LONG-TERM UPDATE 5 | How does our Suzuki Jimny fare in the concrete jungle?

After a flurry of activity — an off-roading excursion and a Cape Town road trip — things have quieted down on the driving front over the past few weeks.

The longest trip I’ve taken in the Jimny 1.5 GLX MT five-door since I got back from my escapades was a recent foray to Mpumalanga’s Red Star Raceway where I used the Suzuki to show a bunch of track day newbies around the technical 4km circuit. With three in the back and one up front, it proved a useful vehicle for pointing out braking and apex points thanks to its large windows and excellent all round visibility. Some of my passengers even said it displayed “less body roll than they expected” as we went about our business.

Did I take it for a hot lap? The thought crossed my mind but I managed to behave and kept things slow and instructional. Later that day while watching the stupefyingly boring Monaco GP I googled “Jimny+trackday” and found an odd Japanese subculture where owners modify their off-roaders for time attack events at Shimotsuma’s Tsukuba Circuit. 

While the Jimny’s merit as a track car is up for debate, its ability to disperse with the daily grind is infinitely more cut and dried. Though it can feel out of depth on the highway, zipping around town and through the suburbs is nothing short of a pleasure where its compact dimensions and easy demeanour make everyday chores a dream. 

Despite that longer wheelbase, kerbside positioning is a cinch in the Jimny five-door as my week spent working in the Arena Holdings Cape Town office proved. A few errands within the confines of the CBD demonstrated the Suzuki beautifully adept at pulling off last second parallel parking manoeuvres outside your destination. Its four square corners are a snap to place while rear parking sensors and a reverse camera make life easier. The latter features fixed guidance lines to help you avoid any mishaps; one of which is notched to take into account the protrusion of the spare wheel fixed to the tailgate.

Back in Johannesburg the Jimny five-door has earned more daily driver stripes thanks to its softly sprung suspension capable of shrugging off all of the city’s road scars. Potholes. Corrugations. Sand-filled dongas left by lax telecommunications/fibre companies. These and other obstacles that wreak havoc with lower/sportier vehicles are of little to no concern when at the helm of the Suzuki. Ditto steep parking ramps or unseen speed bumps that have long lost their reflective warning chevrons.

Though I sometimes miss nipping around in my Mazda Miata, not having to worry about incurring damage at the hands of crumbling infrastructure is a big plus. On these everyday missions I learnt how much better the Jimny five-door rides than its three-door sibling; that extended wheelbase quelling most of the pogo-like behaviour it displays when driving across choppier sects of urban asphalt. 

Fuel consumption? Changing gears at about 3,000rpm (side note: I enjoy the notchy long-throw action of this five-speed manual gearbox) and using the instantaneous fuel consumption metre to my advantage, I am on most suburban trips able to register figures between 6.5l/100km and 7.5l/100km. The best I’ve seen was on a trek to the Woodmead Makro where I registered 5.6l/100km.

It seems as long as you’re not fighting against the atmosphere or thrashing that rather coarse sounding 1.5l engine for all its worth, the Jimny five-door is pleasingly frugal. You can also keep tabs on how much or little of the precious black stuff you are burning courtesy a dedicated App in the infotainment system. In it you can at a glance track the consumption of your last five trips and fill-ups. It’s a neat feature; one I reference often.

One thing I have found annoying driving around town is the sensitivity of the automatic headlamps that turn themselves on at the slightest hint of shadow. Trees. Bridges. Buildings. Passing buses. Literally anything that can cast a shady silhouette will see the projector LEDs light up and make the person I’m following think I am flashing them.

Elsewhere, the climate control fan is still making a slight clicking sound at low speeds while the driver side window makes a slight popping noise halfway through its closing or opening cycle. Though it’s a bit tricky to pinpoint what’s causing this nuisance, I would hazard a guess it has got something to do with a weather seal or strip not fitting 100%. 

Other than that I’ve been impressed with the overall build quality of the Jimny five-door. The cabin is particularly good. Sure, a large portion of it is home to hard, scratchy plastics but there’s been not a single rattle or buzz to offend my ears in the time I have been driving it. And this includes traversing some rather rutted and bouncy off-road terrains. 

2024 Suzuki Jimny 1.5 GLX MT five-door | Update 5

ODOMETER ON DELIVERY: 1,526km

CURRENT ODOMETER: 3,586km

AVERAGE CONSUMPTION: 7.71/100km 

PRICE AS TESTED: R457,900