2024 Suzuki Jimny five-door: Why this pint-sized four-wheel-drive is a sellout success

What is it:

This is the stretched, five-door version of the pint-sized Suzuki Jimny four-wheel-drive – and it has just shattered sales records.

It is sold out for six to 12 months depending on which dealer you ask (though you may be able to jump the queue if you can find a cancelled order).

Here is why it is so popular.

Price:

There are two body-styles of the Suzuki Jimny in Australia: three-door and five-door.

As a guide, drive-away prices in NSW are as follows (according to the Suzuki Australia website):

• Suzuki Jimny Lite three-door manual: $34,990 drive-away
• Suzuki Jimny GLX three-door manual: $36,490 drive-away
• Suzuki Jimny GLX three-door auto: $38,990 drive-away
• Suzuki Jimny GLX five-door manual: $39,490 drive-away
• Suzuki Jimny GLX five-door auto: $41,990 drive-away

What we are testing is the Suzuki Jimny GLX five-door automatic.

It is listed at $41,990 drive-away in NSW with white paint (add $745 for premium paint colours).

Registration and stamp duty vary from state to state so be sure to check.

ANCAP safety rating:

The Suzuki Jimny five-door is yet to be tested, however the three-door version only scored a three-star safety rating when assessed in 2018.

It’s important to note the low score was driven by poor crash structure, not simply because it was missing some safety gadgets.

In fact, the Suzuki Jimny five door has six airbags, stability control, radar cruise control and autonomous emergency braking (including a new dual camera set-up on the five-door).

But in a severe crash test there was a high risk of serious injury to the front-seat occupants.

ANCAP noted the Suzuki Jimny “lost structural integrity in the frontal offset (crash) test, with excessive displacement of the pedals and steering wheel.

“There was insufficient pressure in the frontal airbag allowing the driver’s head to ‘bottom out’ and contact the steering wheel through the airbag.

“The driver head (protection) score was penalised, and protection was rated as MARGINAL.“

You can view the full ANCAP safety report by clicking on the link within this page here.

Engine:

Under the bonnet is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with modest outputs (75kW/130Nm). It can run on regular 91-octane unleaded petrol.

The fuel tank is small at 40 litres.

As we discovered, the small engine needs to rev hard to keep things moving – plus the Suzuki Jimny has the aerodynamic properties of a brick – so unlike most Suzuki cars this one is not very fuel-efficient.

On test we saw a best of 8.0L/100km but consumption climbed as high as 10 to 12L/100km around town even while trying to be efficient.

You’ll probably find yourself filling up every 300km to 350km or so around town.

Transmission:

There is a choice of a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic – at a time when six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions are the norm.

What this means is the Suzuki Jimny needs to rev higher even at freeway speeds because it doesn’t have a taller gear ratio to slip into to make things more efficient.

Owners complain about a whining noise at suburban and freeway speeds, but this is normal.

What they’re hearing is all the cogs doing their thing in the gearbox, and because there’s not much sound deadening (and because the car is so small) you hear every gear as it meshes with other cogs.

0 to 100km/h (as tested):

This is no race car, but we are always curious to see how a vehicle compares to its peers.

Actually this was quite hilarious and I’m really glad we test all different types of cars so we can gauge where each one fits in the scheme of things.

This is the slowest car we’ve tested in memory. And that’s ok, at least we have the data to explain why it might feel a bit underdone for some tastes.

The Suzuki Jimny three-door automatic we tested earlier did 0 to 100kmh in 14.5 seconds using our precision VBox timing equipment.

We could have used a sun dial, or read a book along the way.

However, the Suzuki Jimny five-door automatic you see in these photos did 0 to 100kmh in 15.2 to 15.4 seconds. Yikes.

And just because we were really curious, we lined up a Suzuki Jimny five-door manual and managed to squeeze out times ranging from 12.8 to 13.5 seconds depending on how brutal we were with the clutch and the gear changes, and how hot under the collar the vehicle was on the day.

Translation: most cars do 0 to 100kmh in about 7 to 9 seconds. Even double-cab utes and vans usually take less than 11 seconds.

So the Suzuki Jimny is slow by any measure. And you know what? No-one cares.

In fact, some owners make them even slower by fitting larger wheels and tyres – which blunts acceleration and really stuffs up the accuracy of the speedometer.

So our advice is: don’t touch it. The Suzuki Jimny is incredibly capable off-road even in showroom standard condition.

Emergency braking from 100km/h (as tested):

Hmmm. Yeah not ideal. The Suzuki Jimny five-door automatic pulled up in a lacklustre 46.9 metres – which is almost as bad as a Ford Ranger Raptor on BF Goodrich KO2 off-road tyres.

That’s because the Suzuki Jimny has really skinny tyres, small disc brakes up front, and small drum brakes at the rear.

So it basically has everything going against it when it comes to stopping in a hurry.

This is another reason to not switch to larger, chunkier tyres.

In case you’re wondering: the stopping distance we got out of a Suzuki Jimny three-door was 46.1 metres. The smaller three-door body having a bit less weight may have helped. But these braking distances are still well below average.

Most cars and SUVs stop in less than 40 metres.

Good points:

The five-door gains some worthwhile upgrades such as a new, larger infotainment system. Better autonomous emergency braking tech, and a better stereo.

The bigger body (although only a four-seater, not a five-seater) gives back seat passengers more space. Plus there is a larger cargo hold than the three-door.

Even if you only use the rear seat for luggage, the extra doors make it easier to grab something from the back.

Some owners have managed to create a bed or a hammock by stowing the rear seats flat and cramming themselves in there instead of camping outside.

Meantime, other reasons for its widespread appeal.

It just looks cool.

It’s easy to park because it has a tight turning circle and it is still shorter than most other cars bumper-to-bumper.

The low- and high beams are spectacular. You don’t need to upgrade the headlights. These are among the best headlights of any new car I’ve tested in memory.

The five-door’s longer wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear wheels) means it’s much more comfortable over bumps and at cruising speeds than the three-door because it’s not pitching back and forth.

Bad points:

Fuel economy isn’t as good as many buyers might hope.

A better crash structure and more safety tech would be welcome.

A digital speed display would be a nice addition.

Sun visors are way too short to be of any use at blocking side glare.

What the haters say:

Is that a car or a toy?

What the haters don’t understand:

The off-road ability of the Suzuki Jimny is phenomenal.

It is so light and narrow – and has really good clearance angles front and rear – that in some cases it can go where Nissan Patrols and Toyota LandCruisers can’t.

And even if most owners aren’t even going off-road, the Suzuki Jimny just oozes cool whether it’s in the burbs or the bush

Guys and gals love the fun design and it just makes you smile every time you get in it.

Should you buy one?

If you want a runabout for the city and suburbs – and don’t want a run-of-the-mill hatchback – the Suzuki Jimny could be for you.

But if you do a lot of freeway or rural road driving, we would say the Suzuki Jimny is not ideal in those conditions.

It can move around a bit in strong crosswinds or when a truck passes in the other direction.

Plus at higher speeds the Suzuki Jimny’s three-star crash structure may not protect you as well as a car with five-star safety credentials.

Also consider:

There is no direct rival to the Suzuki Jimny, so it’s either this or a new Suzuki Swift Hybrid hatchback if you want a Suzuki but don’t need to go off-road.