Maruti Suzuki Jimny, Grand Vitara SUVs lead this 3,400-km car rally in India


Maruti Suzuki Jimny and Grand Vitara SUVs completed a 20-day long car rally held in the northeastern states covering a distance of around 3,400 kms. The rally, which culminated in Assam's capital city Guwahati on Sunday, was organised by National Cadet Corps (NCC). A team of 76 NCC officers and cadets took part in the rally as they split into 12 Maruti Suzuki SUVs to criss-cross at least six states. The convoy included seven Maruti Jimny SUVs and five Grand Vitara SUVs.
The NCC car rally was flagged-off on November 6 from Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya. The NCC officers and cadets travelled across several northeastern states, which also included Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, before ending in Guwahati on November 26. The route not only had smooth tarmacs, but also challenging terrains which the two Maruti SUVs tackled with relative ease.
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Maruti Suzuki Jimny is a lifestyle adventure SUV aimed to take on the likes of Mahindra Thar. Available in six trim options, the price of the five-door model starts from ₹12.74 lakh (ex-showroom) and goes up to ₹15.05 lakh (ex-showroom). On the other hand,Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara SUV is one of the fastest models in its segment to complete one lakh sales. Launched in India in September last year, The Grand Vitara comes at a starting price of ₹10.45 lakh (ex-showroom) which goes up to ₹19.99 lakh (ex-showroom) for the top-end version.
Also watch: Maruti Suzuki Jimny first drive review
Maruti Suzuki Jimny comes powered by a 1.5-litre K15B petrol engine that is mated to a four-speed torque converter automatic or a five-speed manual gearbox. This engine produces around 105 hp and offers 134 Nm of torque. What further helpd in Jimny's off-road capability is the carmaker's AllGrip Pro 4WD system. The SUV also offers a low-range gearbox with ‘2WD-high’, ‘4WD-high’ and ‘4WD-low’. There is also an electronic traction control system and a three-link rigid axle suspension.
The Grand Vitara SUV comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine under its hood, which is also mated to a mild hybrid and strong hybrid powertrains. The combined power output figure for the strong hybrid variant is 115 bhp while peak torque is 141 Nm. The mild-hybrid version can generate 103 bhp of power and 135 Nm of torque. The strong hybrid version offers around 28 kmpl of fuel efficiency while the mild-hybrid version offers around 20 kmpl. What makes Grand Vitara capable of tackling challenging terrain is Suzuki's AllGrip technology which helps the SUV to tackle various terrain with specific modes for snow, sand and mud.
In terms of features, the Jimny offers an all-black colour theme, circular dials for the HVAC controls, nine-inch main infotainment screen with support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, semi-digital driver display and more. Storage space is minimal but there is a grab handle on the dashboard. The Grand Vitara is more packed with features including HeadUp display, 360 degree camera, panoramic sunroof, ventilated seats, SmartPlay Pro+ infotainment system with a 9-inch touchscreen display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, in-built Next Gen Suzuki Connect with 40+ connected features.
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