Counter-intuitive: A Jimny Made to Go Fast
Take the all-new JB74 Suzuki Jimny for a quick spin and you will come to a very simple realization: The damn thing is NOT FAST. A 1.5L four-cylinder lump making a smidge over 100hp can barely be considered propulsion these days, and for something like the off-road oriented Jimny this is par for the course for its lightweight ensemble. With all there is to rave about this pint-sized off-roader, speed is definitely not one of them.
When the aftermarket jumps in on a platform it means that the model must be very popular, and in the case of the JB74 its owners are very much spoiled for choice. But as with all the advantages that come with a healthy aftermarket, there are a few downsides if you’re nitpicky. For starters, there will be a good chance that one other Jimny may look identical to your own if you choose to source off-the-shelf bolt-ons. This means then that you would have to have some sort of expertise to do things a little differently from the rest. And as the local community knows, the guys at Autoplus surely know how to do one thing: make cars go fast.
To prepare their Jimny for the party trick, Autoplus first had to do away with a few things that contribute to its lack of agility; Namely, its tall ride height. The factory dampers were replaced with Blitz low-down 2-way suspension to reduce the Jimny’s overall height, thereby helping with lowering center of gravity and avoiding any potential of the vehicle rolling over when taking a corner. That, plus deleting the spare tire with a clean panel and adding a subtle wing all lend towards this Jimny’s high speed aspirations.
As far as the exterior goes, the Autoplus Jimny does away with the rugged black cladding by color-matching the lower panels and fenders to the body color. The retro stripes on the side also add towards the red/white motif that Autoplus cars are mostly known for. To provide more airflow (and more aesthetic appeal) they’ve also replaced the grill to a JDM ‘Suzuki’ grill that has a bigger surface area to let more air towards the radiator – its motor will be running much hotter after all.
Footwork comes by way of a tried and true set of RAYS Engineering Volk TE37 SBs in Diamond Dark Gunmetal. The quirky thing about this set is that it is 18 inches in diameter – hardly an option for your usual mud-trekking Jimny. These are of course wrapped in Falken highway terrain tires for optimum grip on pavement. Behind the spokes there’s a sizable AP Racing big brake kit – something that’s definitely necessary to stop this Jimny.
That’s because the aforementioned party trick is a turbocharger kit for the Jimny’s K15B powerplant. Ask anyone who has tried to add power to the new Jimny and they will tell you that it’s a rather futile exercise: ~5whp out of a full intake/header/exhaust kit at best and probably a few more with a tune. Speaking of tunes, local tuners have also found the Jimny’s ECU to be quite cumbersome to work with too; It requires removal from the car to be re-mapped unlike the usual OBD port reflash most cars would be receptive to.
In contrast, the Autoplus Jimny’s Dubai-sourced turbo kit comes with its own Syvecs standalone ECU (yes, the same ECU used to tune supercars) to control all the hardware that comes with the kit. Mr. Gono, Autoplus’ president and owner of this Jimny, tells us that the kit is somewhat of a prototype and is second of its kind when they first sourced it from Dubai. With its current tune the kit bumps power up by about 100 whp and almost doubles its stock power.
Its newfound power, matched with all the bits that help make it handle better, makes the Autoplus Jimny a rather different kind of vehicle altogether. It perhaps confuses the eyes of folks who won’t expect a familiar, harmless shape such as the Suzuki Jimny to accelerate at a fairly rapid pace. It’s this kind of counterintuitive quality that surprises most, but ultimately to the folks at Autoplus this is but another test of pushing the envelope of performance.
Words by Aurick Go
Photos by Jose Altoveros
2019 Suzuki Jimny JB74
Engine and Driveline
F Performance Dubai Prototype Turbo Kit
Turbocharger w/internal wastegate
Map Sensors and O2 Sensors
Fuel Pump
Front Mount Intercooler
Special Spark Plugs
Injectors
Upgraded Clutch
Syvecs ECU
FI side exit exhaust
Wheels, Brakes, and Suspension
RAYS Engineering Volk TE37SB 18x8.5
Falken ZE 235/50/18
AP Racing Pro 5000R Big Brake Kit
Blitz Low Down 2-way adjustable suspension
Exterior
JDM Suzuki grill
Body color-matched cladding and bumpers
JDM Power Folding Mirrors
Lip Spoiler
Spare Tire Delete
Retro side stripes
Interior
Recaro SR7 seats
