Back into the fold...

I've got a 2019 SZ5 auto and it's fine, not as fun to drive quickly as the manual, but a godsend in traffic.

facade wrote:

I had a manual Gen3 for over 10 years, and I bought a new Gen4 auto in 2019.

The auto is vastly superior to the manual (although tbh I preferred the Gen3 as a car- mine was a 2000 plate with the split back seat, interior trim, more comfortable seats (could just have been many years of wear) and it was green.....)

Much, much quicker around town (none of this "the lights are changing, press clutch down, mess with gear lever, press accelerator, lift clutch, press accelerator harder" nonsense, just drop the handbrake as you press the accelerator and you are away (and usually back on the brake to not hit the car in front that has pretty much stopped while they mess with the gears...)

A bit less busy on the motorway, but I'm not sure how much is the auto being higher geared compared to the 1500s being higher geared than the 1300s anyway.

Better off road too, it doesn't run out of gears half way up something and will creep & crawl without slipping the clutch.


It ought to give less MPG than a manual because there are more losses in the auto & torque converter, but I have no direct comparison, mine gives more than the Gen3 used to!

I would never buy a manual car from choice, only if it was an absolute unmissable bargain!


 

Odd, I've never found the need to be "quick" in a town with 20 and 30mph limits.....

I've also never found it takes time to select a gear either.

I think you are generalising on auto vs manual. Rather than the fact it is 2025 and the Jimny is still using an automatic gearbox that you'd expect to have found in a mid 1980s vehicle. It was way out dated and missing at least 2 gears.

It also (unless I'm corrected) has no concept of sports mode, 1st gear lock out or the ability to lock the converter up off road. Something other vehicles have been doing since the mid 1990s.

Now I'm not saying it is bad or anything. Or that people can't prefer it. Especially if they don't want a manual, but there is no denying that 4 gears vs 5 gives you less flexibility and that it is likely to be less lively overall. I don't have the 0-60mph times or in=-gear speeds, but I'd think the manual is quite a bit quicker in most circumstances. As it is just geared better.

Off road autos have a place, but they also offer less control at times and crawling is one thing they don't do as well, as they will stop and require throttle input when the torque converter slips a manual you can leave your feet off all the pedals and they will crawl over quite a lot with no input at all.

Yes you are right- I live in the 1970s!

There is something comforting about the sound of a torque converter auto that you just don't get with these new fangled DSG & CVT gearboxes (most CVTs use a torque converter anyway to make up for the lack of range in the CVT, although Toyota have that system where a motor drives the gearbox internals somehow )

I also have an EV- direct drive with one gear. Pleasant enough to drive but there is no soul.

Thanks for the input everyone. 

For clarification the 4at does have 1st locking so on a moderate decent engine braking is available to the limit of the engine just the same as the manual, they are not high compression diesel engines either of them. The need for 8 or 10 gears is completely bypassed by the torque converter and the programming of the box is such that the prndl gives you what you ask for immediately and is also able to lockup as necessary and indeed on demand once you have mastered throttle position, you can unlock top on the motorway without dropping to 3rd for a minor hill etc. I strongly recommend everyone try one, they are a revelation.