With its compact size, ladder frame and go anywhere attitude, the Suzuki Jimny has been a symbol of freedom since the 1970’s. However, being restricted to 3 doors, and having a boot space that would scare swinging cats (actually a cat would barely fit in), has somewhat limited the model’s audience – that is until now. With two more doors, an extra 340mm rung in its ladder frame, bigger infotainment screen and more driver/safety aids, you could say that the 5 door Jimny is quite literally, opening more doors – we headed to Queenstown NZ, to find out more.
From the urban chic to the dedicated off-roader (and even the grey nomads too), nothing seems to capture the imagination of the road-going public quite like the Suzuki Jimny. In fact, there have been well over 3 million Jimny’s sold worldwide since the launch of this iconic model in 1970, so ‘popular’ goes without saying.
Despite its evident demand, Suzuki has upped the ante with each of its four generations, while remaining true to its core, lightweight, small footprint concept. However, the brand is taking the ‘next step’ with this current model and ‘putting its best foot forward’ by adding an extra foot to its size (well 340mm to be more exact).
Now 340mm may not sound a lot, but when it comes to the Jimny, what Suzuki has done with it is impressive to say the least. Not only have they managed to give the tiny off-roader 2 more doors (making it easier to get in and out of the rear), but also seemingly given it more legroom in the back PLUS added 367mm of luggage space (85L in the 3 door – 211L in the 5 door). Talk about a great return!
The improvements don’t stop there. The 5 slat grille has been given some chrome bling, making it easy to spot in a crowd, the infotainment screen is now 9-inches (straight out of the S-Cross) and comes with greater tech, wireless Apple (wired Android), a reversing camera, dual camera brake support (EBS), Lane Departure Alert, Sway Alert, hill hold and descent control, parking sensors, better suspension, 1,300kg braked towing capacity and should you opt for the Auto model (yes there is still a 5-speed manual), you even get Adaptive cruise control!
Although the upgrades to the 5-door Jimny are aplenty, (thankfully) most of the rest remains the same. The approach and departure angles are great as always (36 and 47-degrees respectively), and the ground clearance is 210mm, however, the ramp brakeover angle is now 24-degrees. It still comes with Suzuki’s ALLGRIP Pro AWD system, and it’s also, still powered by a very tried and trusted 1,462cc, 4 cylinder (75kW/130Nm) engine, married to your choice of a 4-speed auto or a 5-speed manual. It’s just a little heavier now, gaining 190kgs.
According to Gary Collins, Suzuki New Zealand Ltd’s Automobile General Manager “the new Jimny 5-Door brings greater versatility into play as it aims to meet the expectations of an even wider audience. It combines fully fledged off-road performance with the practicality of enhanced access and comfortable seating for four adults.” And he’s not wrong.
With the technical jargon out of the way, it was time to take the new 5-Door Jimny for a drive, and to help showcase the improvements, Suzuki NZ had us on a drive route from the Hilton Queenstown and all the way along the dusty and unsealed road that is ‘Skippers Canyon’.
With seven colour options on offer, I went straight for the new hero hue, the sizzling red. It’s a bit of a standout, particularly when the sun is beating down, and it was. What’s more, my model came with the manual gearbox.
The ride from the hotel to the foot of the hill was fairly non-discript, with ample amounts of traffic and speeds fairly slow, however, it did give me a chance to duck into the infotainment screen, (and the nibbles bag), plus get better acquainted with the gears.
With its bigger footprint, the 5 Door Jimny feels more substantial on the road, but only a bit. Oddly, it’s the same narrow width, (just longer), but somehow there seems to be more shoulder room between the two front passengers, strange.
The line of new Jimny’s (in different colour combos) looked great, but as we climbed the steepish hill to the start of Canyon road, the ability for my manual to drop down a few gears (keeping the revs over 4,000 and retaining full torque), meant that I was able to pull away from the auto variant – or maybe my colleagues were testing out the adaptive cruise.
Skippers Road lookout gave us our first quick photo op and from there it was a driver change and switching things up to 4H, before hitting the more adventurous trail, next stop skippers canyon Jet.
The narrow, winding and at times, very rutted trail offered very little resistance to the off-road ready Jimny, in fact, the longer wheelbase and uprated suspension just seemed to add to the smoothness of the ride, meaning that none of the tasty treats (crisps and nutbars) were lost in the larger-sized rear.
With our second photo op covered (alas we didn’t take a jetboat ride), we driver and vehicle swapped, which meant that I found myself behind the wheel of the auto for the climb upto skippers campground.
As many of you will know, l am a big advocate for manual gearboxes, but I have to say that the 4-speed auto Jimny, took the (arguably more taxing) next stage with absolute ease. The auto took care of the gears, the Allgrip took care of the terrain and all I had to do was steer, and brake a little – I was literally just along for the ride and admiring the epic scenery.
The route back along the canyon road was more of the same, breathtaking landscape being tackled by a vehicle that looks equally at home climbing Mall ramps. We stayed in the same Jimny all the way back to the Canyon Brewing company for a late lunch, Pizza to be more precise, before testing its improved driver and safety aids through the township.
Apparently, the new 5 door Jimny is not letting ANCAP get its grubby mitts on the larger all-roader (the 3 door has a 3 star rating for reference), but fear not, there are numerous airbags, the chassis comes with 590MPa grade steel, the camera’s keep an eye out for cars and pedestrians, it alerts you should you venture towards the white lines or sway too much and the adaptive cruise control can be set to your distance preference.
The Suzuki Jimny has been a success story that has spanned more or less five decades, it’s a quirky off-roader that punches well above its weight in terms of looks and personality and now, with an extra 340mm, it’s even more versatile. The five doors makes for better access and the increased luggage area means that you can now carry more than an overnight bag, plus the tech is the best it’s ever been – you just need to decide which transmission you want.
Launch Pricing: JLX MANUAL $40,990+ORC (TWO-TONE $41,500 + ORC). JLX AUTO $44,990+ORC (TWO-TONE $45,500 + ORC)
