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Thought Thursday: Suzuki’s off-road baby

Let’s be honest, the Suzuki Jimny doesn’t look like much. It’s not ugly nor is it attractive in any way. It’s not fast either and it’s not all that big too. So what is the point of this small, average looking 4×4 car and why do I often see them on the road? See the Jimny is a peculiar car, it kind of reminds me of my parents’ microwave. This microwave was bought in the early 90’s, around the same time Michael Jackson released the hit “Black or White”. Since then old Michael has seen the grave but this feisty microwave has kept going. The job of a microwave is simple, to heat food and make sausages explode. If a microwave was meant to heat and cool food, it would need to be a very smart device in order to do that and the thing about very smart devices is that they often don’t work.

Over the years as my parents could afford fancier things, my mother did what most mothers do, she bought new appliances. One of the things she bought was a silver button clad microwave-oven, which could tell you what the temperature was outside. Needless to say that after two years this appliance died more prematurely than a Hollywood child star. What did my mother do? She bought a brand new one, this time it could tell you if the milk you were heating was off or not. Again, like all overly fancy things, it met its end very quickly. As a result if you go to my parents’ home, you will find that original Michael Jackson era microwave ticking along and pinging when it’s finished doing its job.

The Suzuki Jimny can drive on the road perfectly. You may not be driving as quickly as everybody else, but you will get there eventually. Much like my parents’ microwave, it can defrost a chicken but not the same way a newer microwave can. The thing about my parents’ microwave is that it will do what it does best, which is to simply heat and reheat but it will not break down, it simply refuses. Which brings me to the Suzuki again, take that car on a 4×4 trip and it will be one of the last cars standing. I don’t know if it is the size of the car, or some sort of magical Japanese voodoo that they have used, but that car is simply brilliant in those scenarios. The Suzuki Jimny is simply an off-roader, and is just that. As a road car it ticks the boxes but what it can do on the road can’t compare to what it can do off the road.

I was always told this about a Suzuki Jimny, but I had never experienced it before, until I took a trip to Bass Lake Adventures. This is a 4×4 training facility that has seen many people roll their cars on the course. I am not one for off-roading, purely because of the preparation you need to do before starting. In fancier more expensive 4×4’s you need to sit with a neurosurgeon and choose all the right settings before you get going. In the Jimny all I had to do was put the car in 4×4 mode and set it to low range. Thereafter I could climb whatever I wanted and still keep the car and its occupants in one piece. Ascent after ascent, descent after descent the car kept going. No wonder the owner of the course uses a pair of these Jimny’s to teach people about proper 4×4 driving. In the world of 4×4 driving, many will agree that if you’re looking for a simple car to explore in, that won’t cost you all the money in the world, the Suzuki Jimny is the car to go for. Like most older appliances, it was built with that “it must work forever” philosophy and with a start up price of just under R230 000, what more could you ask for?