovery points and fire extingusher.

I also notice that we haven't got anyone hear brave enough to turn up in their 90 and prove it. Same route, same sections, no room for excuses.

wiltshire landyman said:

still trying to work out why a jimerny owner joined a landrover forum?

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maybe he wanted to bathe in the reflected glory?

lifechooser said:

Would standard cars stand a chance at one of those? I've never been to one, let alone tried it.

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You'll be fine. Honesty, that is what our Class 1 is for. A set of slightly more off road biased tyre would help.......if you get serious about it

PM if you want more info, but basically all you need is front and rear recovery point, a fire extingusher and a tow rope. You can join the club on the day and you are good to go.

i'd trust andy he's a fookin genious with landys and getting used to being towed by him

But a suzuki couldnt pull skin off rice pudding.......Yet a disco v8 can pull a lorry........

i couldnt be arsed readin evry page so soz if this has been said:

a fender has hoooge wheels, are you telling me ur zook could get through the ruts left by a landy? i really doubt it, neither will it have the power to get up long steep hills, or the engine to wade up to the bonnet in water> so what is it good for?

V8_Disco said:

i couldnt be arsed readin evry page so soz if this has been said:

a fender has hoooge wheels, are you telling me ur zook could get through the ruts left by a landy? i really doubt it, neither will it have the power to get up long steep hills, or the engine to wade up to the bonnet in water> so what is it good for?

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laughing at when it gets stuck