Review: Suzuki Jimny

Sunday, 25 August 2019

The first new Suzuki Jimny in 20 years is here. Suzuki literally can't get enough of them though. (Originally published March 2019)

**SUZUKI JIMNY

Price:** $25,990.

Powertrain: 1.5-litre petrol, 75kW/130Nm, RWD, combined economy 6.4L/100km, 147g/km CO2 (source: RightCar), 0-100kmh 12.7 seconds.

What decade is this again? The Suzuki Jimny could easily hark from any of the last four or so.

Vital statistics: 2250mm long, 1720mm high, 2250mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 85 litres, 15-inch wheels.

We like: Design, off-road prowess, vivacious attitude.

Utilitarian, but with a surprising amount of tech - the Jimny's interior is functional and funky.

We don't like: Seeing it in the city, few oddments locations, engine lacks verve.

Toy town two-box shape any kid could draw, old-school underpinnings, a teensy overworked engine and a 'could do better' safety score. Yeah, I know. Which generation of Suzuki Jimny am I referring to?

It might have all the looks of a big, tough off-roader, but that 'big' part is way off.

Students of Japan's domestic car scene know why little changes in respect to design - square and simple is a sales strength. The dimensions, engine size and so on is explained by Suzuki being a microcar kingpin and keeping sweet with kei-jidosha rules requires mastery. Jimny runs so close to the dimensional limits the export model's plastic wheel arches don't feature at home.

I'm 1.8 metres tall and felt at the limit for a car that, were it much smaller, would be on a mantlepiece instead of the driveway. When at the wheel, I found I could lay my hand on the opposite door sill without need to lean. Surprisingly, seat travel was fine.

The Jimny does a decent job of being a city car, even if that does make the author sad.

* Five new cars under $30k that will make you smile

* Suzuki Jimny: a legend reborn**

The Jimny now has coil springs yet a ladder chassis with separate body, part-time four-wheel-drive with a mechanical low-range, beam axles and drum back brakes are from a 'how-to' handbook others have shelved. Does that make it artisan or outdated?

What saves it from being seen as it really is, a car of such specific purpose and narrow focus it's perfect for a few and illogical to many, is obvious. Look at it and tell me that cheerful appearance doesn't make you smile.

So perfectly proportioned and styled, nothing overdone, everything just right, it's the Tonka toy you loved as a kid, a puppy looking for a home, utterly tied to the ideal off-road image, yet still managing to seem highly individual, with many heritage cues to previous Jimnys.

The new also pilfers from the present, with stuff from other Suzukis – Swift's leather steering wheel and multimedia screen, Baleno's column stalks. The touchscreen with satellite navigation, Bluetooth, hands-free telephony with voice commands, the LED lighting and a better air conditioning are classy, but overall the interior is functional, big on simple, hard-wearing black plastic.

Seating is for four. Sorry, start again - there are four seats, but the back bench is a challenge. Access is awkward and leg room poor, but then the boot is so ridiculously small you're actually better off folding down the rear chairs and using it as a two-seater anyway.

Taking the Jimny on tough terrain is worthwhile. 'Allgrip Pro' 4wd sounds flash, but it's a marketing ruse: this setup is more senior than the Vitara's. So 2H high-ratio two-wheel drive for seal, 4H high-ratio all-wheel drive and then proper 'crawler' 4L low-ratio for the mud. You can switch between 2H and 4H on the fly at up to 100kmh, but engaging 4L requires parking, in neutral, front wheels straight and the clutch pedal depressed. Still, with better tyres than the OEM seal-favouring Bridgestones it would be unstoppable.

Providing you go there. Every Jimny I've spotted has been on seal, mainly in town, so I'm assuming adventuring is to Kathmandu more than the Kaimanawas. It's good in the urban jungle – due to the high seating, the car's tight dimension and turning circle – but life gets interesting on the open road, quickly deflating impression it's an elevated Swift. Not even close.

With a jaunty fairground ride, huge mechanical, wind and road noise and vague steering, every historic fundamental is still along for the ride. It's not impossible, of course, but not my choice for a prolonged trip.

I'm not arguing for a bigger capacity engine but it does need to be bigger-hearted. It asks for big revs for mud-plugging and even 100kmh in top gear sets it pulling a thrashy 3200rpm. And this was the manual, by far preferable than the automatic, a four-speed that Suzuki seems to have sourced by time-travelling back to the 1980s.

Another sensitive subject is the middling three-star crash test score, inevitable with building to old-school ways. Suzuki probably thought it could up the odds by fitting mod-con assists. That's been messed up. The stability control triggering after the AEB mis-identifies an inanimate object as another vehicle, when rounding a bend, has been an issue overseas that twice cropped up on my test. It's a rude awakening when a vehicle forcefully brakes for no good reason.

Treated as how the maker proposes it - a rugged, no-nonsense, go-anywhere ability at a low price – the Jimny fufils. The chic air and urban chirpiness are also pluses. But as a toy, rather than a tool, tolerance is required.