SUZY AND THE CITY

Does Suzuki’s more family friendly Jimny 5-door work as a town car?

We enjoyed a jaunt down Skippers Canyon Rd in Central Otago in the new Suzuki Jimny 5dr during the media launch for the model earlier this year. You could argue that’s the perfect place for this little 4x4: offtarmac, a little challenging in places and a road to somewhere interesting. A little adventure.

But ever since Skippers we’ve been dying to try it in town, because that’s an equally important environment for the Jimny. Perhaps more so.

No, it was never designed as a city vehicle. It was never designed as an on-road vehicle really, and it proudly remains one of the world’s great crazy-terrain 4x4s, ladderframe chassis and all.

But fashion being what it is, the Jimny is also a hugely popular city car. Suzuki NZ even acknowledges that “admirers” (those who love the car but aren’t ever likely to use its 4x4 ability) are its biggest buyer group.

Funnily enough, stuff that makes a good 4x4 also often works in city driving: high clearance for hopping kerbs, good visibility around the car. And the Jimny’s minuscule exterior dimensions make it highly parkable. Even if the opportunity cost is vague steering and a bouncy ride.

Let’s get straight to the point: with an extra 340mm in the wheelbase, the Jimny 5dr is markedly more comfortable than the 3dr. It’s by no means like a car, which you wouldn’t expect because it’s not a car, it’s a tiny truck. But the chassis is surprisingly settled in 50km/h urban driving. You’d choose it over the 3dr for that alone, assuming you’re happy with the $5k premium.

It’s also more stable on the motorway, although there’s still a lot of play in the steering and it’s not something you’d throw into a corner too fast. Again, pretty standard for a hard-core 4x4, but as an “admirer” you have to come to it with that understanding.

Love the larger infotainment screen, which upsizes from 9in to 12in — it’s the same unit you get in the S-cross and comes as standard with wireless Apple Carplay. And apparently wireless Android Auto too, despite the factory saying you need a cable for that OS.

The 5dr is still tiny: 3820mm long, shorter than a Swift. So it’ll still squeeze into tight parking spaces, and a reversing camera is standard, which you don’t get on a 3dr. But it’ll do the job as a family vehicle because the legroom in the back is pretty decent; definitely fine for kids (who will love the view out and . . . and, let’s face it, everything about the car) and certainly okay for adults over short distances. The 5dr gets its own specific rear-seat design, so it beats the 3dr not just for space but also for comfort.

The extra luggage capacity is useful, no question. But how much extra? The official figure is 211 litres with the rear seats raised, but it really does seem bigger than that. The local Suzuki people are equally perplexed by the factory supplied dimensions, but let’s just say it’s well over twice as big as a Jimny 3dr (85l is the official figure).

It could be more practical, though. You can fold the rear seat down but it doesn’t sit flat and there’s a huge step-up from the boot floor if you’re loading longer items in (okay, they won’t be that long). So yes, the extra rear seat space is truly appreciated and the extra cargo capacity is considerable, but there’s a case for the 3dr being a bit more useful in some scenarios: the rear seats fold properly flat and Suzuki even offers a neat little tray-with-sides that fits in the back.

It’s hard to be too rational about the Jimny, because the design, offroad cred and 50-year-plus heritage make it a highly emotional purchase for most buyers. And we’re glad about that. It makes people happy.

But yes, the 5dr is a more comfortable and practical iteration, even if it doesn’t let you make as much use of the loadspace as it

could. And it does look just as adorable as the 3dr, as well as being visually very different.