Living with Jimny

New and tested 4WDs
Suzuki's Jimny is unlike any other 4WD. So tiny it's hard to think of it as an SUV, agile and light on its feet, and - with the advent of the five door - massively popular.
For more than 50 years, Suzuki's tiny 4WD has been carving out a reputation as one of the toughest, lightest, most tenacious off-roaders out there.
NZ4WD has driven every version of the current Jimny: three door manual, three door auto, five door manual and five door auto. The original three door is a cheeky wee cult 4WD; the five door basically doubled the appeal (and sales) of this capable and affordable offroader.
With its rigid ladder frame, high ground clearance and ALLGRIP PRO drive system, the current Suzuki Jimny stays true to its origins of offering uncompromising off-road ability.
But we only ever had any Jimny for a week, which does make it hard to grasp what living with a Jimny is like.
This month, for a whole month, we take a deeper dive into Jimny and go some places that Jimny enthusiasts might like to take their vehicles. Our chosen version is the (very) popular five door auto finished in Sizzling Red, and we are using it to do what most owners will do - around town humdrum stuff, open roads, rural roads and offroad adventuring.
Contact Us
NZ4WD covers a range of topics of interest to the 4WD vehicle buyer & driver. We're dedicated to providing a wide range of information covering vehicle selection, accessories & upgrading, 4WD clubs & sport, adventure & track stories an

Related Articles
A leap forward: MGU9 is here
MG has launched its first ute. Now there’s a sentence nobody thought they’d ever read. Though the MG brand, now Chinese-owned, has been building hybrid and EV city cars and more recently SUVs, this...
Forester 2025: another way to take the long way home
It’s been a favourite with outdoorsy Kiwi drivers for decades, and with good reason. It might not have low range, but Subaru’s Forester is built on a genuine mechanical all-wheel-drive (AWD) system...
Ford’s storm bringer
This is the first New Zealand media drive of Ford’s new Stormtrak PHEV Ranger. Other scribes drove it overseas, but NZ4WD scored the first local test. Big thanks to good bloke Tom Clancy at Ford.