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My attempts at finding a Jimny that is in one piece, not riddled with rust etc. in or around Essex for the last month have failed miserably. I have found a nice 1.6L Grand Vitara 3 Dr & the architecture of the vehicle appears very similar? The chassis & under hood layout looks similar & even down to the 4WD/low ratio selector position looks familiar. Appreciating that the track looks increased as does the general body width but could the collective comment on the relative similarities/performance etc.
The biggest difference other than size and engines is the Independant Front Suspension on the Vitaras. Jimny's have a Beam or Live front axle which is generally regarded much better for offroading.
There complications when lifting an Independant Front Suspension vehicle such as the further you lift it the more severe the angle the CV's have to work at. There is a remedy for this of lowering the front diff on new mounts. Also the camber angle changes on the front. You can get camber adjustment bolts though.
There is the complication of lifting a Jimny though in as much as the castor needs correcting.
My understanding is that Auto Grand Vitaras have aluminium front diff housings that are weak but the Diesel and V6 manuals have steel diffs. The next weakest link is the CV's and then front shafts.
Dave Jones at Bits4Vits is the man in the know in this country. Have a look at his old shap petrol Vit on his website Bits4Vits and what he sells to modify a GV.
If you have no plans to modify or offroad a 4WD, I would say a GV is the better vehicle as it is nicer on the road with the Independant Front Suspension. If you do plan to modify it, there is a debate all in it's self as to which is better - Jimny or GV. Guess which side most people on here would fight for though....
Jimny CV's I would suggest are stronger than on a Vit but they are not very strong with bigger tyres on though.
So there is much to consider!
Where in Essex are you - I'm in Rochford.
Kirkynut
The underdog often starts the fight, and occasionally the upper dog deserves to win - Edgar Watson Howe.
Many thanks for the info - I am in Burnham but work all over the place - I have either seen or tried to see all the 03-05 Jimny's in the area. I actually sitting in Basildon today & a dealer has the GV locally. I had thought about a bit of modification but it was really as a winter run-about - could have done with it on Wed !!!
Just driven the G V.....the 4wd light flashed as you drove & the car would not move in low ...definately something wrong.....Is the normal opperation for both GV & jimny, select 4wd, light flashes & goes out. Appretiate that you should not use on the road in std 4wd without slippery conditions but just tried in a straight line.
On the Jimny you can select 4H while on the move provided you are driving under 60mph and the front wheels are pointing straight ahead. To engage 4L you must be stationary. In either case the 4WD light should come on solid - if it flashes there is a fault. There are instructions on this printed on one of the sunvisors. I would imagine the Vitara works in the same way, but you could check the sunvisors or the handbook to confirm it (although somebody who knows for sure is bound to come along soon and confirm/deny).
Personally, if the Vitara you looked at won't move in 4L I would walk away and find another one.
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