{"id":66102,"date":"2026-05-11T12:12:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T02:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/?p=66102"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:16:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T02:46:54","slug":"podcast-202-jimmy-the-jimny-and-the-open-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/podcast-202-jimmy-the-jimny-and-the-open-road\/","title":{"rendered":"Ep 202 &#8211; Jimmy, the Jimny and the Open Road"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Listen to the full episode here:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\t<div class=\"wp-video-popup-wrapper\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-video-popup-close\"><\/div>\n\t\t<iframe class=\"wp-video-popup-video is-hosted is-landscape is-resizable\" src=\"\" data-wp-video-popup-url=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zHvu5PDl7x0?autoplay=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay\">\n\t\t<\/iframe>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-19155383\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t <script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1259564\/19155383.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-19155383&amp;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Pocket-sized, brick-shaped, and punching well above its weight\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>it&#8217;s the little four-wheel drive that&#8217;s built a cult following. In this episode, Ben and Lauren pull up a chair with Snowys&#8217; OG ambassador James \u2014 better known online as Jimmy Chimney \u2014 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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 \u2014 tune in for an honest yarn about doing a whole lot more with a whole lot less!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1835\" height=\"1222\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy.png\" alt=\"James pushing his Jimny to the limits in a deep mud hole\" class=\"wp-image-66103\" title=\"Snowys unplugged: our gear gurus go off-grid, and off-script!\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy.png 1835w, https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy-1024x682.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy-768x511.png 768w, https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy-1536x1023.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1-Jimmy-10x7.png 10w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1835px) 100vw, 1835px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">James pushing his Jimny to the lmits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">Shortcuts:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>00:00<\/strong> &#8211; Welcome, and meet OG ambassador James from Jimmy&#8217;s Jimny<br><strong>01:01<\/strong> &#8211; How Snowys, Inspired Overland, and James all crossed paths<br><strong>02:26<\/strong> &#8211; From a bull-barred Sierra to the JB74: James&#8217;s Jimny journey<br><strong>05:30<\/strong> &#8211; Why the new Jimny became a cult on wheels<br><strong>07:01<\/strong> &#8211; Auto vs manual, and the three-door vs five-door XL debate<br><strong>09:23<\/strong> &#8211; The first mods worth doing (and the one to skip)<br><strong>11:07<\/strong> &#8211; Going the distance: long-haul touring in a little 4WD<br><strong>14:38<\/strong> &#8211; Packing smart by borrowing from the hiking world<br><strong>15:24<\/strong> &#8211; Shelter evolution: a hand-me-down tent, then a single swag<br><strong>17:01<\/strong> &#8211; Switching to the Inspired Overland lightweight rooftop tent<br><strong>21:04<\/strong> &#8211; GVM and payload: making every kilo count<br><strong>24:21<\/strong> &#8211; The roof load question, met with a bit of common sense<br><strong>32:50<\/strong> &#8211; A tidy 12V setup built around a genuine cargo barrier<br><strong>35:07<\/strong> &#8211; Pushing the Jimny to the limit (and the odd bog)<br><strong>39:17<\/strong> &#8211; Eating well out of a 20-litre fridge<br><strong>42:44<\/strong> &#8211; Why a Jimny club might be the best mod of all<br><strong>46:17<\/strong> &#8211; Favourite campsite: the private bays of Bribie Island<br><strong>48:51<\/strong> &#8211; Where to find James, plus Ben and Lauren wrap it up<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Thanks for listening, tune in again for next week&#8217;s episode!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-3fc1e5f8-10be-4b09-998a-70c6506a24fc\">Thanks for tuning in to this week\u2019s episode of the Snowys Camping Show Podcast. Don\u2019t forget to subscribe to us on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCgpO6k-UyaYgwyLg0ESceCg\">YouTube<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0wy9b822eekXe00bAIqPbX\">Spotify<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/au\/podcast\/snowys-camping-show\/id1527530990\">iTunes<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/db56692e-96e7-418d-929d-88c5fde70b1a\/Snowys-Camping-Show\">Amazon Music<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/podcast\/269-snowys-camping-show-79675943\/\">iHeartRadio<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/pca.st\/z1mx2k64\">Pocket Casts<\/a>,&nbsp;or <a href=\"https:\/\/podcastaddict.com\/podcast\/3281467\">Podcast Addict<\/a> so you never miss an upload.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-087cbd57-77e9-4533-b8fc-12f45f86e371\">If you have any questions for Ben and Lauren, make sure you head over to our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/snowys\/\">Facebook group<\/a>&nbsp;and let us know as we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"block-78e4097f-2fbd-446d-a99b-9a3d09f52d17\">Catch you out there!<\/p>\n<div class='watch-action'><div class='watch-position align-left'><div class='action-like'><a class='lbg-style1 like-66102 jlk' href='javascript:void(0)' data-task='like' data-post_id='66102' data-nonce='5b41662076' rel='nofollow'><img class='wti-pixel' src='https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wti-like-post\/images\/pixel.gif' title='Liked it' \/><span class='lc-66102 lc'>0<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div> <div class='status-66102 status align-left'><\/div><\/div><div class='wti-clear'><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to the full episode here: Pocket-sized, brick-shaped, and punching well above its weight\u2026 it&#8217;s the little four-wheel drive that&#8217;s built a cult following. In this episode, Ben and Lauren &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":66103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1570,854],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast-4wd","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66102"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66104,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66102\/revisions\/66104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}