Five door Jimny, auto or manual?

lightning wrote:

Well had a look at one this weekend, although couldn't drive it, seems that the 5 door has plusher rear seats and the bases don't fold up against the front seats like they do on the 3 door.
So not only can you not get a flat load bed, but the backrests on the rear seats only fold to an angle and not completely horizontal.

l think Suzuki missed a trick here, it's a deal breaker for me but nobody else has complained about it. Looks like it's back to looking at five door Jeep Wranglers.

Thats a bit of a shame about the seats.

I guess you mean like this?
 

That does seem to be a big miss on Suzuki's part. You have to wonder if they test some of the things they design.... 

The 3 door has a nice flat floor/load bay when you fold the seats and combine with the rear storage box, which made it very useful, while still retaining the ability to have the seats in the vehicle should you need them.

Looks like you can remove the 5 door rear seats completely and the aftermarket offers a flat board:
 

But a real shame you need to go aftermarket to achieve this and of course you loose the convenience of having the rear seats in the vehicle. Which means you either end up throwing the rear seats out or needing to find some storage for them.

I like the Wrangler, of course it is quite a bit bigger. But when compared to other modern 4x4's it is actually still fairly compact.

Biggest downer with the Wrangler is the rubbish tow rating Jeep give it. But to be fair it can still tow a lot more than a Jimny.

BTW - just thinking out loud.

Toyota are just releasing a new Cruiser FJ model for parts of Asia (sadly not Europe). I don't think it is out yet. But I guess may in a years time or so you might be able to get one as an import. It looks to be fairly compact with about a 100" wheelbase. But no idea if it'll be better than 5 door Jimny in terms of interior space and seats folding flat. But if you aren't in a hurry, might be another vehicle to keep on the radar.

 

I've just replaced my 2020 3 door with a LWB 5-door, and agree with most of the comments made. I have only used it on motorways for a very short time, but although the acceleration is slightly slower (I didn't want to push it, with only a couple of hundred miles on it!) its perfectly useable & generally similar to the 3 door, but noticeably more comfortable.
Initially I was put off by the issue of the rear seats not folding flat, but I have ordered a rear storage area box, so hopefully that will help.