Suzuki Jimny Review: You What, Range Rover?

Under the hood

Do you really want to know? OK, it’s a puny 1.3-litre box of sneezes that produces just 84 tame horses. Top speed? 87mph. 0-62mph? You know what, that’s not even important so let’s just move on...

Behind the wheel

What you do need to know about the Jimny is how truly brilliant this thing is off road. Impressed with the Range Rover? Defender even? Yup, the Jimny can explore all the same places these two heavy weights can. And, thanks to its tiny size and light weight, it’ll do it quicker and without the need for special off-road assistance like HDC, VIP or STD.

But that’s not all. The Jimny’s proper party piece is its ability to slap a massive grin on your face as you bounce around the cabin in sheer disbelief at how capable this flyweight Suzuki is in the rough, and how truly terrible it is on the smooth.

Oops, I’ve said it now. The Jimny really isn’t very good when it comes to actual driving on actual roads. Its tall and narrow body makes it wibble and wobble through corners, the 1.3-litre engine screams its head off above 50mph and bugger all torque means you need to explore most of the Jimny’s rev range in each gear; change up too soon and the engine coughs and stalls into sadness and death. Bad times.

Despite these grievances, however, the Jimny’s sheer entertainment factor and utter charm never fails to shine through. You sit high up, you rub shoulders with your passenger (it’s that thin), the ride’s hard and bouncy, it has an engine older than Jesus and as for the boot space; what boot? You’re lucky if you can fit any human-sized people on the back seats, let alone any shopping in the trunk.

As for looks, we (okay I) think it looks bloody great. I used to enjoy building Lego cars as a kid, so this is right up my street. Especially this facelifted Jimny model, which features a rude bonnet scoop (because that’s what it always needed, obviously) as well as a revised bumper design. No, I can’t tell the difference either, but hey...

Splash the cash?

What kind of person are you? If you buy a big 4x4 because you’re overcompensating for something (probably a lot of things) then why have you read all the way down to the bottom? In fact, what are you doing on CT at all? Away with you!

The Suzuki Jimny is a blunt, cheap, but truly charming tool. Winter’s here and you wouldn’t want to be behind the wheel of anything else. So do yourself a favour; keep your daily driver and get a Jimny for when the going gets really rough or when you want to go for some muddy play.