SUZUKI JIMNY 5-DOOR

Beloved baby off-roader gets enhanced practicality - but only in certain markets

- MARK SMYTH

TESTED 28.12.23, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA ON SALE NOW (SELECTED MARKETS)

When the fourth-generation Suzuki Jimny arrived in 2018, it immediately endeared itself. Its boxy character was reminiscent of a baby Mercedes-Benz G-Class and it equally relished the rough stuff. It had bags of character and attracted leagues of fans. But what it didn't have was space. Now, for the first time in the Jimny's history, it's available as a five-door, with 340mm added to the wheelbase and an extra 126 litres of luggage space.

However, before you get excited and bang down the door of your nearest Suzuki dealership, it still emits too much CO2 to make UK sales viable. This one was tested in South Africa.

Despite that extended wheelbase, it's the same height and width as the three-door Jimny. It takes up no more space than a Fiat 500 and looks positively tiny in a car park full of other SUVS.

The interior is nevertheless spacious enough and coped with a family of four and all their holiday luggage easily, although the back bench has only two seatbelts.

A neat trick is the possibility of folding all the seats down flat to make two beds for camping.