A week with the Jimny Kei.

I’ve always been fascinated by the Kei version of the venerable Suzuki Jimny. I had a two week trip to Japan planned, with a week in Hokkaido, and was lucky enough to secure one for my trip through J-Net car rental thanks to another post on Reddit.

Mine was the Kei Limited, so it had climate control, heated seats, (a blessing in the -6° snowy weather,) keyless entry, and a nice navigation unit. It also had auto braking and lane departure warning, which I had to turn off as the roads have been narrowed by massive snow drifts. Mine came with the 4-speed auto box which had a lot of gear whine, but it added to the character of the 3Cyl engine.

Speed limits were pretty low in Sapporo and surrounding towns, so the 660cc turbo 3-cylinder was plenty. I managed to get it up to 140kph on the highway, but I could feel the cold air coming in through the doors seals, and the 4 speed auto had the engine waaaay up there in the rev range.

Shift on the fly 4WD was nice for getting around town, then being able to switch off for tight maneuvers, but I had the transfer case freeze on me a few times, as the weather never rose above 0°C. I tried getting it stuck a few times, but it just kept chugging along. Didn’t catch which snow tires it had, but they did a great job.

The front cabin area isn’t much smaller than my 2015 G550, so for two people and their luggage, it’s pretty of truck. Theres maybe 8” of cargo space depth behind the rear seats when they’re up, so a briefcase or some shopping bags are all that’ll fit.

I’d daily the hell out of one of these if it were available in the states. It’s just a fun little truck with more character than I’d ever dreamed of.