Suzuki Jimny Commercial four wheel drive review

You know those folk down the pub or at a country show with their pedigree dogs, those with coats or jumpers on and a diamanté lead? Now can you imagine what vehicle they drive? Something with an oval badge perhaps, something with a large engine, something probably on finance?

Then you look down at your dog…the plucky little terrier with grime on its collar, a dog that ate its coat and lost its lead…but what car would you be driving? Something eager, feisty, nimble, practical and small?

Of course, we are talking about the most excellent Suzuki Jimny, poised with wheels tight at the corners one would easily think that a Jimny was little more than a shopping trolley with a roof…I know I did, and at a touch under six feet and carrying a little extra padding, I did wonder if I would actually fit in it!

Luckily, not only could I get in (and out), I found there to be plenty of room to settle into a comfortable driving position without being cramped. All the vehicle controls were accessible and all of the switches operated with a confident click of assurance.

The sparky 1.5 litre petrol engine gave the Jimny Allgrip plenty of acceleration through the manual five speed box, moving you forward at a decent pace suitable for today's rural roads. Top speed isn’t really what the Jimny is about, but where it does come into its own is on narrow roads, where your journey is often unhindered due to it being only 1.65 metres wide - I have wider lawnmowers in my shed!

Fuel consumption is mid-forties, which is not too shabby, and combined with a low insurance group and tax bracket, the Jimny won’t break your monthly running costs. Nor, too, will its purchase price. With a recent campaign offering them for just under £20,000, the Jimny really is a worthy addition to your fleet.

Add in the level of features such as Allgrip four wheel drive with low ratio transfer gear, hill hold and hill descent, tyre pressure monitoring, full size spare wheel, air conditioning, immobiliser, cruise control with speed limiter, CD player (at last a use for those CDs you’ve had in a box in the garage), Bluetooth and so on, you really start to find it very hard to resist the Jimny.

On the road it’s a happy driving experience, not too bumpy, very able and confident, yet easy to position and nimble enough to park almost anywhere. With a towing capacity of 1350kg, the Jimny really does pack a usable punch, ideal for a few bales and a saddle to the stables, a mower and multi-tool to your mum's garden, a terrier and its catch back from the straw stack…its uses are endless.

Best of all, other owners actually wave at you. They wave like crazy - something not experienced since driving a VW Camper - and it’s that sense of friendship that makes you love the Jimny.

In summary then, just go test one. Better still buy one. It will be your go-to form of transport, the tool box carrier, the harvest tea deliverer, the nip-to-the-pub-for-lunch vehicle that will always jump up at you and always want to go on an adventure, no matter how messy that might be. Keep the terrier and get a pedigree when you are ready to hang your boots up!

Pros: Everything!

Cons: Nothing!