Everyone – or so it seems – loves Suzuki’s new retro-look Jimny. For good reason, says NZ4WD Editor Ross MacKay after the off-road only NZ launch last month.

Photo by Ashley Lucas

Typical! What started out as  another muggy, overcast – but dry – day in Auckland quickly morphed into one in which the sky darkened and the first fat, heavy raindrops splotched onto the windscreen of the trusty Terrano as I turned into the driveway at the Castaways resort at Kariotahi Beach.

A hour or so later, as the gathered ladies and gentlemen of the press were being briefed on the features of the  new, fourth-gen model, the odd spots combined to produce a soft veil of light summer rain. 

Then just as some of us were wondering if we were ever actually going to get to drive the thing, Suzuki NZ GM Tom Peck had to raise his voice as the light shower turned into a mini-storm blown in on a fast-rising westerly.

“Poor old Ashley,” I thought, as we finally trooped out of the conference room and  to the car park to buddy up for our first drive. “He’s going to have to cut out all the good bits (of the off-road-only drive programme).”

Slippery when wet

The programme, you see, was the work of our own Ashley Lucas, a man of vast 4WD experience, and who had been called in to help another ‘mate-of-the-magazine,’ Colin Burden, of Trackwise 4WD Ltd.

Colin manages 4WD access to the Castaways property but became unwell after agreeing to put the Jimny launch programme together. Ashley, of course, was happy to step in to help a mate and had put together a nice challenging little loop to show the assembled motoring writers what the new Jimny was capable of.

What, of course, he hadn’t been able to do courtesy of pretty much three months’ worth of hot, tinder-dry summer, was complete his pukka (Low-range 4x4) loop when the ground was wet…..which prompted my ‘poor old Ashley’ thought.

Sure, the soily-sand of which the scrubby grass grows can absorb rainwater way quicker than a typical grassy Kiwi farm paddock. But the four Jimnys Suzuki NZ had managed to hold back as demonstrators were as they left the factory right down to the slim, 195/80 x 15 A/T tyres.

Needn’t have worried

Pah! As it turned out my worry was wasted. As the photos on these pages are wont to prove the new Jimny is indeed, ‘the little 4WD that could,’ making a meal of the hilly, rain-slicked course and coming back – if anyone wanted them – for seconds.

Ashley could, of course, have chosen to air down the tyres to gain a tad more traction. But wisely, he chose to see what the grip levels were like first. And when he found them fine as is, left them as is.

Here, we get Suzuki’s highest-spec Sierra version which comes complete with six air bags,  an Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Anti-Lock Brakes (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD), Hill Hold Control (HHC), HIll Descent Control (HDC), Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and a new Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system 

Sierra spec also includes  daytime running lights (DRL) and self-levelling projector headlights with an automatic switching from high to low beam and back over 40km/h as well as standard headlight washers.

The big difference between the new (fourth) and old (third) generation models, of course, is in the styling, with the new square-rigged look somehow managing to be retro and totally contemporary at the same time.

The key to the look is a more upright windscreen and A-pillars, bluff nose and grille and flat clamshell bonnet.

Though at 2250mm the wheelbase remains the same, the new ‘un is 30mm shorter than the outgoing version, but 45mm wider and 40mm taller.

Crucially, track width is up by 40mm front and rear (from 1355 to 1395mm up front) and (from 1365 to 1405mm) at the back. Ground clearance (now  210mm) is also up, by 20mm. The approach angle is 37 degrees, departure angle 49 and rampover angle 28 degrees.

Live axles

These days, of course, new Jimny is one of the few new SUVs you can buy still equipped as standard with live axles front and rear, the latest versions now constructed of more robust high tensile steel (front) and with a larger diameter with 30 per cent higher flexural strength for greater durability (rear).

Drive is distributed to the wheels via the latest version of Suzuki’s  excellent Allgrip Pro part-time 4WD system (which comes complete with an  old-skool lever rather than electronic rotary dial to select low range).

The system offers an easy switch from 2H (2WD-high gear) to 4H (4WD-high gear) at up to 100km/h. But you have to stop to go from 4H to 4L.

We spent our morning at Castaways in 4L and were all well-impressed where we were able to go on the standard A/T tyres, something to do, no doubt , with the new ‘brake LSD traction control system fitted to the new model.

The system works when two wheels diagonal to each other lose traction, automatically braking the slipping wheel/s to redistribute torque to the other side and allow the vehicle to ‘get a grip.’

Motor up!

The other big ‘generational’ change, of course, has occurred under the bonnet where there now resides a new fuel-injected 75kW/130Nm DOHC/16-valve variable inlet cam timing-equipped , naturally-aspirated (sorry, no turbo this time but watch this space!!!)1462cc four-cylinder petrol engine which – though larger and more powerful than the 1.3 litre of the outgoing model, is 15 percent lighter and sips petrol at a rate of just 6.4l/100km (man) and 6.9l/100km (auto)!

Inside, Sierra-spec includes climate control air conditioning, cruise control, a seven-inch touch screen tuner with MP3/WMA/Bluetooth hands-free and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, GPS-based Sat Nav Navigation system as well as LED Projector headlights and day running lights.

But, look, I’ve run out of space. 

Fortunately we are due to do our own exclusive test of a new Gen 4 Vitara in a month or so’s time so I can mop up the ‘what’ll-she-do’s’ and ‘where-can-she-go’s’ then.

In the meantime I will leave you with the RRPs, which start at $25,990 +ORC for single colour manual transmission versions and go to $28,000 +ORC for a two-tone auto. As well as the three-year/100,000km warranty the new Jimny also comes with a five-year/100,000km powertrain warranty and a five year roadside assistance plan

To read the full story in the May 2019 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (April 22) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.