Ep 202 – Jimmy, the Jimny and the Open Road

Listen to the full episode here:

Pocket-sized, brick-shaped, and punching well above its weight…

it’s the little four-wheel drive that’s built a cult following. In this episode, Ben and Lauren pull up a chair with Snowys’ OG ambassador James — better known online as Jimmy Chimney — to unpack five years of thoughtful mods, hard-won lessons, and the fine art of camping out of a car barely bigger than a shopping trolley. From slimline lithium setups and lightweight rooftop tents to GVM headaches, roof load realities, and cooking a proper feed out of a 20-litre fridge, our gear gurus dig into what it really takes to tour Australia in its most lovable little 4WD.

Be it a weekend warrior eyeing off your first build, a die-hard tourer weighing up the trade-offs, or simply a Jimny tragic who waves at every JB74 you pass — tune in for an honest yarn about doing a whole lot more with a whole lot less!

James pushing his Jimny to the lmits.

Shortcuts:

00:00 – Welcome, and meet OG ambassador James from Jimmy’s Jimny
01:01 – How Snowys, Inspired Overland, and James all crossed paths
02:26 – From a bull-barred Sierra to the JB74: James’s Jimny journey
05:30 – Why the new Jimny became a cult on wheels
07:01 – Auto vs manual, and the three-door vs five-door XL debate
09:23 – The first mods worth doing (and the one to skip)
11:07 – Going the distance: long-haul touring in a little 4WD
14:38 – Packing smart by borrowing from the hiking world
15:24 – Shelter evolution: a hand-me-down tent, then a single swag
17:01 – Switching to the Inspired Overland lightweight rooftop tent
21:04 – GVM and payload: making every kilo count
24:21 – The roof load question, met with a bit of common sense
32:50 – A tidy 12V setup built around a genuine cargo barrier
35:07 – Pushing the Jimny to the limit (and the odd bog)
39:17 – Eating well out of a 20-litre fridge
42:44 – Why a Jimny club might be the best mod of all
46:17 – Favourite campsite: the private bays of Bribie Island
48:51 – Where to find James, plus Ben and Lauren wrap it up

Thanks for listening, tune in again for next week’s episode!

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s episode of the Snowys Camping Show Podcast. Don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts, or Podcast Addict so you never miss an upload.

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Catch you out there!