We Bought a Suzuki Jimny Wide!

 

Our 1998 Suzuki Jimny Wide

We have wanted a third-generation Suzuki Jimny for years. In 2023, they would become legal to import into the USA, and I was counting down the years. I literally told myself that when we could import one, we would. That year came and went, but two years later, we finally pulled the trigger and bought ourselves a Suzuki Jimny, specifically a 1998 Suzuki Jimny Wide.

Suzuki Samurai Successor

The last year for the Suzuki Samurai in the USA was 1995. Slightly wider axles and a few other differences separated the USDM Samurai from the world-market Jimny, as did a 1.3-liter engine vs 660cc mills. However, a global Jimny replacement came in 1998 with the vehicle you see above. 

This third-gen Jimny was available in both kei varieties (660cc turbo engine) and the Jimny Wide here, which came with the normally aspirated G13BB 1.3-liter SOHC gas engine (also found in the USDM 1998+ Chevrolet Metro). Additionally, it had wider fender flares, and both this and the 1.3-liter kicked it out of Japan's kei class designation. However, with Oregon's current prohibition of kei cars, the Jimny Wide was the model for us as it isn't a kei car.

Our Jimny

Our Grove Green Metallic Jimny had been previously registered in Washington, so we didn't have to bother with the import paperwork. Rather, it was just an out-of-state registration. 

It has a couple of minor modifications, including 15x7 steel wheels, 235/75/15 BFGoodrich KO2 tires, King lift springs, Ultima shocks, a Jimny Bits winch mount, a 5,500 lb. winch, and AVM manual hubs. 

This beauty has just over 71,000 km (44,000 miles), and it drives very well. In fact, I drove it from the Seattle, WA area down to Portland, OR, some 200+ miles. It was happy at 65 MPH on flat Interstate. However, upon getting home, we noticed an oil leak dripping onto the exhaust pipe, causing a little smoke. So that'll need to be fixed, as will a couple of other minor things. Overall, this Jimny is super clean, and we cannot wait to get behind the wheel of it more (as well as hit the off-road trails). We think it's a worthy successor to our Teal Terror, our beloved 1995 Suzuki Sidekick. It's also the fourth Suzuki we've owned, as we had a 2009 and 2010 Suzuki SX4, too.

Stay tuned here and at Crankshaft Culture for more updates on our new-to-use subcompact off-roader.

We love the Grove Green Metallic color, and look at that little spoiler!