Turn the key to the right, and the feeling of a machine spreads, in an age where so many cars already come with a start button, and a key that you can leave in your pocket the entire trip. The brain sends an instruction to the left leg to press the pedal next to it. The habit tries for a moment to remember how to do it, and performs. The right hand moves the gear stick up and to the right, and the left leg begins to rise. move forward I’m in 2023 but I still managed to find a manual demo car in the fleet of an Israeli car importer.
The Suzuki Jimny is one of less than 20 models that are still offered in Israel with a manual transmission. The importers grumble that it has long been uneconomical and is a chore for some crazy people, but a minority of them still bother. Of the manual Jimny, 186 units were sold in 2022, compared to 792 automatics. Those who purchased the manual version not only received a third pedal for the same price, but also saved NIS 10,000 and paid NIS 150,000 for the small SUV.
Jimny is not really a sports car. Not even – not at all. That’s how it is when your ID shows numbers like 14.2 seconds in the acceleration section from 0 to 100 km/h, and 140 in the maximum speed section. In km/h, not in miles. Jimny is a threat to the speed camera industry. Luckily his threat suit is very small.
Design: This is a vehicle that you don’t know whether to hug, take to a child, or put on the shelf. It is almost as short as a Kia Picanto (3.65 meters), almost as tall as an adult (1.65 meters), and is the narrowest new vehicle sold in Israel (1.64 meters).
Square and simple lines like those of a toy car, almost identical to those of the previous generation of the Jimny that it replaced on the production lines in 2019, after 19 years, an unprecedented interest in modern cars. They don’t do anything faster than these gymnasiums. That is, except for the time it takes them to make you fall in love with them.
The passenger compartment: the entrance to the driver’s seat is easy, with a wide door. The seat is comfortable, sitting high and visibility is good. The plastics are reasonable, there are not enough storage compartments, and the power window switches are located between the driver and passenger seats and not in the doors, a sign of cost savings.
Getting into the back seat is not comfortable due to limited movement of the front seat. The seat itself provides a high sitting position, but low for adults and the knee space is also suitable for boys or short adults. Headroom is good. There are only two seat belts, for two passengers.
The trunk: smaller than glove compartments in some large 4×4 vehicles: only 85 liters, and to get to them you have to open a heavy door, because the spare wheel is mounted on it. At least you can fold them and then you get a huge trunk of 585 liters, and a two-seater Jeep. Mazda MX5 of the rocks.
Equipment: relatively modern, with a 7-inch multimedia screen that is simple to operate with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but with outdated graphics. There’s climate control, standard cruise control, lightweight 15-inch wheels, front and rear parking sensors and a reverse camera.
Safety: A low score of 3 out of 5 stars in the European crash test, autonomous emergency braking, but no adaptive cruise control, lane departure correction or blind spot warning. Very basic specification.
Engine and performance: continue as before. 1,500 cc, 100 hp. No turbo, no hybrid unit. Manual transmission, five gears in this version, and a power transmission: on the road you drive in rear wheel drive, on easy terrain you switch to 4×4 high, and when it gets difficult you switch to 4×4 low.
The stick is precise and easy to operate, but in the field, for a driver who is not super skilled, it will be easier with the automatic box. Although this model is slightly weaker in its performance, it saves hard work for the left foot in the rocks.
Suzuki Jimny (Photo: Udi Etzion)
The Jimny has no problem cruising on the road at 120 km/h, but then it is louder than Tali Gottlieb. He climbed the Castel with only a driver at a speed that silence is good for, but a pleasant ride for a trip will be around 100 km/h.
It is also better because of the road behavior, on a slightly wet road like it was this week, it reminds a bit of the cars with a skid car (“skid car”) from the safety driving courses. A feeling, and transmits to the driver at the beginning of a turn, what is burning? And with a drag coefficient of a cube it is not really economical either, 12.5 kilometers per liter we achieved in the combined test.
But the road for him is just the road to the field. And that’s where it shines: the ladder chassis allows for excellent suspension travel, the angle of approach and abandonment is double that of other “Jeeps”. It shakes in potholes and rocks but smoothes out small disturbances nicely. It goes through, without breaking fenders, skips rocks, climbs hills, mountain goat manually .
There are other SUVs on the market with such capabilities, the Jeep Wrangler is the closest in price, and costs twice as much.
The bottom line: some customers buy the Jimny to sit high and park for a short time in the city. They miss the car. The Jimny is crowded, thirsty, breathless on long climbs and not useful, but in the field it puts you in a place that normally you have to pay NIS 300,000 to get to. Despite the dimensions, it is really tough, well built and sews challenging tracks.
In India, the production of a five-door version is now starting, I wish Suzuki would be able to export it to Europe, then we will also get it, and it will also suit small families. As it is today, with three doors, it is a niche vehicle, which, as far as it is far from perfect, is full of charm.
The clutch went: what is left of the manual transmission in Israel?
In 2022, only 3,465 manual cars, most of them commercial, were sold in Israel. According to data from the Automobile Importers Association, only one out of every 59 new cars sold was equipped with a manual transmission. We knew that the transition to electric cars would eliminate the manual transmission, but it will die even before that. As mentioned, 1,808 were commercial, among which 1,082 manual versions of the Citroen Berlingo stood out. 1,657 were private.
Dacia, most of its models are manual, a rarity today even in Europe, sold 947 manual cars, of which 736 were the off-road vehicle Duster, which is produced in a 4×4 version only with a manual transmission, cheaper than Jimny, more spacious and comfortable, better on the road, and good Very in the field in Jeepon terms. Suzuki sold 302 manual cars, an option that it still only has in the Jimny, Swift and Ignis, and is no longer offered as before in the Bass Cross (formerly the Crossover).
The other importers sold a total of 408 manual cars, including 110 Hyundai i10s, the cheapest new car in Israel, at a price of NIS 77,000. Renault delivered 67 Clio manuals and a Skoda 50 Octavia diesel to taxi drivers who still prefer a manual.
Sports cars? They are also mostly automatic. Abarth delivered 72 manual 595 models just before it goes electric and deletes the clutch from the supply. Mazda delivered 13 manual MX5s, but Porsche delivered only 5 manuals, 3 from the 718 models and 2 from the 911. Ferrari, in a record year, delivered 19 fully automatic cars. Ferrari no longer makes manual cars. Soon the rest of the industry too.