Jimny cricket! No sweat...

LITTLE SUZUKI: WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE CUTE GETS GOING

It’s a dinky fashion accessory – but you can use it to its fullest offroad.

Once upon a time, you could drive up Breedt’s Nek, outside Magaliesburg, in a normal sedan car. Today – since it was abandoned by the provincial roads department about 20 years ago – you need a full-on 4x4 vehicle.

Some kindly souls have tried to reduce the gut-wrenching gouges and gullies in the “road” surface by packing them with smaller rocks and bricks and tiles – but still, traversing this moonscape induces those stomach-knot moments when you’re convinced you’ve taken the wrong line or the ground clearance is insufficient. You wait for the grinding, expensive sound of rock against metal.

In Suzuki’s Jimny, which looks like it should come in a box like the rest of the Christmas toys, you simply never hear that sound. And you know one thing for sure: when the going gets tough, the cute gets going…

The tiny, but perfectly formed offroader – with a comparatively puny 75kW 1.5 litre petrol engine – works well in these conditions for a number of reasons.

First, despite the fact it doesn’t have much power, it also doesn’t have much weight, tipping the scales at just over 900kg, about 40% of what a macho double cab 4x4 weighs. That means the power-to-weight ratio, which is handy is some offroad situations (although not all) is not to be sneezed at.

Then the little Suzuki has minimal overhangs front and rear and the new Jimny is 50mm shorter than its already short predecessor, thanks to a redesigned front bumper. These overhangs means that the critical approach, departure and breakover angles on the car are bettered by few other standard vehicles.

The higher the approach angle (at the front) the steeper you can enter a donga without scraping or getting hung up on your front bumper. The same goes for the departure angle, which means you can exit said donga at a much steeper angle without doing any damage. The Jimny’s approach angle is 370 and the departure angle 490. By comparison, a double cab 4x4 Toyota Hilux doesn’t even break 300 on either.

In addition, the Jimny has 210mm of ground clearance, which means its breakover angle (the angle at which it can cross an obstacle without scraping its belly, is also excellent.

To round out what is a complete, if miniaturised, offroad package is a full-on low-range transfer case. This means you have access to gear ratios which allow you to crawl up, and over, obstacles.

In this new Jimny, Suzuki has also fitted an electronic version of a diff lock. A diff lock normally ensure both wheels on an axle spin at the same speed – useful in tough conditions, like climbing, where you don’t want to lose traction through one wheel spinning.

As we tackled Breedt’s Nek, we were forced to use low range, first and second, to get over most of the enormous rocks which have been revealed by years of unrepaired washaways. The Jimny didn’t even break a sweat.

The Jimny’s spirit was willing but it was our (or more correctly, my wife’s) flesh which was weak. She began to get a bit scared of the huge holes and boulders – but more importantly, she wanted to have lunch and not play about on the side of a mountain all day. So we turned around.

But the experience was enough to convince me, in my first outing in a Jimny, that the fanatics who buy them (and there is still a waiting list for this model almost a year after its introduction) know exactly what they are doing. You can go anywhere. A few years ago, on a Subaru outing to Bass Lake Adventures, south of Joburg, I met Alan Pepper, offroad fundi who was a Jimny brand ambassador. He said he frequently takes the little Suzuki where even hardcore, lifted and kitted out, bigger 4x4s, even with experienced drivers, can’t go. He said the Jimny’s amazing. I now know that’s true.

The Jimny’s cute factor has, it must be said, seen a few of them over the years being bought as a dinky little fashion accessory, although most owners use them to their fullest offroad.

The problem with the car is, of course, space. There is no boot to speak of and although you get a bit of space when you put the seats down, your choice is either two passengers or your luggage.

However, as a car for an adventurous couple – whether starting off or slowing down but still “DINKS (Double Income, No Kids)”, the Suzuki is an interesting option if you want to see the country.

The 1.5 engine doesn’t flash you along at supersonic speeds and doesn’t like going much above 120km/h. Its happy place is around 110km/h when, on the open road, it will use less than 7 litres per 100km. Putting the back seats down gives you space but the seat backs (and thence the boot floor) are clad in hard plastic, which means that if it is not packed tightly to the sides, things (like a suitcase) will slide around.

But it’s easy to drive, once you get used to the fact it bounces a bit on that offroad-biased suspension and can wander a bit in high winds. Also, do not attempt sharp cornering: a short wheelbase and high centre of gravity can see you tipping over quite quickly … although the new Jimny is nothing like the Suzuki SJs of the past, which tended to fall over alarmingly.

Until I drove the Jimny, to be honest, I didn’t think I could ever see myself in one. After all, we’ve got a pair of Subaru Foresters at home which have excellent offroad ability. However, neither of them would make it up Breedt’s Nek without damage being done, so I cannot say, hand on heart, that they are “go anywhere” vehicles.

But the Jimny certainly is.