I’ve been riding motorcycles for over 47 years, and my last bike was a BMW on/off-road bike, which we used to explore the many back roads and mountain passes in the Western Cape in South Africa. But as I’ve got wiser, I’ve started to find that the bike is getting heavier and heavier to pick up, and the air-conditioning is “fan” only, with a lot of compromises on luggage space.
So my bright idea in 2025 was to sell that bike, along with my car, and get a Suzuki Jimny 5-Door GLX manual 4×4 car. This car allows basically the same off-road fun, with more comfort and luggage space, and a fair bit less speed though. I liked that it was a small 1.5L petrol engine, too. Although the cost of the car was pretty good after the discount and trade-in, little did I know that the after market accessories would set me back quite considerably! I’ll list them below for interest’s sake.
Accessories
* Des-Sol suspension adding stiffness (for a bit of extra stability and load weight) as well as 5 cm extra ground clearance (now 260 mm clearance). The cost of this was about half of all the accessories, but worth it I think.
* Des-Sol rock sliders which protect the undersides and the sides from gravel stones, but also from shopping trolleys at malls.
* Des-Sol radial cup protectors to protect the radial covers which protrude below the car.
* Front Runner roof rack for in case I want to add a tent later, but for now the extra box or two can go on top, and I can transport some longer loads which did not fit in my previous car. I also added the Front Runner ladder at the rear, but yes one can actually just stand on a wheel to access the roof rack.
* Snorkel which is drill-less and low profile. Yes it may never be needed but I did once get stuck on the wrong side of a flooded stream which my car could not go through. A snorkel’s inlet is also higher up, so the theory is it could catch less dust as well.
* Recovery hitches front and rear, mainly in case I need to be towed out if stuck. These allow greater pulling strain.
* General Grabbers AT 215/75/15 tyres which give a very slightly wider track and lift, but more importantly have more protection on the sidewalls (for hitting the Tankwa Karoo roads).
* Smash and Grab protection on the windows – a must in South Africa.
* Suzuki rubber mats, which fit very well and are really functional.
* Bonnet protector strip, which protects the flat front from stones.
* Seat covers
* Auto lock to lock doors when pulling away – another must in South Africa.
* Door moulding strips – to protect from shopping trolleys.
* Wind deflectors have no real practical value except I may want to stick an antenna cable out to a mag mount on the roof, and these would keep rain etc out.
* Various other stuff like tyre deflators, tyre compressor, tyre repair kit, kinetic snatch rope, soft shackles, ammo boxes, rear heating wire protectors, mini recovery traction boards, spare wheel cover, ratchet straps, shovel, etc, etc.
My Impressions
Overall I’m really impressed so far with this car. It’s true it is better off road than on road as its comfortable highway speed is really around 110 km/h. It can go faster but will then really chew petrol. As it is, with its shape, it is getting around 8.xL/100km so far.
I’ve not tested its 4×4 capabilities seriously yet, but it does have proper 4H and 4L gearing. Switching to/from 4H is done on the move below 50 km/h, and 4L does require a full stop. It does not have a fixed diff lock, but instead uses what Suzki calls AllGrip Pro to brake any wheels without traction, and transfer the power to the wheel that does have traction.
It has electronic stability control and ABS braking, hill descent control, cruise control (non-adaptive), reverse sensors and camera, a 9″ infotainment screen with wireless link for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (which I love), hill hold assist.
The engines that Suzuki are using are used across their range and I think are also supplied to Toyota as well, so apparently they are rated good for about 600,000 km. The car came with a 5-year/200k mechanical warranty, 6-year/unlimited km corrosion warranty, a 4-year/60 000 km service plan, and a 5-year/unlimited km roadside assistance (sub-contracted to the AA). So my plan hopefully is to use this car for the next 10 years or so.
It is certainly fun to drive, but does require a lot of involvement in the driving. If you take your eyes off the road, it will wander quite quickly. I do also find the slight transmission whine sound very reminiscent of the old Morris Minors and similar era cars.
On the downsides it does have a slightly narrower track width than bigger 4x4s have so you have to be careful if following their tracks (some owners add wheel spacers to space the wheels slightly wider). This narrower track width also gives less stability, so its factory load limit for the roof is only 30 kgs (that includes the roof rack’s own weight), but better suspension does also give more stability. It does have less storage space than the bigger 4x4s, but is more than my bike and previous car had put together. Despite its smaller outer size, it is actually quite sufficient inside as far as head and legroom goes. But due to load constraints I opted in the end not to go with steel bumpers and a winch (its lighter weight actually make sit more agile and less prone to bog down off road).
Adventures in the Jimny
Well it is early days, but I have created a YouTube playlist here which will feature some videos of trips we’ve done, and I also have a shared Immich album here of various photos I’ll be adding.