The latest Suzuki Jimny (GJ) is a pure old-school cross-country car and extremely capable off-road. We have our ST XA coilovers, adjustable in rebound damping, now available for the latest generation of the small 3-door off-road vehicle available in Japan already since 1968. You get the ST XA for the Jimny (GJ, model 2018) with a -legal parts certificate.
The white Jimny is a project vehicle of our dealer “Import Hookup” from the Philippines. Because of the installed “Liberty Walk” body kit including “bolt-on” fender flares, the Suzuki dresses up as a small “G-Wagon.” So, it is no wonder that our dealer gave his rebuilt Jimny the name “Mini G”.
The Jimny has beam axles (rigid axles) and a body-on-ladder-frame chassis. For this reason, it does not use MacPherson struts, so the dampers and springs are also separated in the ST XA coilover suspension for the Suzuki. Many of our Asian customers opt for an ST XA coilover suspension with adjustable dampers for the Jimny to optimize ride comfort and modernize handling.
Within the scope of the parts certificate, the ST XA coilover suspension allows stepless lowering of 15 – 35 millimeters on both axles. The “Mini G” rims are Volk Racing TE37 in 18 inches with Falken tires in 235/50-18.
Speaking of further modifications to the “Mini G” on the rear axle, the Jimny with its manually selectable all-wheel drive has drum brakes. Our dealer has replaced these with a disc brake system and also fitted a large AP Racing brake kit on the front axle.
In this image, you can see the installed ST XA coilover suspension in another Jimny. The lowering is adjusted on the front axle and also on the rear axle via the height adjustment.
This neon yellow Jimny with its ST XA coilover suspension was built by PartsPro.PH. The Jimny features 16-inch Braid Winrace T-rims and tires from BF Goodrich.
On the trunk door, only a PPR RaceFiber trim panel was installed for hiding the spare wheel mounting points, and the roof spoiler is from Kenstyle.
Globally, all current Jimny models are equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine with 102 hp. In addition to the “decals” on the neon yellow paint, the “Project Roadrunner” Suzuki received additional yellow headlights.
Monton Sudprasert from Thailand had his Jimny converted into a kind of small “Land Rover Defender” with a body kit from the Japanese tuner DAMD at REPOWER. The key factor was that he initially had his eye on a Land Rover Defender.
“At first, I wanted to buy a Land Rover Defender because of one reason, how classic it is. However, the car is so expensive here which is in contrast with what I would get from the car. A manual transmission and an uncomfortable suspension, so to pay 4-5 million Baht would not be a good idea. After doing research, I found that there is a body part called Little-D from Damd company (Japan) that will convert Suzuki Jimny into a little Defender, so it did not take me long for me to choose this car,” said the Suzuki driver.
In Asia, the “Defender-style” kit and the Jimny itself are a genuine success. More and more companies are producing tuning accessories directly from the off-road and outdoor equipment industry, such as Apio and Frontrunner, which offer a wide variety of components for outdoor adventures with the Suzuki Jimny.
“During the past five years, I have been using KW suspension on many cars, for example Audi Q5, both old and new model, Porsche Cayenne. I used a few brands of suspension from Japan on this car before, but I wasn’t really satisfied. Then, I saw that there was an application of ST Suspension from KW available for my car. As I told you, I’m a fan of KW and a fast driver.”
Because the 102 hp is not much power, there is now a turbo conversion for the Jimny with GReddy hardware. GReddy offers a so-called “Plug&Play” kit for the 1.5-liter gasoline engine in Asia.
All around, the stock brake has been replaced with an Endless brake kit. Starting at the GReddy manifold of the turbo kit, a Fujitsubo exhaust system winds along the underbody.
For the entire interior of Mr. Sudprasert’s Suzuki, Jimny received Alcantara equipment and Bride bucket seats – so the “Little D” became even more luxurious than the large Land Rover Defender role model.
Images Manufacturer, private
