KIA SONET IMT
The iMT ’box on the Kia Sonet promises to please the enthusiast and your wallet
The Kia Sonet, just like the Venue, is offered with the most number of engine-gearbox combinations in its segment and that includes the combo of the turbo-petrol mated to the clutchless iMT gearbox. We ask enthusiasts what they think of this novel technology
IT IS AN UNNERVING EXPERIENCE at first, I won’t lie. Muscle memory is making my left foot twitch in response to my left hand working the manual gearbox, but my brain is overriding years of reflex action and ordering the left foot to stay firmly planted on the dead pedal. This is a manual ’box but one where the clutch is automated so the left foot does nothing except stay glued to the dead pedal. And in any case, thanks to the wonder of adaptability, in just a few minutes was comfortable, rowing through the ’box like an iMT master. Confused? I was too.
Let me give you a refresher. Kia was the first to showcase the Intelligent Manual Transmission when it took the wraps off the Sonet at the Auto Expo last February. This was a first for India, a clutchless manual transmission, aimed to deliver the convenience of an automatic without the price premium. That alone caused as many questions from journalists as the Sonet itself did — how will it know
when I want to change gear? Can you stall it? But perhaps most importantly, will you enjoy it? Before I tell you all that, let’s talk about how the iMT works.
An iMT, simply put, is a conventional H-pattern manual gearbox with an automatically-operated clutch. It exists to serve a similar purpose to the AMTs we see offered with a lot of the Sonet’s competitors — to provide the obvious benefits of an automatic gearbox, without having to spend too much dough on a fancy DCT or even a regular torque converter. But that’s where the similarities end: while the AMT shifts the gears for you, the iMT lets you do the handywork. Why not just offer an AMT? In our experience, AMTs don’t often perform well — they are plagued by head toss, make the engine dull, and take ages to shift. They do, though, make life easy in traffic and I suspect Kia’s engineers came to the same conclusion. So, what if you could take that ease of driving in traffic snarls, while adding to the driving experience? That’s where the iMT comes in. It lets you do the lag-free, seamless shifting with
THE IMT IS A CONVENTIONAL H-PATTERN MANUAL GEARBOX WITH AN AUTOMATIC CLUTCH
your hands, but takes away the tiring hours of leg exercise when you are in rush hour traffic.
The iMT relies on a set of sensors and actuators to sense when you are about to change gear and then engages the clutch. And no, you cannot stall it. Like an automatic, when you stop, or even slow down too much for that particular gear to be able to work, it will engage the clutch to prevent stalling and warn you to shift down. Out in the real world, the iMT is a joy to use. I fell in love with the iMT-equipped Sonet in the week I spent with it. It makes commuting much easier, now that the evo India office has finally replaced the Zoom calls for the first time since the pandemic began. With everyone back in office, I enlisted some colleagues and a few friends to help me find out if the iMT is actually as good as I thought.
“I’M DRIVING A CAR FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE the pandemic struck, and it’s been even longer since I drove a manual,” says Avadhi Katariya. Avadhi loves cars, but prefers appreciating beautiful designs like the Sonet’s, rather than squeezing through gaps between traffic. “At first I was a bit nervous, especially in traffic, and was instinctively reaching for the brake pedal every time I shifted because muscle memory was kicking in”. But just a few kilometres in and she felt right at home. “When I drove my own car the next day, I slotted it into gear without depressing the clutch — the iMT is just so easy to get used to!” The iMT isn’t just easy to get used to, it’s also very intuitive which makes it hard not to miss it when stuck in traffic. But the fact is that the iMT would obviously perform well in traffic. But what if you’ve entered a hill climb event in this Kia Sonet — would it be able to keep up?
To be honest, a mountain pass is exactly where I thought the iMT’s toughest challenge lies — the 118bhp and 172Nm from this 1-litre turbo-petrol motor means flowing corners come at you fast, requiring constant gearshifts and slick rev-matching. “It is perhaps even better than a regular manual around the Lap of Mutha,” says Abhishek Wairagade, our resident muscleman, usually seen on his motorcycle’s saddle on our favourite testing road. But he’s also a closet car enthusiast and loves having the added control of the third pedal. “I don’t drive too often, so when I do, I want to feel involved”, he says, “Sure, the iMT does lose out on that extra bit of involvement you get from the clutch, but it still puts you in control”. So while an AMT is probably not the best companion on a twisty road, the iMT performs very well here. And the shifts are smooth! We tried our best to throw it off balance — shifting down aggressively to see if the Sonet gets unsettled. And you know what? It didn’t. Of course, the iMT senses when the engine speed is too high for a particular gear and will not engage the clutch, thus preventing you from damaging the engine and other drivetrain components. But if you are at the correct speed and make an aggressive downshift, the revs rise up (automatic rev-matching!), but there’s no headtossing whatsoever!
THE IMT RELIES ON A SET OF SENSORS TO SENSE WHEN YOU ARE ABOUT TO CHANGE GEARS
The iMT is good on a winding road, but here’s the next test: to find out if it fares well on a long-distance cruise, where an automatic shines. To validate my findings, I enlisted the help of Anchal Mundkur. She loves her car almost as much as she loves taking it on road trips. Her car is full of nifty mods to make those road trips easier, barring one — it is paired to a conventional manual ’box. Anchal took the Sonet iMT on one of her weekend drives, and came back quite impressed. “Perhaps my only concern when I’m on long road trips is how often we need to change gears on our highways, and that causes extra fatigue”. The iMT does away with that without sapping power, so you can get a similar fuel economy figure to a manual ’box, so you end up paying less for fuel and reach your destination feeling fresh. It’s a win-win!
Ultimately, the iMT conquered everything we threw at it. I felt a bit confused at the offset, since it neither seemed to win over the #ManualsMatter fanbase nor make it a totally effortless automatic. But after a week with the Sonet iMT, it all makes sense. The iMT is a double-edged sword. The marketing jargon will have you believe that it gives you almost all the benefits of the automatic gearbox, while making your wallet happier. But what they didn’t tell you is that it can also please the enthusiast. ⌧