Suzuki Jimny LCV First drive of our former 4x4 of the Year, now in van form

SUZUKI JIMNY COMMERCIAL

Rescued from death at the hands of emissions law, our former 4x4 of the Year becomes a van – and remains a wonderfully beguiling if at times frustrating way to go off-road

JUST UNDER THREE YEARS AGO,

Suzuki launched the new Jimny. It looked amazing, it drove well, it was fantastic inside and it came in some really cool colours, and everyone who saw it wanted one. It romped to victory in our 4x4 of the Year awards and looked fi rmly set to carry on where the ultra-popular old model had left off – and then some.

But then along came emissions law to wreck everything. The same regime that thinks the most environmentally friendly vehicles on the road (proper 4x4s built to last forever) are actually the least also uses a fl eet average fi gure which punishes manufacturers whose range includes anything a bit interesting.

Suzuki is the prime example. It sells mainly city cars with tiny hybrid engines, as well of course as similarly frugal small SUVs. The Jimny is a different kettle of fi sh in that it’s a traditional off-roader with a ladder chassis, live axles, a separate dual-range transfer case and a conventional petrol engine, so what it gains in longevity it loses in tailpipe emissions. The problem is that because of the fl eet average rule, Suzuki’s UK importer was set to be fi ned heavily for every single vehicle it sold, just because it also sold the Jimny.

Rational people can see the idiocy in this, but we’re dealing with political agendas here. Anyway, let’s not get drawn into that debate; what matters here is that the emissions regime that was being phased in here just as the Jimny was launched meant that what could have been an absolute smash hit of a 4x4 was instead restricted to tiny numbers then withdrawn altogether just a year or two after going on sale.

Happily, the rules are different for commercial vehicles. Unhappily, they’re not that different, but this does mean Suzuki has been able to bring the Jimny back as a van – albeit in what the company calls ‘very limited numbers.’

We’re yet to drive it on the road, but Suzuki gave us the chance to test one recently in the wilds of Walters Arena. This is a venue where some of the terrain could reduce a brand new vehicle to scrap in about fi ve minutes, so we were following a set route, but the off-roading was still more extreme than anything we’d done on the original launch in Germany back in 2018.

As with the passenger-carrying model, the take-away verdict is that the Jimny is exceptionally manoeuvrable, very agile and capable of fi nding traction in the most unlikely places. Once again, though, this also has to be qualifi ed by observing that it would be so much better if only it was properly geared in low range.

Above left: The dashboard is as tight and tidy as ever, with good overall quality and a chunky design that’s perfectly in keeping with the Jimny’s character. The LCV model doesn’t have the same multi-function infotainment system as the SZ5 version of the old station wagon model, however – but the DAB stereo you do get is still housed in the same pod, meaning it looks somewhat lost Above right: The rear seats have made way for a fl at fl oor, above which the Jimny offers 863 litres of cargo space. The bulkhead in front of it is a bolt-in job, which is probably just as well as a good many customers will bolt it straight back out again so they can fi t in the driver’s seat without looking like Donkey Kong

Ever since the days of the original SJ, Suzuki seems to have been scared of giving its vehicles deep enough gearing to let them crawl properly. This has meant a tidy income for conversion specialists, but when Land Rover, Jeep, Nissan and Toyota can all get it right we continue to be baffl ed by Suzuki’s insistence on building Jimnys which, if you leave them in low fi rst and take your feet off everything, bounce their way through axle twisters and set off alarmingly down hills. Steep climbs would be less of a white knuckle ride, too, if you were more confi dent of the engine’s ability to avoid running out of revs.

In actual fact, the Jimny does pull itself very capable up steep, rough gradients. Without the deep torque of a diesel or the deep gearing of a heftier 4x4, though, you can never quite free yourself of the worry that it’s right on the verge of stalling. Experience does star to build trust in the vehicle, however, and eventually you come to understand what it’s about. Nonetheless, we think a deeper set of low-range gears would make it twice the off-roader it already is.

Inside, the Jimny LCV appears to be based on the lower-spec SZ4 version of the old passenger model. So you don’t get the same package of alloys, infotainment, heated seats and cool paint colours as the higher-spec SZ5 that most people jumped straight in at, but you do get air-con, cruise control and a DAB stereo so you’re not being treated like a pauper.

And a good thing too, at £19,999 including VAT. That’s two grand more than the SZ5 started at when the original range went on sale here at the start of 2019. The good news, though, is that the aforementioned range of cool colours will still be available, even if they do add still more to the price.

What your money buys is a Jimny whose rear seats have made way for a fl at fl oor with a bolt-in steel bulkhead and cargo guard ahead of it. There’s 863 litres of space in there, and it comes in a nice square shape so it’s as usable as can be.

What’s not so good is the amount of adjustability the front seats lose in order to make way for the bulkhead. This crowds in on you from behind, meaning you can choose between sliding your seat a little way backward to save your knee or reclining it, again only a little way, to save your elbow. Admittedly, we’re talking from the perspective of a tall customer with long limbs, but everyone else we spoke to on Suzuki’s driving event noticed the same thing too.

We’d be tempted to get in there with the sockets and remove the bulkhead, or the cargo guard at the very least. One of the great things about the new Jimny is that its cabin is so much less cramped than the old one, so taking a step backward like this hardly feels like the right thing to do.

In other way, despite losing its back seats and gaining a bigger price tag, this is still a Jimny being a Jimny. It’s not as lovable as it was fi rst time around, but it does still have the right stuff – and in van form, it’s more of a blank canvas than ever for what could become a legend of a project.