2013 MT or AT for highway use?

New to this forum and this is my first post. My wife and I have considered buying a Jimny for many years, and we're close to actually doing so now. The challenge is however, this is going to be my wife's daily commute car as well... so it needs to handle fine on the highway as well. I read a lot about its handling and high rpm at highway speeds.

However I also noticed that the latest motor (the 1.3 VVT) in today model appears to spin about 1000 rpm lower than the model before. Which would be good for us.

Also I noticed there is a difference between the MT (5 gears) and AT (4 gears, with an overdrive ratio). Although I'm not entirely sure what these ratio numbers translate to in daily life, I wanted to understand whether the automatic was better suited for highway driving.

Specs can be found here.

5MT:
4.425
2.304
1.674
1.190
1.000

4AT:
2.875
1.568
1.000
0.696

So what does this mean in real life? Is one more highway worthy than the other?

I'm quite the adventurer myself... but the backcountry I wander around in during the weekends is one hour, one hour and a half, away at 120kmh+ speeds on the highway... so getting there is key...

Appreciate your insight!

Hi,

Just bought an Auto, picked it up last Saturday and had a 40 mile motorway and then 10 mile town (stop/start driving) to get home. Don't know about the manual ones but can say I find the auto great. It's not a sportscar so don't expect eye watering acceleration but it was fine on the M-way and great in traffic. My main car is also an auto so maybe I am biased.

Thank you for that. How much rpm do you get with your automatic at 100 kmh / 60 mph?

I'm not looking for performance, just fair handling at modest highway speeds while keeping fuel economy under control.

Hi Mat,

With only 24 miles on the clock I kept the speed to about 50, and to be honest I never noticed the rpm, it just purred along and with me having a grin across my face at the pure fun of it, I didn't care. But if definitely didn't feel strained.
I will have a look when I next go out. Sorry I'm not more helpful.

Mat wrote: However I also noticed that the latest motor (the 1.3 VVT) in today model appears to spin about 1000 rpm lower than the model before. Which would be good for us.!

Not sure if this is correct... i think the engine is the same unit found in 05-12 models... VVT DOHC
This is again basically the same engine in the old DOHC which was available 2000 onwards... but with VVT.

The new facelift has 47mpg quoted for Extra Urban. That isn't going to happen.

I had a look at a new model on Saturday at my local dealer. The front bumper isn't my cup of tea, and the bonnet scoop has plastic blanks stopping any cooling effect so purely for aesthetics!

Yes and I suppose I do mean the 05-12 engine which is still the same today. From some of the discussions over the past 10 years it picked up that this "newer" engine (as of 05 then) lowered the rpm from 4000 to around 3000 at 100kmh / 60 mph.

I'm a bit worried about fuel efficiency on the highway at 120 kmh, the ride quality and overall handling, as well as the strain on the engine (although I do appreciate that this is Suzuki and they're used to high revving engines). Still the lower rpm I could get with a Suzuki on the highway, the better it would be, the more it becomes a good candidate for my wife as a daily commuter.

I'm in it for the old school part-time 4x4 in low range . But that's for the weekend only. And then again, only after a 90 mins highway ride to get to the backcountry as well.