Would you blame them, me thinks not though a little closer they’re far apart.
Petite but aggressive on the gravel road- I felt pity for it at times. Thanks to its height and compact design, the Suzuki Jimny showed it can and will chase the terrain, owing to a rigid ladder frame chassis.
This frame offers a solid foundation for off-road performance. The 3 Link rigid axle suspension system with coil springs ensures it can handle it all. This system will push one wheel down when an obstacle pushes another wheel up.
But who would just look past its nicely distinctive ‘ivory and black’ color, with a throwback Japanese looks? Well, the locals at my village admired it, as young boys and girls wanted a piece of it.
With my colleague and Gran on tow, we headed off to NW for a family treat but what was supposed to be an outing turned into not so ‘fun’ for some after heavy rains- thanks to mud and poor gravel roads, a permanent feature in that side of the country.
If Gran agrees ‘it drives well off road’ who am I to disagree?
Guess what, as seen in the (picture) for Jimny this was an assignment it had to pass with flying colours and it did. So next time you own one- you should- go for offroad experience its worth a while.
Unfortunately it lacks boot, or its non-existent as I had to pack some of my Grans’ stuff on the other seat, thanks God she ain’t big. Talk of big, the SUV’s engine is a 1.5-litre developing to 75kW and 130Nm. At 120km/h in fifth gear and engine just under 4 000rpm, we hit it hard as rain showed no mercy after passing Ventersdorp, the famous city that was made popular by the late AWB right-wing Eugene Terreblanche, by playing with the five-speed manual gearbox.
Provided average fuel consumption is 6.8L per 100km but I got around 9.8L per 100km.
The ‘ivory & black’ comes with a lever to change between two-wheel drive, high range four-wheel drive and low range four-wheel drive. Switch between these modes to get the best off off-road performance and fuel economy.
(Un)fortunately, NW does feature too much hills and mountains thus the ascending /descending buttons were not in use, that’s until we got to gravel road after passing dorpie called Sannieshof we switched on the ‘gravel’ button. Thanks to Brake LSD Traction Control and Hill Descent Control, the Jimny can tackle rough and slippery terrain with ease.
It also features a hill hold control, to keep you from rolling back on hills.
The Jimny comes with either 15-inch Steel tyres (GA model) or Alloys in the GLX model, with an appropriate spare. These wheels are well suited for off-road as well as city driving.
Infotainment system is packed with 3m touching screen, thus had to settle for an USB and radio to and fro.
With Gran asked for natural air at the back- unfortunately the rear windows do not open but you get front electric windows as well as central locking, 2 speakers, cruise control, Bluetooth, a 12V port and a USB port.
For safety, it is fitted with dual front airbags, side-impact door beams, ABS, ISOFIX points, ESP and an immobilizer.
Limited leg room and bootless are some of the turn-offs.
Imprinted with 1970 logo- Jimny retails for R323 900
Image SLM (The ivory & black Suzuki Jimny -showing offroad capability as it passes through the waterlogged road in Ganalaagte, NW).
Verdict
Performance: 1-10 (4)
Fuel 1-10 (3)
Meanwhile, we have it on good authority that a five-door version of the Jimny might be on the offering in 2021. We wait…
