Five door Jimny, auto or manual?

Isn't the engine transverse in the ignis so probably whilst operationally similar I'd imagine the gearbox is quite different.?

Well had a look at one this weekend, although couldn't drive it, seems that the 5 door has plusher rear seats and the bases don't fold up against the front seats like they do on the 3 door.
So not only can you not get a flat load bed, but the backrests on the rear seats only fold to an angle and not completely horizontal.

l think Suzuki missed a trick here, it's a deal breaker for me but nobody else has complained about it. Looks like it's back to looking at five door Jeep Wranglers.

I can see why that might be a logical alternative. If they weren't so relatively expensive I would be very tempted. A 4 door rubicon on 40s, oh go on then if you insist!

lightning wrote:

Well had a look at one this weekend, although couldn't drive it, seems that the 5 door has plusher rear seats and the bases don't fold up against the front seats like they do on the 3 door.
So not only can you not get a flat load bed, but the backrests on the rear seats only fold to an angle and not completely horizontal.

 

Suzuki did this before between the 2004 and 2005 models. My 05 came with a rear seat base that couldnt fold up so never a flat boot floor. Had to get all seats from a 2004 car. Maybe that is possible here too, to put 3-door seats in a 5-door?  
For my use now I would just remove the rear seat and build it out for overlanding though.

I have been driving up hills on highway behind the gen4 3-door Jimny a few times and even pulling my then 360kg trailer I would not have any problem overtaking it. It is a bit weak even though this particular car was loaded for a trip too.

The Coil Spring wrote:

But what does the Overdrive Off button do? Apart from initiating the upshift at higher revs, it still feels like a 4-speed. So is it 1 2 3 + a torque converter lock up?
 

In mine, when I press the overdrive off button, there is a message on the dashboard and the engine noise changes from chugga-chugga-chugga to brrmmmm.

It limits the gearbox to 1-3, (does what the label says, and switches off 4th gear, which Suzuki insist is overdrive, because it is less than 1:1 and the output goes faster than the input) I'm pretty sure that the torque converter still locks up in third, I've never really noticed.

It is for things like towing in hilly country where the gearbox would be hunting between 3 & 4 all the time, and will give a bit more engine braking going downhill as it has changed down a gear.

I find that mine is slow to drop down to third on hills by itself and seems to chug a bit, which considering the water thin oil concerns me a little, so I often make the decision for it with the overdrive button.

You shouldn't feel the torque converter lock, the only way to tell it has locked is if you are watching the rev counter it will fall slightly as it locks, but the big tell is that the rev counter has no slippage and is directly tied to speed, it doesn't rise up slightly if you accelerate gently.

It won't try and lock until the gearbox is fully warmed up, which takes a few miles.

Lambert wrote:

Antique gearbox? Nah sorry. 6 speed plus automatic boxes are really only useful for bragging rights and keeping a diesel in its power band. On something that can rev past 3750 rpm it's really hard to justify all those extra gears are superfluous. Add in having a torque converter instead of a robotic clutch system and 4 is fine. And also don't conflate a modern computer controlled automatic with a torqueflite out of a range rover they are not the same.

There is no denying the 4 speed Suzuki offer is massively outdated and blunts overall performance. It doesn't need to be a diesel to get the benefits. And its not as if you have a lazy large displacement engine to cope with limited gears.The 1.5 is a nice revvy engine, but it is only 1.5 litres na at the end of the day and makes not a lot of power and even less torque.

BTW - I think you are a little out dated about Range Rovers. Land Rover stopped using the torqueflite in the early mid 1980s! Where they then fitted a ZF 4 speed with Overdrive and lock-up, quite similar to what the Jimny uses in 2026. My own Range Rover is a 1999 model which uses a slightly later 4 speed ZF and has sports mode, as well as the ability to lock the torque converter in low range, something I didn't think the Jimny can do? Despite the p38 Range Rover being about 30 years older than the JB74w.

I'm not knocking it really, but 4 gears is decades out of date. If it had 6 shorter gears it could have way better acceleration than it does with a 4 speed box, better over taking performance and equal or better mpg. Plus you'd still have the benefit of the converter lock-up in top. There really is no valid argument that a 4 speed auto is better or equal anywhere to a 6 speed auto gearbox.

And there is barely an argument (well I can't think of one, other than Suzuki cheaping out) on why a vehicle in 2026 should have a 4 speed auto at all.