The mostly forgotten Suzuki Jimny is a compact four-wheel-drive miniature SUV designed to conquer dirt paths and rocky backroads. Originally put into production in 1970, the Jimny is still sold in the Japanese car market, but we did get some models here in the United States.

What even is a Suzuki Jimny?

There are only four generations of Suzuki Jimny across the almost 50 years the car has been in production and not much changes between the generations. It’s light-weight and basic boxy design makes it a cool off-road alternative for a two-door Jeep Wrangler that starts around $25,000 brand new.

Although it only has two doors, there are relatively small back seats. The back seats sit so far back in the Jimny that the touch against the rear trunk door, making it impossible to have both cargo and rear passengers. Among all of the years, this small SUV only puts out a maximum of 101bhp.

It isn’t necessarily practical in the way of daily driver options, but it is a great choice for an off-road vehicle. The Jimny is far from being a fast car, nor is it quick as it takes almost 13 seconds to get up to 60mph. The clunky 5-speed manual transmission all does the car no favors, and taking it on the highway at anything close to the actual speed limit causes the car to drone on.

The Suzuki Jimny just got even better

By itself, the Suzuki Jimny is already a pretty cool off-roading SUV, but there is one thing that would make it even cooler. What would be cooler than a Suzuki Jimny you might ask? Well, a 200hp Suzuki Jimny mighty do the trick.

Upgrading the car to 200hp gives it double what the maximum horsepower of the Jimny already had, making it twice as cool of an off-roading vehicle. With the stock engine, the car has a top speed of not even 90 miles per hour. Adding some additional horsepower isn’t the only thing that would improve this little box either.

The soft suspension needs to be updated in order to make it more road-worthy, and while the current springs make it ideal for bouncing over rocks, it isn’t necessarily comfortable on the normal road.

The 5-speed manual transmission would also need to be replaced to handle the newly improved power capabilities and to give the Jimny an overall better driving experience.

The Suzuki Jimny is a pretty cool off-road-ready mini SUV option that we don’t see in the United States much. They don’t have a lot to offer in way of power or performance, but the addition of some cool aftermarket pieces and almost doubling the horsepower would do well to make this SUV a true contender in the North American car market.