The Suzuki Jimny 5-Door GLX is good but too expensive | Car Review

The Suzuki Jimny is probably one of the most recognizable and sought-after vehicles on our road today thanks to its cute, rugged and retro-inspired design, and undoubted capability. Some buyers would be swayed-away from it though as it is very small.

The Japanese automaker created a solution. Stretch it to add more interior and cargo space. The result is the Suzuki Jimny 5-Door which we have right here. We got to spend a week with the small off-roader’s top-spec 1.5 GLX A/T (Two-Tone) variant. 

We’ll say it now, we didn’t get to take it off-road but anyway, most of these will stay on the pavement. 

Measuring at 3,820mm of length, the five-door Jimny is 340mm longer than the standard three-door Jimny (3,480mm). Width is the same at 1,645mm while height is slightly lower by 5mm (1,720mm instead of 1,725mm). It looks the same design-wise, with the retro-inspired design cues all around. 

Other than the extended body, setting this apart from the 3-Door Jimny are chrome inserts on the five-slot grille, and…that’s it. You still get on this GLX variant some LED projector headlights, halogen taillights, 15-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Dueler highway tires on this particular unit, and a spare tire case which I personally would remove for a little more style.

The same goes on the inside where the Jimny 5-Door keeps the also retro-inspired dash, together with its excellent interior quality despite the hard plastics everywhere. The fabric material used for the seats is also the same and feels a bit cheap. 

There are a couple of changes here and there.

Obviously, the main difference here and the whole reason you’d buy a Jimny 5-Door is the presence of “proper” rear seats. They’re definitely very helpful, offering a decent amount of legroom and headroom for two people. They are however still uncomfortable as they lack thigh support. 

There’s a new panel housing switchgear for the rear windows in the front center console, with 90’s-style window switches on the rear door panels (I like), and a new infotainment system.

Unlike other Jimnys, this GLX 5-Door gets a nine-inch touchscreen that finally features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. Response is pretty good and it’s easy to understand. It is however lacking one feature from lower variants that I love, the off-road gauges. That would be very useful when taking this off-road.

Storage space has improved compared to the 3-Door, but not by much. At 211 L, it is nowhere as much as you’d find in smaller hatchbacks and some crossovers, but at least again, it’s improved.

When it comes to driving, don’t expect much difference from the 3-Door as this still comes with the same 1.5-liter K15B naturally-aspirated Inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine that makes 102 horsepower and 130 Nm of torque, mated to a very old-school 4-speed automatic transmission. 

Underwhelming? Yes. The Jimny 5-Door may still be light and small but the output from its engine is simply not enough. You’ll have to push the engine hard to get anywhere, moreso with the additional weight brought about by the extended length.

That also ruins fuel economy as we were only able to achieve 8 km/l in the city and 13 km/l on the highway, both in light to moderate conditions. 

Other stuff to consider, its steering is light but weighted enough to give you the impression of feedback. Turning radius is also really wide which defeats the purpose of its small dimensions which is supposedly perfect for tighter city streets and trails, and it takes too many turns to do anything.

There is also a dead spot in the middle and the steering is already misaligned. These are all understandable though as this still uses old-school recirculating ball steering. You’ll have to make corrections regularly especially when driving on the highway as this will be easily pushed by crosswinds and air disturbance from larger vehicles. 

On the ride quality side, it actually feels good with the suspension taking up road imperfections pretty well. It reminds me of a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado from the late 90s which isn’t bad at all.

Unfortunately, we did not get to try taking this off-road due to the lack of time but a friend mentions that it is extremely fun, going as far as calling it a Mazda Miata for off-roading. I’ll trust him with that opinion.

Now for the big question, is it worth it? Again, this is priced at Php 1,708,000 with the two-tone Chiffon Ivory Metallic exterior paint job with a Bluish Black Pearl roof. That price puts it very close to much larger and more feature-packed pickup-based SUVs like the Toyota Fortuner and Nissan Terra for a little bit more, and the Mitsubishi Montero Sport which is cheaper by almost Php 200,000 though with a manual transmission.

That’s its biggest downfall, which also probably says why we don’t see as much of it on Philippine roads. You’d really want to have one to buy one, but that’s already answered by the cuter, more affordable, and more desired Jimny 3-door.

_{Photos by Julian Panlilio}