Living with the Suzuki Jimny is living life in the slow lane.
As the Jimny community fondly likes to point out, other cars can go fast, but Jimnys can go anywhere. Fast, however, it’s just not in the Jimny’s vocabulary.
Owning a Jimny means compromising in certain areas, the time it takes to get to your destination is one of them, and how much you can bring along with you is another.
That said, after driving one for a month and some 2,000km over the December holiday, I felt a strong bond with the 4×4.
It’s a charming block of metal and a very capable one to boot, and the few minor inconveniences, well, you quickly learn to live with them.
The Art of Patience
The Jimny needs no introduction, it’s been around for decades and has never had much of a problem finding the limelight.
In the latest five-door guise it may have lost a bit of its original charm but offers more value than any of its predecessors.
The modern Jimny with its squared-off profile and flat surfaces still appears as rugged as always but is not as barebones as one might think.
It brings luxuries such as climate control, a 9-inch infotainment system with wireless smartphone mirroring, a leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel, cruise control, and automatic headlight activation – and I didn’t particularly miss any of the nice-to-haves found in vehicles that are two, even three times its price.
The five-door also somewhat fixes one of the major shortcomings of the original, which is cabin space.
It’s surprisingly roomy for passengers with four adults being an easy fit, but when it comes to cargo space, there’s not that much to go around.
The door pockets are just about big enough to slide a wallet in, and the small binnacle beneath the central screen can hold a gate remote or two.
Packing for a holiday is akin to a game of tetris. Do it right and you’ll be able to shoehorn a decent bit of knick knacks in there provided the rear seats are folded flat, do it wrong, and you’ll have to leave a lot at home.
I now completely understand why so many Jimnys out on the roads have roof racks – it’s not so much an accessory as it is a necessity.
Driving the Jimny is Suzuki’s widely used 1.5-litre, naturally aspirated petrol mill that sends 75kW and 130Nm to the wheels via a five-speed manual transmission.
I won’t sugarcoat it, this thing is furiously slow, but that’s a big part of its charm. In the beginning you have to be more patient than usual in traffic but as you learn to love the 4×4, you also realise that you become a calmer driver because you can’t outrun people as easily anymore.
It takes a while to get up to a reasonable speed and I was constantly checking my mirrors for big bakkies with even bigger trailers in tow who were eager to scream past and get to their holiday destination. Spoiler alert, there were plenty of them.
On the open road I found the Jimny to be at its happiest around 90-100km/h, any more for an extended period of time and it feels like you’re punishing the engine.
In urban conditions there’s not much to complain about as you’re not going that fast anyway.
It’s alright when it comes to fuel consumption as well; Suzuki claims 6.3l/100km and I averaged 6.9l/100km, however, with its small tank you’re only looking at about 400km of range between top-ups.
Luckily, the longer silhouette doesn’t impact the Suzuki’s legendary capability.
Thanks to the AllGrip four-wheel-drive system it offers 2H, 4H, and 4L settings and will go basically anywhere you point it to.
On a 4×4 excursion I accidentally stumbled from the blue (easy) to the red route (hard), and either the Jimny didn’t realise it, or it just didn’t care. It trundled along without a hitch and got us out the other side unscathed.
The narrow footprint is probably one of its best characteristics, too, as it makes trekking the unknown much less nerve-wracking.
If an obstacle looks daunting and you’d rather not risk scratching up or tipping your ride – or in my case, Suzuki South Africa’s ride – it’s easy to find a way past while the larger 4x4s behind you have to go through.
This carries over to the urban jungle as well; parking, tight entrances, and navigating gridlock traffic are a cinch for the skinny adventurer.
One thing to note, though, the light backside of the longer Jimny can be unruly over dry, corrugated dirt roads if you’re not in four-wheel drive so it’s advised to go slower around corners than you might think is necessary.
It has a surprisingly big turning circle for its size, too, which slightly impacts manoeuvrability.
Verdict
The Jimny is something that must be taken off the beaten path to be fully appreciated. Sure it can handle cityscapes with ease but that’s not what it was built for.
As a fellow motoring journalist pointed out to me a while back, you just don’t get the Jimny until the second it touches the dirt.
It looks good, yes, but it’s cramped, slow, and not very refined, all nails in the coffin for a pure road-going car.
However, when all you can see through the windscreen is wilderness, the Jimny makes it feel like the world is at your fingertips, and it’s a feeling that’s not that far-fetched.
If you’re not the off-roading type and you just like the overall aura of the Jimny, there are other options at this price point that might suit your needs a bit better which you should probably consider first.
For anyone who even remotely likes to discover what the great outdoors has to offer, I say, go for it, the Jimny will get you where you want to go, and bring you back home.
December adventures in the Suzuki Jimny 5-door
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