Suzuki offers an automatic for all reasons

In Aussie, they call it the ‘XL’. Realistically, it’s more of an ‘L’.
At the beginning of 2024, Suzuki’s Jimny 4WD became a more practical compact 4x4 off-roader with the arrival of the five-door, which opens up a whole new market for the wee SUV.
The Suzuki Jimny is a mechanical anachronism in every sense, harking back to a time when ‘SUV’ was not really a thing and 4WDs rarely even had interior trim.
It has everything it needs: live axles, hi-lo transfer case 4WD, a wheel at each corner.
What it doesn’t get loaded with is electronic fruit.
Stuff that nags the driver if it thinks they are not paying attention to the road.
Stuff the grabs the wheel if the car thinks it’s veering out of its lane.
Stuff that few if any Jimny buyers are likely to miss.

Its redeeming features are simple: the Jimny is somehow still completely and utterly lovable, has an iconic design, huge off-road capability and excellent recommended retail price. To this recipe the ‘XL’ offers a stretched wheelbase, two extra doors, more cargo space and a slightly larger and better-equipped cabin.
So then the five-door, and specifically the auto version. NZ4WD had a brief drive of the five-door auto at launch and found it quite interesting. Even though it has only four speeds, the automatic transmission is well matched to the Jimny, on or off the road. All Jimny models use Suzuki’s Allgrip Pro part time hi-lo ratio 4WD systems. This is old-school ‘proper’ 4WDing. When in 4WD, the system directly connects the front and rear wheels, making it possible to distribute engine power to all four tyres evenly and without loss.
This compact 4WD off-road SUV has no direct – or even indirect! – rival. There are only ersatz SUVs like Hyundai’s Venue or the Toyota Yaris Cross – road-going runabouts lacking off-road credibility or capability.
The Jimny, on the other hand, is a bona fide rock-crushing superstar, with hardly a care for nicety or subtlety.
Perhaps the only rival is the three-door Jimny.
Three or five door, the Jimny cannot be beaten in its resale values. A quick check of pre-owned Jimny models on Trade Me revealed vehicles starting at their original retail prices.
The five-door auto shares a lot of equipment with three-door models, such as LED headlights and 15-inch alloy wheels with Bridgestone Dueler highway-terrain tyres, complete with a full-size spare wheel on the tailgate.
As well as the bigger body and extra doors, the five door has wireless Apple CarPlay displayed on a larger and much prettier 9.0-inch central touch-screen (up from 7.0 inches).
The two-speaker stereo is upgraded to four speakers and there’s a digital radio tuner.
Other standard equipment includes single-zone automatic climate control, a leather-covered steering wheel, a USB-A port and two 12-volt power sockets (one in the front and another in the boot), plus cloth upholstery with four-way manual front seat adjustment.
There are two rear seats which come with dual Isofix and top-tether child seat anchorage points, and the two extra doors make access much easier too.
Jimny five door also gets a new stereo camera system and auto models get adaptive cruise control and night-time pedestrian recognition.
On road at low speed, the Jimny is fun. Small, agile, easily placed in tight spaces thanks to that wheel at each corner design. Highway driving is a tad busy – the 1.5-litre engine is revving at 3,000rpm at 100km/h.
Off the road, the auto is a slightly smoother drive and the relatively low gearing is an advantage. Though the transmission ratios are taller, they run through 4.3:1 diffs where the manual has 4.09:1 diffs; the auto’s transfer case also runs reduction gearing. And when 4-lo first gear isn’t enough, there’s an ‘electronic’ slip limiter, hill hold and hill descent functions.
Wheel articulation from the solid axles is decent, but it’s the vehicle’s tiny footprint, good approach, departure and ramp-over angles (36, 47, 24 degrees respectively) that give it such excellent off-road capability.
The five-door’s ultra-light weight means it can tackle most ascents, descents and tricky obstacles without much forethought – it just grips and goes.
Ground clearance is 210mm.

But whack it into low-range (4-lo) and it climbs up ludicrously demanding inclines and navigates treacherous passes and washed-out trails.
The lack of a proper locking diff doesn’t seem to hinder it because it’s light on its feet, negotiating bush tracks and clay trails with an effortlessness that’s breathtaking.
It does all this with incredible self-assurance, despite riding on skinny Bridgestone highway-terrain (H/T) tyres. We can only imagine how capable it would be with a set of serious all-terrain (A/T) rubber, but we do know a set of A/Ts is high on the list for many owners.
Fuel economy? The Japanese car-maker reckons the 2024 Suzuki Jimny auto averages 6.9L/100km (6.4L/100km in the manual); we managed 7.1l/100km during the national media launch last year. Aussie media must have big heavy boots – we’ve seen reviews where they only got 11.0l/100km. Strewth, cobber.
It’s light. When everything NZ4WD reviews is 2,000kg and more, it’s quite unusual to be stropping around in something that weighs 1,200kg.
So the Jimny five-door is as always real fun to drive, lighter than anything out there with real off-road capability that belies its appearance. Add in an auto transmission and it becomes an easy-peasy drive proposition on and off the road.
The most fun – and most affordable fun – in the dirt.

More Information https://www.suzuki.co.nz/suvs/overview/jimny-5-door

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