SUZUKI JIMNY GLX
The Perfect Mini 4X4
What has thousands of orders Australia wide, a 12-month wait and a growing passionate community of owners and fans? It’s not a Ferrari and it’s not a Porsche, nor any other supercar for that matter. The Suzuki Jimny caused pre-orders to rush in after the first photos leaked online of its retro-modern design in June 2018, way before its eventual January 2019 release.
With an RRP of $23,990 for the 5-speed manual and $25,990 for the 4-speed auto, floor-mounted low range shifter and ladder frame, it makes this litle beauty a perfect candidate for enthusiast and beginner 4WD adventurers. Mind, you will have to be conscious of the weight of your passengers and luggage or accessories.
The roof is only rated to carry 30kg of gear, so it’s not recommended to add a rooftop tent, tyres, and extra fuel up there.
The exterior boxy design carries on through to the interior and is very reminiscent of earlier Jimny models. The most distinguishing new features are the infotainment system and climate-control air-conditioning. Bringing Apple CarPlay, Android Auto on top of the inbuilt sat-nav also now gives owners a wide range of choice to use their preferred maps, and phone connectivity.
Suzuki could have gone truly barebone on the inside but instead the interior does a good job of balancing comfort and utility. You can’t take a hose to the inside like some
other focused 4WD’s, but the number of aftermarket products is always growing and providing solutions for almost everything, even cleaning no doubt.
The 75kW/130Nm engine doesn’t feel like a sloth, but acceleration or top speed won’t be your top priority. RPM’s do sit high on the highway at 3,000RPM, leaving interior noise a little louder than most would prefer but going off-road is where it shines with the Jimny powering through medium-grade tracks in high range, with only particularly demanding inclines requiring low-range.
For full disclosure, our experience off-road isn’t vast so our technique for navigating terrain wasn’t always textbook. However, of the 4WD’s we have taken offroad like the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series and Toyota
FJ Cruiser, the Jimny felt so light and nimble covering the same tracks. The short-wheelbase and 37-degree approach and 49-degree departure angles in the Jimny afford more options and capability to climb out of tight spots and steep areas.
One major challenge facing the Jimny has been keeping up with the demand for the little off-road adventurer. Suzuki and its dealers have been navigating new territory as there hasn’t been a product with such a significant wait time. Internal memos from Suzuki Australia communicated to its dealer network that the supply challenges are out of their hands and they are working to meet the colour and transmission requests from its customers as it allocates stock.
Suzuki Queensland, the entity supplying QLD and Northern NSW (and a separate entity to Suzuki Australia), has also been working hard to keep customers happy and rewarded early customer pre-orders with a bonus accessory pack as a token of appreciation. While it has been a good problem for the local arms, new communication strategies, policies and patience has had to go into managing expectations and to keep customer excitement high whilst they wait.
Despite the 3 Star ANCAP rating, there are safety features like Lane Departure Warning, Weaving Alert, six airbags, rear camera and hill hold control present. The safety rating may not play much of a concern if you’ll be taking the Jimny off-road frequently though if the Jimny was to be your daily drive, further consideration might be required.
Suzuki has got a hot product on its hands, and it performs how it should for a sub $30,000 4WD with personality and real capability. Even with a 3 Star safety rating, it appears it is worth the wait.