Suzuki Jimny

The Suzuki Jimny is a tiny, cheap and rival-free hardcore off-roader. Does what it does quite brilliantly. Does everything else appallingly.

• Comfort

  Another seriously weak point. It's noisy and cramped inside. The long-travel suspension copes quite well with huge bumps, but shudders on smaller ones.

  

• Performance

  It is just possible to buy a slower-accelerating car elsewhere. Just about. But the plucky little 1.3 engine does a fair job, and certainly delivers all the performance that the chassis can handle. Useful for the occasional bit of towing, we suppose.

  

• Cool

  Seriously uncool when box-fresh. Only has any cred at all when absolutely caked in mud, and ideally with a couple of panel dents and a cracked fog light. Maybe some stickers picked at an obscure Baltic border crossing, and some badly concealed weapons inside. Anything to make you look a little bit hard.

  

• Quality

  The Jimny has superb unstoppable engineering, but a distinctly off-hand approach to fripperies like soft-feel plastics or chrome-edged dials.

  

• Handling

  Read the spec sheet: beam axles at both ends, a high seating position, a short wheelbase. You can speculate on the result. A pogo stick is more satisfactory through a series of curves.

  

• Practicality

  With only four seats and a small cargo bay the Jimny can't carry much but it can carry it anywhere. Oh and it does have one advantage as a town car: it's tiny and boxy so easy to park. Which is just as well as you'll be dying to stop and get out.

  

• Running costs

  It's so cheap it's practically disposable, but actually it'll last for ages and need very little care or attention. Yes there's only a petrol engine, but this is hardly a high-mileage vehicle so fuel costs aren't an issue.