Gen4 2020. Does anyone have experience of the auto version?

Thanks for all responses, much appreciated. we are test driving the auto next week and will report on my experiences and whether I purchase it. I have an exact copy manual (even same colour) to do a direct comparison. Thanks TFL

I feel that part of the reports around them being "sluggish" is that the engine is a typicaly Japanese design which is happiest at high revs. Therefore the manual gearbox lets you drive in a more spirited fashion. The Auto steps in quicker to change up, rather than holding, which means revs are kept lower and out of the zone where the engine really sings.

I can only comment on my late gen 3 automatic which is basically the same but subtly different. The automatic really does suit the Jimny, it mellows the frantic nature of the manual and makes for a really pleasant drive. I have had mine long enough now to conclude that the difference in mpg is hardly noticeable especially when cruising in top on a good A road or motorway. In traffic it's marginally worse but that's compensated by being relaxing to drive in stop and go conditions. Off road it's magnificent you can just creep about in low range and concentrate on where you are putting your wheels. Also if you do need to press on ,as much as any Jimny will let you, the automatic will hold a gap once you get off the line to the manual though I suspect that left foot braking and giving it full revs before side stepping the brake might get it away quite quickly but that's hardly mechanical sympathy.

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I feel that part of the reports around them being "sluggish" is that the engine is a typicaly Japanese design which is happiest at high revs. 

I'm not certain I would agree with this - I've had ample opportunity to drive numerous Japanese compact cars with automatic transmissions, and on the day I drove that automatic transmission Jimny, I also drove a Baleno with automatic transmission, lighter car, smaller engine, compared to the Jimny, it went like the proverbial "bat out of hell".

I've also had the opportunity to compare "like for like" second & third generation Grand Vitaras with the 2.0 J20a engine, in both cases the manual transmission version was more lively than it's automatic counterpart, but in neither case was the difference as noticeable as it was with the manual & automatic Jimnys.

My suspicion is that the transmission ratios are poorly chosen, and I'm hunting down the data to do a comparison, I have the ratios for the Jimny, but not for the GVs.

A little late to reply … initially we bought a new manual Gen4 Jimny but didn’t like the constant gear changing, so luckily we were able to sell to a dealer and buy a new auto version.

For our village and rural ‘B’ roads, so probably rarely going faster than 45-50 mph, we much prefer this transmission. It’s not really a car that’s suited to being thrashed. Driven within it's limitations - we love it.

Off road the auto box is brilliant.

We have no regrets and wouldn’t swap back to a manual.

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It’s not really a car that’s suited to being thrashed. Driven within it's limitations - we love it.

 

I'd have to disagree there. The Jimny takes to a good thrashing very well. The engine also does its best work at high rpm, it might not be an outright screamer in terms of numbers. But it whips round to the red line very well and never feels breathless.

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