The Jimny is the smallest real 4x4, diff locks and the lot.
It can take on serious 4x4's and sometimes go further, but they do have a tendency to fall over under certain conditions (hectic offroad) due to the short wheel base.
I recently bought a Jap import 1996 RAV4, and I'm now sure it's more 4x4 than most people need....
Cheers
Gerhard
There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries - stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water, if water there be in all that region.
Also on the negative side, the suspension is hard, which makes it uncomfortable on long drives. I wouldn't take it anywhere seriously rocky, it just doesn't have the clearance. I've had a Terrano stuck by following tyre tracks, with the Jimny you'd always have to straddle them. I wouldn't take one into the mountains of NZ. But at least here in Hungary the Lada Niva is a very popular small 4x4 and the Jimny will certainly go anywhere one of those will (and from what I hear it's not only more reliable but cheaper to run, as well as considerably quicker). I guess it depends what you need it for.
I've bottomed out three times - recently in a snowdrift, earlier this summer on a tree stump and last year in deep mud. I've clipped a few trees, various panels have dropped off, the steering lock crapped itself and has been removed, but it has been very reliable. By contrast I virtually wrote a Discovery off at the beginning of the year when I crashed through a tree stump.
I'm very, very hard on cars. I killed a 10 year old Terrano in five summers and a Toyota Surf in six months. So I guess that's a pretty good recommendation!
