Price and features – Does it represent good value for the price? What features does it come with? 7/10
The Suzuki Jimny is a four-seater wagon with a price-tag of $34,990, excluding on-road costs.
Standard equipment includes a 9.0-inch (up from 7.0 inch) touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto). (Image: Glen Sullivan)
It’s available with a five-speed manual gearbox or four-speed auto transmission. We have the manual.
Exterior paint options include 'Arctic White Pearl', 'Chiffon Ivory Metallic' (plus optional Black Pearl roof), 'Bluish Black Pearl', 'Granite Grey Metallic', 'Sizzling Red Metallic' (plus optional Black Pearl roof), and 'Jungle Green'.
Design – Is there anything interesting about its design? 8/10
The standard Suzuki Jimny is 3965mm long, 1645mm wide, 1725mm high and has a kerb weight of 1185kg.
The Jimny XL is 340mm longer than the three-door Jimny (so it’s 3985mm from end to end if you need help with your maths) and its wheelbase is 2590mm (up from 2250mm). (Image: Glen Sullivan)
The Jimny XL is 340mm longer than the three-door Jimny (so it’s 3985mm from end to end if you need help with your maths) and its wheelbase is 2590mm (up from 2250mm), but it remains the same width and height, 1645mm and 1720mm, respectively, as the three-door Jimny.
The XL retains that distinctive retro-cool boxy shape of its smaller stablemate. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
In terms of appearance, it looks like what it is: a stretched and heavier Jimny with a couple of extra doors. It retains that distinctive retro-cool boxy shape of its smaller stablemate.
The interior is seemingly a homage to the basic but functional cabins of 4WDs of yesteryear.
Practicality – How practical is its space and tech inside? 7/10
The Jimny interior is basic but comfortable, erring on the side of practical rather than anything that could ever be accused of being posh. And that spartan approach gels with the Jimny’s off-road orientation.
The cabin of the XL is the same as the smaller Jimny’s – cloth seats, hard, durable plastics – and it all feels as if you could hose it out if you got the urge, although I wouldn’t recommend that, of course.
Suzuki Jimny XL I Seats
Suzuki Jimny XL I Seats
Suzuki Jimny XL I Seats
Everything, including the controls, is really practical. The buttons and dials are big so you can find them and operate them even during particularly bouncy 4WDing.
The cabin is simply a very usable and user-friendly space.
One of the more important things to note in the XL is the fact that it is longer. There is a bit more room inside the cabin, in general, with plenty of head, shoulder and legroom in the two-seater rear pew.
With the second-row seats in use, boot space is listed as 211L. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
In other good news, you get a tiny bit more space in the rear cargo area than you would in the three-door Jimny. Not a whole lot, but enough to give you some more flexibility in terms of what, and how much, you can pack back there.
With the second-row seats in use, boot space is listed as 211L. With the second row stowed away, there’s a claimed 332L of cargo space.
Under the bonnet – What are the key stats for its engine and transmission? 7/10
The Jimny punts along simply because it is so small and light, even in XL form, but the engine is a little bit wheezy for this bigger Jimny.
The five-door Jimny has the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the three-door – and that produces 75kW at 6000rpm and 130Nm at 4000rpm. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
It has a part-time four-wheel drive system with high- and low-range and off-road traction control.
Driving – What's it like to drive? 8/10
The Jimny XL, though longer, and heavier than the three-door Jimny, is still so small, light and nimble that those characteristics are a help and a hindrance.
A help because the XL is easy to steer anywhere – city streets, shopping centre car parks and suburbia. And more importantly, it’s one of the easiest 4WDs to manoeuvre into a parking spot.
A hindrance because it is so small and light that it takes countless minor steering corrections while driving to keep the XL steering in a straight line. And that can be very tiring.
It’s also easily unsettled by irregular surfaces, strong wind and large passing trucks.
On a minor niggling note, there's a lot of in-cabin noise on any track surface, and a noticeable transmission whine. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
You’d think because the XL is 90kg heavier than the three-door Jimny it wouldn’t exhibit those characteristics quite so much, but while it’s marginally better at managing all of those challenges than the standard Jimny, it’s by small increments.
The Jimny XL feels underpowered and vulnerable, especially on highways. Hit 100km/h or so and it feels like the Zook shouldn’t be pushed any harder.
Ride is firm and jittery via a light narrow body on a ladder-frame chassis and coil springs.
However, the Jimny is fun and highly manoeuvrable off-road. Not because of any mechanical or off-road traction control systems, but because it's so small and light.
The Jimny has part-time 4WD (with high- and low-range 4WD) and an 'AllGrip Pro' system of driver-assist tech that includes hill descent control, hill hold assist and more – all adequate in terms of performance.
The Jimny is fun and highly manoeuvrable off-road. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
And because of its size, offering up plenty of visibility and with a wheel at each corner, the Jimny is, as mentioned, very easy to steer through rough terrain, because the driver knows exactly where the tyres are at any time.
The Jimny XL has decent off-road angles. Approach is listed as 36 degrees, departure is 47, ramp-over is 24, but this 4WD is not as naturally suited to off-roading as the three-door.
Ground clearance is 211mm and wading depth is unlisted but likely around 300mm.
The Jimny XL has decent off-road angles. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
In 4WD 'High' or 'Low', the Jimny simply keeps on trucking through rough terrain. It doesn't have a diff lock, but because it's so small and light it still manages quite nicely without one.
You have to use plenty of throttle, keeping the revs up and wheels spinning in order to get the most out of that traction control, but that's part of the fun.
However, for the exact reasons it is such a lively drive on-road and such an engaging drive off-road, the Jimny faces a few substantial challenges on tough terrain.
This 4WD demands its driver be fully dialled-into the experience, fully committed, and, while that’s a characteristic I really like, it will exhaust some people.
The Jimny requires constant micromanagement of the steering, transmission and the vehicle itself simply to keep it on track. And that can quickly become tiring, especially if you're not used to it.
In 4WD 'High' or 'Low', the Jimny simply keeps on trucking through rough terrain. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
Because it's so small and light, the Jimny can be unsettled by corrugations, shallow and deep, skipping around lightly as it attempts to maintain traction and momentum.
Also, while low-range 4WDing, any dramatic changes in the terrain or driving conditions – an abrupt wheel drop into a deep rut, or a shift in onboard load, or a wind gust while driving up a rocky hill – can create instantly tricky, even serious, issues for the Jimny to overcome.
As always, standard tyres (Bridgestone Dueler H/L 195/80 R15) are fine for sealed surfaces and some light-duty off-roading but if you’re planning to drive on anything more than well-maintained formed trails then invest in a set of decent all-terrains.
The XL has a full-sized spare wheel mounted on the rear door. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
It has a full-sized spare wheel mounted on the rear door.
On a minor niggling note, there's a lot of in-cabin noise on any track surface, and a noticeable transmission whine.
In terms of weights and practicality for packing, gross vehicle mass (GVM) is listed as 1545kg, 110kg more than the three-door Jimny . But the vehicle weighs 90kg more than the three-door, so there’s that…
Payload is listed as 360kg. Towing capacity is 350kg (unbraked) and 1300kg (braked).
Efficiency – What is its fuel consumption? What is its driving range? 7/10
The Suzuki Jimny has an official combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 6.4L/100km.
I recorded 11.6L/100km on this test which seems a bit steep but, as always, I did a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing and, as mentioned earlier, I did have to sink the right boot in quite often to maintain momentum to get through the more challenging sections of terrain.
The Suzuki Jimny has an official combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 6.4L/100km. (Image: Glen Sullivan)
The five-door Jimny has a 40L fuel tank, so, going by my fuel figures, a full tank should give you a driving range of about 345km.
However, if you use the official fuel figures in your calculation, a full tank should give you a driving range of about 625km.
Safety – What safety equipment is fitted? What is its safety rating? 7/10
The Suzuki Jimny XL does not have an ANCAP safety rating, because it has not been assessed yet.
As standard it has six airbags (dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting curtain), AEB, lane departure warning, a rear-view camera, hill descent control and more.
It has two ISOFIX child-seat attachment points in the back seat as well as two top tethers.
Ownership – What warranty is offered? What are its service intervals? What are its running costs? 7/10
The Suzuki Jimny has a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.
Over five years you'll be in for a high of $589 and a low of $349 for an annual service, the average being $453 per service over that period. Not outrageous, but not exactly cheap.
The Suzuki Jimny XL is still very much a Jimny, just stretched.
It’s pretty ordinary on-road, it’s on the wrong side of small – especially in terms of its cargo-carrying ability – and it’s still an exercise in driver-adaptability because it’s so basic, bouncy and requires so much effort to keep it driving in a straight line.
But if you’re willing to fully embrace the fun and cop a few of those compromises along the way, you won’t be disappointed.
Disclaimer: The pricing information shown in the editorial content (Review Prices) is to be used as a guide only and is based on information provided to Carsguide Autotrader Media Solutions Pty Ltd (Carsguide) both by third party sources and the car manufacturer at the time of publication. The Review Prices were correct at the time of publication. Carsguide does not warrant or represent that the information is accurate, reliable, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose. You should not use or rely upon this information without conducting an independent assessment and valuation of the vehicle.
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