Generation 4 Jimny LWB/XL history – an Australian perspective
Now there’s enough info out and the Jimny XL, as the LWB generation 4 Jimny is known in Australia, I thought I’d pull together some details in its own article. I also have included, for the sake of documenting history, rumours and various things versus what has eventuated.
Sections
- Rumours
- Original announcement
- December 2023 Australian unveiling: Jimny XL
- Key differences to the 3 door
- 34 cm longer wheel base and 2 extra doors
- (some) Different colours
- Higher base weight, GVM and marginally higher payload capacity (same motor, transmissions)
- Different approach, rampover and departure angles
- Different factories and hence different VINs
- Different type approvals, and hence pre-rego GVM
- Automatics gain adaptive cruise control and rear parking sensors
- Revised 9″ head unit (3 door back to 7″ Bosch unit), added speakers
- Rear seat differences & hence ‘boot’ room
Rumours prior to release
Ever since the popularity of the 4th generation Jimny became apparent, there were rumours of either higher powered or larger variants. From mid 2020 these rumours became quite strong of a 4 door LWB Jimny coming. Generally these were correct about the dimensions, but most also had wishful thinking it that would either have the Vitara turbo 1.4L engine, or at least mild hybrid.
Original announcement
https://www.drive.com.au/news/2023-suzuki-jimny-five-door-wagon-official/
Announced early in 2023 at the Indian AutoExpro, the LWB Jimny was confirmed to remain a 4 seater, grow 30 cm in length but retain the 1.5L engine of the 4th generation Jimny with no additional hybrid drive or forced induction. This was immediately confirmed by Suzuki Australia on their own website.
Specifications pre-release
The specifications announced pre-release are very similar to the 3 door Jimny, with the addition of a higher overall GVM to account for the higher base weight of the vehicle. These specs, taken from a brochure on the Maruti Jimny 5 door, also confirm the use of the same K15B engine from the 3 door JB74.
December 2023 Australian unveiling: Jimny XL
Although Suzuki Australia were quick to highlight the LWB Jimny on their website, the official launch date in Australia was 5 December 2023. This was when the press embargo was lifted.
There were some leaks, including one very high up within Suzuki ‘leak’ to FB groups. This teased the Jimny XL name for the Australian marketing model, too, and played on the original launch gen4 Jimny ‘JBOX’.
This did provide hilarious comments, as some people didn’t quite notice that the poster was the head of Suzuki Australia.
Some were spotted on docks, on the road and on ships prior to arrival, also posted to FB groups as was the style of the time.
There were a flurry of articles once the media embargo expired, too. There are too many to list individually but here’s a snapshot of a few reviews along with links to them in the caption.
It was at this point we learnt a few specifics about the model codes and names:
- The official model name/code is the Jimny XL; contrast this to the 3 door available in Jimny Lite and Jimny GLX.
- The compliance model is a Suzuki JJ, whereas the 3 door is complianced as a Suzuki GJ. Both get the marketing designation Jimny, however.
- VINs suggest a model designation of JC74, compared to JB74 for the 3 door.
VINs are of the form MA3JJC74W00123456 versus JSAGJB74V00123456 for the 3 door. This shows why it is a JJ for the model instead of GJ, as well as the JB74 versus JC74 designations.
Note that the compliance data for the 5 door Jimny has been available in Australia since June 2023, so other than the Jimny XL marketing name a number of things were already public prior to the official launch.
Australian specifications and pricing
Specifications
Full, official specifications are available over at Suzuki Australia’s website, but I will pick through some of the key highlights of what is added/lost over a Jimny GLX here:
- 9-inch multimedia touchscreen with DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Wireless Apple CarPlay
- Dual Camera Brake Support System
- No satellite navigation
- Rear parking sensors
- Adaptive cruise control (automatic only)
- Two extra doors
- Black front grille with chrome accent
- 4x speakers
The same consumption is claimed (6.4L/100km combined manual, 6.9 L/100km combined automatic), but this might not prove to be the case due to the higher base weight Minimum kerb weight is 1185 kg according to Suzuki Australia (for a manual): this does not match the compliance data and I go into this data on weights below.
Note that by specifying only a few things added to a GLX Jimny (which, in turn, ads things over a lite) they brush over a lot of the similarities, such as the same number of seats (4), same fuel tank size (40 L), and same engine (K15B making 75 kW @ 6000 rpm and 130 Nm @ 4000 rpm). The gearing is also the same.
Pricing
Released pricing is cheaper than many people expected, with exactly a $3000 premium at launch over the GLX specification 3 door Jimnys. Official RRP pricing of all Jimnys, exclusive of dealer delivery and on-road costs, are as follows:
| Model | Price as of 5 December 2023 |
|---|---|
| Jimny Lite | $30 490 |
| Jimny GLX manual | $31 990 |
| Jimny GLX automatic | $33 490 |
| Jimny XL manual | $34 990 |
| Jimny XL automatic | $36 490 |
Premium paint (i.e. not white) is $695, and $1290 for two-tone paint schemes with the black roof.
Note the consistency: Lites are a $1500 saving on a GLX manual, and the XLs are exactly $3000 more than the 3 doors of the same transmission type. How these prices translate locally to an on road cost to you depends mostly on the dealer delivery charges, and, also your particular State’s on road costs. Note that the change in weight might have a slight change in on road costing: in Western Australia at least, registrations are charged in 100 kg blocks and so the XL will be ~$26 more expensive a year to register due to the higher base weight.
Key differences to the 3 door
34 cm longer wheel base and 2 extra doors
Not surprising given the whole long wheel based nature of this upgrade, but absolutely all of the length difference is in the wheelbase.
The total length of the car goes from 3645 mm to 3985 mm (+ 340 mm); wheelbase increases from 2250 mm to 2590 mm (also + 340 mm). Width remains the same at 1645 mm, which is also why it doesn’t gain any extra seating over the 4 seats of the 3 door. Height also remains roughly unchanged, though the difference in compliance height appears to be the height of the antenna. Running clearance also the same.
(some) Different colours
For Australia there are two colours from the 3 door not available in the 5 door (kinetic yellow, medium grey). They are replaced by two other colours: sizzling red and granite grey. Both of these colours are metallic colours.
Paint codes for these are E5R and ZTN, respectively. Interestingly, 5 door paint codes do appear to be different for the base and combination colours compared to the 3 door. I will catalogue these as I can decode them. Likely the reason for this difference is the 5 door being sourced from Maruti versus the 3 door being Japanese built directly by Suzuki.
Higher base weight, GVM and marginally higher payload capacity (same motor, transmissions)
I have based this off the official compliance figures provided by ROVER but the headline number is that the base weight grows by +102 kg, the automatic transmission has the same +15 kg weight penalty, and the GVM has increased by 110 kg over the 3 door. This translates to a payload increase of 8 kg over the 3 door Jimny.
| 3 door GLX Aus compliance (VTA-049434), manual | 5 door XL Aus compliance (VTA-061645), manual | |
|---|---|---|
| Tare weight | 1075 kg | 1177 kg |
| Kerb weight (tare + 30L fuel) | 1095 kg | 1197 kg |
| GVM | 1435 kg | 1545 kg |
| Payload with full fuel | 340 kg | 348 kg |
| Unbraked towing | 350 kg | 350 kg |
| Braked towing | 1300 kg | 1300 kg |
| Engine model code | K15B | K15B |
| Engine power | 75 kW @ 6000 rpm | 75 kW @ 6000 rpm |
Although the car weighs more, the engine and transmissions remain exactly the same K15B engine, and 5 speed manual or 4 speed automatic transmission. Axles and other running gear also appear to be identical; the revised GVM is entirely consistent with the 3 door’s axles being rated at 680 kg front, 880 kg rear weight limits.
The Suzuki Australia specifications for the 5 door seem to slightly contradict the official compliance data around its kerb weights. If you’re going to be done for being over GVM it will be off the compliance data so what I provide here should be more representative of likely maximum payloads for the cars.
Different approach, rampover and departure angles
As one would expect, some of the 4wding parameters with the longer wheelbase and vehicle length. They don’t change as much as you might expect, however. Approach angle decreases from 37º to 36º; departure angle also deceases 49º to 47º. With the same ground clearance of ~210 mm and a longer wheelbase the rampover angle also drops from 28º to 24º.
Different factories and hence different VINs
I’ve already revealed the VINs in the release information, but the 5 door gets a VIN of the form MA3JJC74W00123456 versus JSAGJB74V00123456 for the 3 door. The first 3 characters of a VIN are the “World Manufacturer Identifier” and hence I’ve highlighted them in bold. MA3 is the WMI for Maruti Suzuki India and JSA is for Suzuki cars made in Japan.
Over the years a number of Suzuki models delivered into Australia have been Maruti sourced out of India so this is not necessarily a new for the Australian market. As an example, Gen2 Jimnys in long wheelbase form were also made by Maruti. It is a difference to the 3 door for which all Australian models to at least the end of 2023 have been built directly by Suzuki in Japan.
Different type approvals, and hence pre-rego GVM
I will update this when I get further clarity, but at this stage I can’t see how pre (or probably even post rego) GVM upgrades can be applied.
Here is a snapshot of type approvals for Suzuki, category MC (aka offroad suitable car), from December 2023:
Type approval number 49434 is the 3 door generation 4 Jimny, and 61645 is the 5 door Jimny.
For the 3 door there are two second-stage manufactured GVM upgrades available as of December 2023:
- Ironman GVM upgrade: 1785 kg GVM (type approval 50688)
- Tough Dog GVM upgrade: 1800 kg GVM (type approval 61893)
Both of these modify the original approval only, hence the following comments from their type approvals:
| SUSPENSION HAS BEEN UPGRADED FOR INCREASE IN GVM TO 1785 KG. VEHICLE HEIGHT INCREASES 41 MM AS A RESULT OF THE SECOND STAGE VEHICLE WORK. ALL OTHER FEATURES OF VEHICLE ARE AS PER FIRST MANUFACTURER’S SPECIFICATIONS. FIRST MANUFACTURER’S IPA IS 49434 THIS RVD COVERS FIRST MANUFACTURER’S VARIANT 1 ON RVD REF: RVD1GJ-10a. Ironman approval comments | Vehicles have been subject to an SSM GVM increase. SSM includes replacement suspension components and wheel guard extension. Vehicle GVM and height has increased but the rest of the vehicle remains as per OEM – First Stage VTA-049434; OEM – First Stage RVD RVD1GJ-10a. RVCS Document Reference RVD1GJ-10a. SSM Vehicle Reference Mass = 1211kgFirst Stage to Second Stage Variants correspond as follows: (Fist Stage Variant = Second Stage Variant); B74V = 1-B74V. Tough Dog approval comments |
Post registration GVM upgrades are usually performed using reference to the paperwork applicable for the pre-rgo GVM upgrade, so it isn’t like you can just throw these lifts into a 5 door and assume it’ll pass all the relevant engineering checks. At this stage this means that no GVM upgrade is available. Nevertheless, with a couple of months till cars end up in customers hands it is possible that one or more lift kit will get certified as a GVM upgrade.
There is a possibility of doing a smaller GVM upgrade only in Queensland to the sum maximum axle load limit. On the 3 door, with axle load limits standard of 680 and 880 kg front and rear, you can get an upgrade to a GVM of 1560 kg. Without knowledge of the axle load limits for the 5 door then it’s hard to say if this would provide a meaningful upgrade from its GVM of 1545 kg: Suzuki might rate the axles the same as they do for the 3 door, in which case you’d only gain 15 kg on the GVM.
Since the axles are the same for the 5 door, I’m also not sure that the GVM upgrades would be higher for the 5 door than the 3 door gets. With the higher base weight this means that a 5 door would have a 100 kg lower payload than the 3 door after a GVM upgrade. Both Ironman and Tough Dog make reference to strength modelling for the axles to rate them to higher loads than Suzuki does, and with no revisions to the axle housing strength for the 5 door then the modelling would produce the same answer.
Automatics gain adaptive cruise control and rear parking sensors
This was more of an unexpected thing. Jimny XLs in Australia get rear parking sensors, and the automatics also gain adaptive cruise control. Presumably this is down to the ease of making adaptive cruise control work with the automatic, although some manual Suzukis (e.g. the Swifts) also have adaptive cruise control.
The specifics of the release about this talk about a ‘next generation dual-sensor brake support system’ which presumably provides them the sensor resolution for adaptive cruise control. Parking sensors have always been an option for the 3 door, though few people fitted them given Australian GLXs come with a reverse camera as standard.
Revised 9″ head unit (3 door back to 7″ Bosch unit), added speakers
The revised head unit is different to the 9″ unit used in 2022 3 door GLX Jimnys in Australia. In 2023 they reverted back to the originally supplied 7″ Bosch unit for GLX cars. The 5 door unit will feature DAB radio, and specifically mentions wireless Apple CarPlay. Android Auto is specified, although the materials I have seen don’t seem to specifically mention wireless so Android users might be stuck with a wired connection still.
Specifications also indicate 4 speakers as standard, presumably in the rear doors. This is in contrast to all 3 doors in Australia which only come with front speakers.
Note that there is no inbuilt navigation in this unit; any navigation is off apps on your phone connected to it and compatible with either CarPlay or Android Auto. The Bosch 7″ unit in the 3 door GLX Jimnys in Australia retains GPS navigation though map update SD cards can be painful to obtain for this unit.
Rear seat differences & hence ‘boot’ room
This is something that fewer people have touched on in the reviews, but with the revised rear seats they no longer fold to make a flat boot floor. They, along with the front seats, can fold to produce a bed just like the 3 door, nevertheless.
Here’s a direct comparison of the load areas with the rear seats folded down as far as they can go.
The revised rear seats do mean you have meaningful boot room with the seats up (versus the practically non-existent boot room in the 3 door) which might be more useful for those with children in child seats and needing to carry a pram or two. The lack of fully flat folding seats in the luggage area might make it trickier for those times you go away two-up in the 5 door and want an easier to pack load area for camping.