We're driving a Jimny five door auto for a month, doing trips owners would do.

Our first Jimny drive adventure is a trip out to Karioitahi on Auckland’s west coast. This is one of two beaches in Auckland where vehicle use is permitted, the other being Muriwai. We’ve applied online for our beach access permit, a refreshingly simple exercise.

Mid-week, Karioitahi is almost deserted. There is a couple trying to get a fishing kite into the air, and far to the south another 4WD marks where a guy is surfcasting.

Our Jimny is on stock tyres, a fairly narrow, fairly road-spec Bridgestone. They really don’t look like a good sand tyre, but the Jimny’s light weight means they do an okay job. Put these tyres on a heavier 4WD and there would be some bogging and digging and sweating. In dune trails they do a decent job, though we’d love to get the Jimny onto some all-terrain rubber. A wider tyre would reduce surface pressure (a good thing in dry dune sand or sloppy Waikato mud).

For those more used to a big turbo-diesel engine and zillions of gears, the Jimny requires some re-learning of technique. With a small 1.5-litre petrol four-cylinder engine under the bonnet, throttle applications must be bold enough to maintain momentum, but not enough to trigger an upshift. Likewise, low speed work needs the driver’s active participation where a big diesel might otherwise lug lazily over any obstacle. With the driver’s brain adjusted, though, the Jimny is very capable offroad.

According to Auckland Council the speed limit on Karioitahi Beach is 20km/h, down from the previous 60km/h. This applies to the area one km north and one km south of Karioitahi Road. The beach is considered a legal road, so all road rules apply. That’s no problem on the dune trails, though it seems slightly low on the harder sand, where Jimny really wants to ‘plane’ up around 30 km/h.

So, engage 4-hi and out we go. Heading away from the surf club (which is getting a massive refurb, new building and all), the sand morphs into its true character. This is a black sand beach, similar to Muriwai. The difference here is related to the tidal patterns, which often keep the mid-zone sand quite loose.

This is where the vehicle speed becomes important. Too slow and the vehicle sinks in – up to 150mm in places – but too fast is a risky option because soft sections crop up unexpectedly. If the vehicle’s going too slowly, the engine labours and fuel economy suffers. On past the fisher folk, we arrive at the mouth of the Waikato. This area’s always offered great fishing, and with access through Waiuku Forest now shut, the beach run is now the only way to get here.

The tyres have actually been pretty good along here, though we’ve avoided obvious sloppy sections down near the water.

Turning to head back, we find an access point to the dune tracks and motor along at a sensible, legal speed. These tracks are fun, and being clear of dune vegetation there’s no risk of being anti-social. There are myriad small stream crossings, brows, sidehill tracks. A cool place to give a new 4WDer experience and confidence.

Through it all, Jimny motors along, its Allgrip 4WD and excellent approach and departure angles tackling the dune tracks without drama.

Closer to the surf club we turn down off the tracks and back onto the beach, then stop at the beach entrance to switch back to 2-hi.

Our vehicle

The five door Jimny range mirrors that of the three door, and starts with the manual at $40,990. We are driving the model at the other end of the range, a Jimny auto with two-tone paint: red body, black roof.

It has 10,000km on the clock, which fits perfectly with our month-long mission: to use a Jimny as owners would use it. So far, that’s meant ho-hum urban work, tootling around south Auckland on shopping duties, a couple of trips to the North Shore to lug garden tools to our rental property, and this Karioitahi trip.

As previously noted, the addition of the five door effectively doubled the Jimny’s buyer pool, doubled it practicality, and looks likely to double Jimny sales. For many, the availability of an auto transmission will be part of the appeal, though it should be noted that the tranny in question gets by with four gear ratios – one less than the manual. At open road speeds, it hums along at the legal limit pulling 3,000rpm.

Its wheel-at-each-corner design makes it easy to park in town and equally simple when driving trails out at Karioitahi.