4x4 of the best
The age of wisdom
O
ne of the great things about Suzuki Jimnys is that they’re light. They’re small, nimble and fleet of foot, and without the size and weight of most other off-road vehicles to bog them down they don’t insist on asking difficult questions of their own drivetrains. But then you come along and modify them. Even on something big and heavy, a load of steel and a proper winch can add a significant amount of weight. On a Jimny, by the time
you’ve added two heavy-duty bumpers, a cage, some bash guards and a pair of rock sliders, it might still be small but your off-road steed is no longer light, nimble or fleet of foot. Suddenly, you need a bigger engine. Its torque is too much for a Jimny’s axles, so you get a pair from a Disco or Patrol. On goes a hulking great set of swamp ronnies made from wagon carcasses, up goes the cost of the build and by now you might as well have just bought yourself a Defender. Not least because of how much more likely you’ll be to break things.
Words: Olly Sack Pics: Harry Hamm That’s the route Richard Dykes found himself embarking on with his Jimny – until all at once, he realised that perhaps it was taking him down a series of ever decreasing circles. ‘I was brought up on 4x4s,’ he says, ‘as my dad had an old Series IIA Land Rover as his daily driver which he gave me my first drive in.’ He’d been through a few different trucks before stumping up for a one-owner Jimny with 11,000 miles on the clock. ‘I bought it to get me to places for my other hobby of white water kayaking,’ he continues.
The roll cage is an eight-point design. It’s fully welded down to the chassis and tied in to the box-section rock sliders, and also supports e tensions to a mo ifie set of in s he CD str ct re contin es ack ar s to make the frame of the rear tra hich is skinne o t in a che er p ate finish hich hi es the f e tank on oar air s stem an sto a e ockers
58 | MARCH 2023
10pp 4x4 of the Best Mar 23.indd 58
4x4 13/02/2023 23:12
