LISTEN: Suzuki Jimny 5-Door model will add to its iconic appeal

The meteoric rise of the Suzuki Jimny’s popularity is something that few other cars can rival. But the rugged little SUV‘s upwards curve is set to ride even further with the recent addition of a five-door model.

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In The Citizen Motoring’s Pitstop podcast, Jaco van der Merwe and Charl Bosch discuss the importance of the latest addition to the Suzuki Jimny range. Charl had the perfect chance to get acquainted with the five-door during its recent local launch.

Suzuki introduced the Jimny to the world in 1970 with the LJ10. It looked very much like a small version of a Jeep, which was exactly what the Japanese carmaker set out to do. The name Jimny was the result of combining the words “Jeep” and “mini”.

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While the Suzuki Jimny is in its fourth generation, South Africa only officially started getting the third generation JB43 model from 2008. Several second-generation SJ413 models found their way to Mzansi under the Samurai nameplate, despite the carmaker not operating locally at the time.

Suzuki Jimny grows up

Even though the third generation Suzuki Jimny was a decade old at the time the carmaker did open its doors in South Africa, they still sold it for another 10 years before the arrival of the fourth generation JB74 in 2018. The JB43’s total sales of 11 090 already make up more than half of the total Jimnys sold locally.

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The five-door Jimny is at 3 965 mm 340 mm longer than its three-door sibling. It is also 105 kg heavier to tip the scales at just north of 1.1 tons.

The Suzuki Jimny five-door has the same 210 mm ground clearance as the three-door. It’s breakover angle is down from 28-degrees to 24-degrees, departure angle 47-degrees compared to 49-degrees and approach angles one degree up to 37-degrees.

The five-door model offers 211 litres of boot space, which is 126 litres more than the three-door. Folding the rear seats flat results in a total boot space of 1 113 litres.

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