For once, we have a car to test drive that certainly doesn’t lack personality. The Suzuki Jimny is already a very unusual car.

The first Jimny was launched in 1970, and now only the fourth generation is on the market. So the Jimny will presumably live for a very long time before it is renewed for the next time.

In many ways, the Jimny is an unusual solution. By today’s standards, the Jimny is a small SUV, but it is a real SUV, not an SUV. But it’s a car that can take you to the end of a roadless trail.

See also this: Autotoday: Suzuki Jimny – will this SUV still be on sale in 20 years?

The car has a traditional ladder frame and the wheels are well angled. The big wheels and high ground clearance make off-road driving much easier.

The car has either a manual or automatic gearbox, as in the test drive. The car also has a downshift, which allows slower manoeuvring in difficult places.

There are only four options in the Jimny’s price list. There is a choice of either manual or automatic transmission and the trim levels are GL or GLX.

The test-drive car was a GL automatic, which costs just over €28,000.

All models are powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine with 102 horsepower. This is good enough for normal driving both on and off-road. The top speed is 140 km/h with automatic transmission and 5 km/h more with manual transmission.

Versatile safety equipment

The GL or GLX models have similar safety equipment.

The Jimny has airbags and side airbags for both driver and front passenger. There are two Isofix anchorages in the rear seat.

In addition, the Jimny has a stability control system, pedestrian collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning, driver alertness monitoring, traffic sign recognition, hill start assist and hill descent control.

Perhaps the most significant difference between the GL and GLX models is in the dashboard. The GLX model has a large screen and navigation, as well as automatic climate control. The GL has a car radio without navigation and manual climate control.

Both trim levels also have cruise control and a speed limiter.

In terms of interior space, the Jimny seems more suited to work use than Sunday driving. The dashboard and instrument panel are easy to clean.

Fuel consumption easily rises to more than 10 litres per 100 km, especially if the terrain is a bit rough. When driving mainly on roads, the consumption is around 8 litres.

The car has four seats, but it’s unlikely that anyone wants to squeeze into the back seat, at least not for long cross-country journeys. For short journeys, the back seat is quite practical, but with a passenger in the back, there’s only so much boot space.

If there’s only one passenger in the car apart from the driver, there’s actually room in the boot.
If you’re taking a group of three on a trip, you can get a bit more luggage space by folding down the backrest of the rear seat, which is divided equally into two halves.

The backrests can also be tilted to different angles. A little more luggage space is obtained by keeping the backrests in a more upright position.

The tailgate is hinged on the right side and opens in the ‘wrong’ direction in right-hand traffic. The door is therefore slightly in the way if you want to load the car from the pavement.

The spare wheel is outside the tailgate and gives the car a very workmanlike look. The spare wheel slightly obstructs the view from the rear view mirror, but not too much. The spare wheel is standard equipment.

The front of the car has two large round traditional headlights. They illuminate the road well. The GL model has halogen lights and the GLX model has LEDs.

The automatic high beam system works well in an encounter, but the return to high beam after an encounter is slower than when changing the headlamps yourself.

Due to the shape of the car’s bodywork, you can see well out of the car and the corners are easy to see.

Rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive

The car can be driven in either rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. The car has no differential lock, but the electronics allow the freewheel to be stopped by an anti-skid system, allowing the car to move forward even if one wheel is in the air or skidding.

On the other hand, the car is also not designed for long road trips, although it does move surprisingly quietly at highway speeds. The test car was fitted with studded tyres and the tyre noise on bare asphalt was not disturbing.

The car is clearly the driver’s car. The test drive was carried out in snowy conditions and, with the car in rear-wheel drive, it is easy to enjoy small controlled side slides. The four-wheel drive stabilises the ride immediately and also makes it easier to get going.

A hobby or work tool

The Jimny is really more of a hobby or work tool than a utility vehicle. As a car for a single person or a couple, it’s suitable, but as a family car, it’s not quite up to the job.

It can also be used purely as a tool, for example on a small farm. It can be fitted with a winch and a tow hook.

Fortunately, the importer also imports the basic model, not just the GLX with all the goodies. This is a way of keeping the price down.

After all, the Jimny is not a cheap car, but it should also be seen as a long-term ‘investment’. If the Jimny tradition is followed, this same model will still be on sale in 20 years’ time.

Whether the next Jimny will be an electric car is another matter.

The Jimny is a very popular model in all markets, including Finland. That is why a new car will not be available overnight, and delivery will be around six months.