The new Suzuki 5-door Jimny was launched last week where it had the opportunity to show off all its capability whether that was on-road or driving on sand across dry riverbeds. The introduction of a 5-door variant is intended to provide greater versatility and meet the needs of a wider audience.
It offers the full 4×4 capability that enthusiasts appreciate in the Jimny while providing greater comfort and flexibility. The 5-door Jimny opens the world of offroad adventures to families and everyone else that is enamoured with the small SUV but needs more space.
This is the first time in Jimny’s 50-year history that a 5-door variant was added to the Jimny offering. There are now three extra variants for Jimny and offroad enthusiasts, the GL manual, GLX manual and GLX automatic.
The aim is to keep the Jimny heritage and, even with two extra doors, make sure the small SUV is instantaneously recognisable. And they definitely succeeded at this. Dare I say, a non-Jimny enthusiast and someone not that observant of vehicles, might even miss those two extra doors all together?
To transform the Jimny into a 5-door offering, only 340mm were added to the wheel base. This provided the extra space for the extra doors as well as a rectangular side mirror on each side.
The short overhangs, ladder chassis, solid axils, upright grille, round headlights, square edges and spare wheel on the rear door, square wheel arches, integrated drip rails for the fitment of outdoor equipment remain.
When it comes to the interior, it remains mostly the same as the 3-door variant. The 5-door adds a power socket in the boot and a height adjustable, multifunction steering wheel.
If you still desire the space that could be created in the rear of the Jimny by laying the seats flat, this can be done in the 5-door too.
Driving the 5-door
The launch took us on tar roads in perfect condition, to roads that were more pothole than tar, to dust roads and off-roading through dry riverbeds. In every scenario the 5-door Jimny performed like it was made for specifically for that driving scenario.
It responds energetically on tar but once you start to move past 100km/h it does need a bit more effort and drives at higher revs. The Jimny moves around potholes (craters) as nimbly as the 3-door, crossing unavoidable, smaller potholes with barely a jolt and taking on the offroad with pure capability – providing absolute driver enjoyment.
Once offroad the Jimny put its 4×4 skills on display, showing why it has become the beloved vehicle it is. The 5-door on dust and gravel roads is just as capable as the 3-door. Just as you would expect (and want) from an offroad vehicle the drive is fairly smooth without extreme amounts of jolting or bouncing around.
Then it was onto the dry riverbeds and with thick sand. At first, I struggled some what because just before starting on the sand I stalled due to difficulty getting the vehicle into first (due to extenuating circumstances, no fault of the Jimny). From what I could understand, the 4L disengaged from the stall and as a last-ditch attempt to stop the Jimny from doing a 360° in the sand I re-engaged it and all was right with the world again.
When I mentioned this to a Suzuki team member, he said it should not have done this but that another person had said the same previously. Additionally, my driving partner experienced the same issue. We changed from the GLX on the first day to a GL the next day and never experienced it in the GL. No one else experienced this either. Thus, I do not believe this is an issue for all but possibly something only with that vehicle.
Going through pools of water, the Jimny has the same energetic performance. There is barely a difference going from sand to the water and made for some excellent phot ops as we splashed through the water.
The 5-door has the same powertrain as the 3-door. It has the well-known Suzuki K15B naturally aspirated, 1.5L and 4-cylinder engine. This provides a power output of 75 kW and 130 Nm of torque. This is paired with a 5-speed manual in the GL derivative and either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto in the GLX.
To aid in the offroad capabilities it has All Grip Pro Drive in low range, hill descent control, ventilated disc brakes, thicker prop shafts, the transfer gearbox, hill assist and brake assist.
Fuel consumption is set at 6.4 and 6.7L/100km in the manual and automatic variants respectively. We achieved around 7.5L/100km. This is not bad at all considering most of the first day was spent in 4L. Even on the tar roads, economical driving was always possible. Overtaking slower trucks required stronger acceleration to gain the needed speed. Even at max speeds, the revs were often over 3 000rpm.
Other additions
For the first time, a reverse camera and parking sensors are introduced to the Suzuki Jimny. A two-tone paint option is now also available along with three new colours.
The 5-door GLX offering has also increased the number of airbags in the Jimny. There are now six airbags with the addition of front-side and curtain airbags. This is in the 5-door variant only.
I have always been a fan of the Jimny but not a fan of a 3-door. Thus, the introduction of the 5-door is a perfect addition to the Jimny line-up. The extra 100kg and 340mm are not noticeable and the Jimny performs just as well on tar as it does offroad.
Good to know
The specs
Engine: 1.5L, 4-cylinder, K15B
Transmission: 6-speed auto (manual available)
Fuel consumption: 7.6 L/100km
Power: 70 kW
Torque: 130 Nm
Price: starting from R429 900
Warranty and service plan: 5-year/200 000 km warranty and 4-year/60 000 km service plan.
Read more MasterTests
1 comment