SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.

Editor's note: SA Roadtests accepts multi-day vehicle loans from manufacturers in order to provide editorial reviews. All vehicle reviews are completed on our turf and on our terms.
However, for out-of-province vehicle launch features, travel costs are covered by the manufacturer concerned. This is common in the motor industry, as it's far more economical to ship journalists to cars than to ship cars to journalists.
Judgments and opinions expressed on this site are our own and we do not accept paid editorial content.


Jimny the Conqueror: 2019 Suzuki Jimny GLX m/t

Couples’ therapy

Interior pics by Motorpress
Exterior pics by author
Posted: March 5 2019

The numbers
Price: GLX manual R299 900
Engine: Suzuki K15B, 1462 cc DOHC, 16-valve four-cylinder
Power: 75 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 130 Nm at 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 12.8 seconds
Maximum speed: 145 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.6 l/100 km
Tank: 40 litres
Luggage: 85 – 377 litres
Ground clearance: 210 mm
Approach/departure/breakover angles: 37/49/28 degrees
Standard tyre size: 195/80R15 Dunlop Grandtrek AT20
Turning circle: 9.8 metres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km

Suzuki’s Jimny turns 49 this year and the “Little Cricket” has matured gracefully. It is now a little taller, a little wider and slightly shorter. That’s owing to a redesigned rear bumper.

It’s also stronger, with a new X-brace and added lateral beams for its ladder frame chassis. Off-road capability was improved by increasing ground clearance by 20 mm and sharpening its approach, departure and breakover angles. Wheels are still 15 inches in diameter but tyres are narrower and taller, now 195/80R15, for better grip in the dirt and greater comfort.

Its engine is bigger. Now displacing 1.5 litres, power is up to 75 kilowatts and 130 Nm from the previous 1300 cc car’s 60 kW and 110 Nm.

What has not changed are its traditional beam axles, both suspended from coil springs, providing amazing articulation. That and its newly increased height mean it cannot compete in freeway tussles with aggressively driven AMGs, so don’t try. 

There’s a panic bar for the front passenger and Jeep-style power window switches on the dash. Big, square windows help you see where you’re going. A square bonnet makes it easy to place the wheels, while the rear door-mounted spare tells you where the vehicle ends. Your dealer can supply add-on reverse alarm beepers should you want a set. Brakes remain disc and drum. Default drive is to the rear wheels – as it should be.

The transmission still offers selectable 2H, 4H and 4Low. The difference is that Suzuki, in a nod to history, substituted a “proper” lever for the push-button selector used previously. Because they could. And it looks ‘way cool.

Also cool were stylised rhino decals on its doors, along with “Since 1970” lettering and a further rhino on an accent stripe running up the bonnet. These were crafted by Suzuki’s promotions department to dicky-up the launch cars for their press début. Not officially on the options list, they will nonetheless be made available for customers who simply must have them.

That brings us to things that modern customers cannot forego: Introductory GA grade, in five-speed manual only, offers filtered manual air conditioning; a pair of airbags; seatbelts with pretensioners and force limiters; ISOFix mountings; halogen multi-reflector headlights; rear window washer and demister; ABS brakes with brake assist, ESP and traction control; hill hold; hill descent control; sturdy fabric upholstery and audio system preparation.

Upper grade GLX adds automatic air conditioning; LED headlamps; powered front windows with one-touch (both ways) for the driver; leather covered steering wheel with remotes for audio, hands-free and cruise; powered wing mirrors and a seven-inch touchscreen with Smartphone linkage and Bluetooth. Transmissions are five-speed manual or four-speed automatic.

Alan Pepper, veteran off-road trainer for Suzuki Auto SA, describes this as a “true three-speed plus overdrive” because of its switchable, long-legged top gear. He reckons it’s the business, both on- and off-road.

Jimny is a giant-killer out in the bush because of its simplicity, lightness, compact size and tight turning circle. Episode One saw us on a barely visible grassed track hardly as wide as the car. We eventually came to where Mother Nature had declared, “Enough!’ and grown a wall of vegetation across our path. The only way out was to execute a tight three-point turn and go back the way we had come. Co-driver’s comment: “Try that in your gigantic dual-cab or enormous SUV, Sucker!”

Episode Two took place on our favourite forestry trail; last visited three months ago before being pounded by regular, heavy rainfall. Much soil has been flushed from between stones, gullies have become deeper and more challenging, while mud patches are wetter and slushier. We need not have worried. Jimny the Conqueror simply shrugged it all off.
 
Accommodations: There is more shoulder space in the new car because it’s 40 mm wider, more headroom because it’s 50 mm taller (although 20 of those are because of the greater clearance) and knee room, front and rear, has increased. The seatback splits 50:50 and folds completely flat once the head restraints have been removed but, being brutally honest, Jimny is really only a 2+2. That’s because six-footers struggle to squeeze in. A built-in toolbox adds a little storage while the kiddie seats are in use.

Accepted for what it is, however, Jimny is ideal for couples’ therapy; just the pair of you with basic gear, deep in uncharted territory where availability of running water requires that you camp next to a stream. And hot water demands that you balance a billycan on stones straddling a fire. The simple life works best with a simple 4x4 - like Suzuki Jimny.

Test unit from Suzuki Auto South Africa press fleet


What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.

If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.