I was delighted when Suzuki Malaysia decided to launch the Jimny here. This help me recalled the Samurai my friend had while we were still schooling in the States, back in the early nineties. I still remembered the removable top and how an adventure of self-changed oil caused a leak, which was fixed with the right tightening torque on the filter. The Jimny was borned back in the 1968, and with more than 4 decades, it marches on and on, without much changes. Even the existing 3rd-generation was borned in 1998, which make this model 15-year in production. Wow, an old car, but with its own fans all over the world.
The Jimny is built on the common and proven truck-based ladder frame, though most latest SUV now uses monocoque frame. The car soldiers on with the Suzuki M13A 1.3-litre engine, capable of producing 84hp with 110Nm of torque. Not a big figure here, but all in all, the Jimny is a 2-door mini SUV. It could be popular among plantation owner, or in the construction fields, where this part time 4WD could perform the best. Both 5-speed manual and 4-speed auto are available. Dual front airbags and ABS is the standard safety, and nothing more till Suzuki still put the side door beam in their brochure (which new car does not come with the side door beam nowadays!) The interior are all manual dials and switches, nothing fancy and nothing technological.
Suzuki never recommend running the Jimny in 4WD mode in normal road condition and if you did this, this could mean damaging the unit. The 4WD is not mean for high speed driving, but on low speed. Test unit is not available yet although I have been to 2 different dealers in 2 states. Both mentioned it is year end and Suzuki only brought in about 30 units and all had been sold, including the unit I saw. The dealer will not even let me take a look at the interior. My advise to Suzuki, if this is a demo car, why allow the dealer to sell it so soon. Again, at almost RM93k, only the hardcore fans will put in the order without testing it. I love the Jimny for it ruggedness, and for the almost cult status. I do not own any sawit/durian farm, nor work in the construction sector, nor like to go for any 4WD expedition in the wild insects kingdom, a test drive is needed to determine how well the Jimny behaves in the 99.9999% 2WD mode.
