HE’S GOT FIVE ON IT
A new adventure with Suzuki’s more practical Jimny. By Thomas Falkiner
Folks, it’s good to be back in print and it’s good to spill the beans on my latest long-termer, the Suzuki Jimny 1.5 GLX five-door. Though not quite as quick as the Mustang it replaces, I would argue this off-roader can certainly match the Ford in terms of cool factor. Particularly this fourthgeneration model which debuted in 2018.
With its boxy, compact proportions and retro-futuristic design cues referencing much bigger dirt-slingers such as the Land Rover Defender, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen and Jeep Wrangler, it’s not hard to see why this pint-sized 4x4 has been such a runaway sales success for the popular Japanese automaker.
Riding high on universal appeal, this little Suzuki in the last six years has proved popular with everyone from petrolheads and hipsters to adventurers, housewives and pensioners. There was, however, a bit of a chink in its armour and that, dear readers, was space. Or rather the lack thereof.
While many could work around the volumetric limitations offered by the diminutive three-door body shell, there was a whole demographic who couldn’t. People who felt the need to procreate or those who needed to schlep larger items from point A to B were never going to make a Jimny work for them as a daily driver, which is why, after listening to their collective moans, Suzuki in 2023 released the five-door version you’re looking at now.
You would expect adding two extra doors and extending the Jimny’s wheelbase by 340mm would, ahem, cramp its style but I think it’s fair to say the design team did a commendable job. While the five-door isn’t quite as picture-perfect as its three-door sibling, it’s certainly not as gawky a transformation as seen in the first generation Toyota RAV4; the five-door profile of which looked like it had been sketched from a distorted reflection in a funhouse mirror.
Whether you agree with this or not, there is no denying the Jimny five-door offers genuine load- and people-lugging benefits with a boot that is now real world usable: 211l vs 85l. The same goes for the rear seats. Even with the driver’s chair set for my lanky 1.88m frame, the space in the aft chamber remains capacious enough to house an average-sized adult in a modicum of comfort. The trade-off is a 105kg increase in kerb weight, a less nimble turning circle (11.4m vs 9.8m) and a lengthier footprint (3,820mm vs 3,480mm), which should make the five-door a wee bit trickier to park outside your favourite roadside coffee shop. Luckily you have a reverse camera (with guidance lines) to help you not make a fool of yourself.
Away from said coffee shop the Jimny five-door seems as proficient off the beaten track as its three-door sibling. I know this because I recently took my test unit on a Jimny Drive Level One off-road training course at De Wildt 4x4 Nature Park and Resort. Aimed squarely at newbies like me, this course not only offers a fantastic theoretical and practical introduction into the world of off-road driving but also a safe environment in which to learn about the capabilities of the Jimny platform.
Mention must be made of features such as the torque-vectoring AllGrip Pro fourwheel drive system, low range transfer case and hill descent control. A must for all existing/potential Jimny owners, you can read more about it on TimesLIVE Motoring. Soon you’ll also be able to click on over and read an in-depth review about how the Suzuki Jimny 1.5 GLX five-door fared on a lengthy cross-country road trip and how it performed on a historical mission to the oldest known railway tunnel in South Africa dating back to 1876.