MY2017 Aston Martin V12 Vantage S gets a 7-Speed Dog-Leg Manual

[Blackraven]

The 2017 model year at Aston Martin comes with a series of updates, with the most important being a manual transmission for the V12 Vantage S.


At the end of last month, we heard Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer saying that he wants to keep the manual gearbox alive for as long as it’s possible. Now, the Gaydon-based marque is living up to the promise by introducing a seven-speed manual transmission for the V12 Vantage S which will be available alongside the Sportshift III seven-speed automated manual.
Regardless of transmission, the 2017 V12 Vantage S will run the sprint from 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) in 3.9 seconds and max out at 205 mph (330 kph). The 5.9-liter V12 engine is carried over and continues to develop 563 horsepower (421 kilowatts) at 6,750 rpm and a maximum torque of 457 pound-feet (620 newton meters) at 5,750 rpm.

Available as a no-cost option, the seven-speed manual features a traditional dog-leg first gear position and benefits from the AMSHIFT system which can be selected by the driver. According to Aston Martin , the system will mimic the technique of heel-and-toe downshifts by using the clutch, gear position, propshaft sensors, and the engine management. Full-throttle upshifts are also possible with AMSHIFT to ensure the best possible acceleration with minimal interruption. AMSHIFT can be used in all driving modes, but it will be most effective in Sport mode.

Aston Martin will kick off deliveries of the manual V12 Vantage S in the third quarter of the year and only 100 units are destined for North America.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/11604061...ets-manual-box

V12 + MANUAL = EPIC

[TrevorM3]

i'll never forget the time i drove an aston. was fun as heck! manual heads will love this.

[clar]

Potentially very costly when mis-shift...

[Blackraven]

Originally Posted by clar

Potentially very costly when mis-shift...

If you accidentally shift into reverse?

AFAIK ost European car brands utilize the layout wherein Reverse Gear is located on the upper left

[clar]

Originally Posted by Blackraven

If you accidentally shift into reverse?

AFAIK ost European car brands utilize the layout wherein Reverse Gear is located on the upper left

Not that. Dun think it's even possible to do so. I am just not confident enough to go manual with a high powered car cos money shift is no joke.

[mstmng]

Originally Posted by clar

Not that. Dun think it's even possible to do so. I am just not confident enough to go manual with a high powered car cos money shift is no joke.

money shift indeed can be 1 shift you remember for life

what you getting instead of speciale? i thought you keeping it for a while.
did not like it or...?

[clar]

Originally Posted by mstmng

money shift indeed can be 1 shift you remember for life

what you getting instead of speciale? i thought you keeping it for a while.
did not like it or...?

I have not said (complained) much about the car as i was trying to sell the car the past 3 months. Just in case a potential buyer reads my rant The car had 2 fatal flaws and irked me to no end. #1: It squeals like a pig being slaughtered with a blunt knife and very loudly. According to the service manager, tracking the car results in very noisy brakes. What's one to do with the car i don't track it? Track it and u get those nasty squeal. It bothered me so much that I din want to drive it. #2: There is a very awkward squeak when doing spirited up-shifts above 8k rpm. U keeping hearing people going lyrical about how awesome the race to the dizzy 9000 rpm experience is, but nobody bother to mention that the auxiliary belt slips when doing such up-shifts. It sounded like a rubber duckling being squeezed. Definitely not a very sexy or mechanical sound. It embarrassed me the first time I gave a fren a ride in the car and was trying to demonstrate to him the awesomeness of the free revving super high compression (world record) na V8. Apparently, some 458 Italias are also afflicted with this. Some owners are surprisingly forgiving with this, but not me. To me, it's like a world famous soprano belting out the high notes, but passing gas while at it. A major anti-climatic event! I can't imagine Ferrari would allow such a flawed engine sub system to ship. There is apparently no cure for it. They will tighten the belt and it might go away for a while, but always return. It's such a pity cos it's otherwise an out of this world engine that is bullet proof. I have tracked the fella very hard at Sepang F1 circuit under very hot and humid condition and the engine temperate never went above normal range by much. I got so carried away the first time that I went round and round until I flat lined the fuel tank and the car died on the track. No damage was done to the engine. The razor sharp response of the engine, steering, and body control is sublime. I don't think there is any series production car out there that drives better. The GT3 RS probably comes close, but will never touch the Speciale when it comes to the sense of occasion one gets when driving a mid-engined Ferrari. I was able to fix problem #1 by simply replacing the front brake pads, but #2 has no cure

I am in no hurry to replace the car with another exotic at the moment. I will probably buy a lightly used 488 sometime late this year. I don't trust first year production exotics. Gotta give them some time to stabilize. I am also getting tired of loosing massive cash going new. I lost 25% of the value after 1.5 years. As it was, the Speciale was hardly driven. The nature of my business does not allow me to be seen in an exotic at least not politically correctly. I might first get a 991.2 C2S for daily driving. Where I am, exotics are not suitable to be driven to many basement car parks due to narrow drive ways, steep inclines, etc...A lightly used Huracan is also on my radar. As far I know, that thing doesn't make rubber duckling sound when pushed. The rear ground clearance on the Huracan is surprising forgiving (not Vic's car though). I see many reversing all the way till the rear tires touched the car park stopper. We reverse park here for the most part. If i do that in my Speciale, the rear diffuser would be destroyed. The huracan is also more compact in dimension, which is surprising considering that it is lugging around a V10. Anyway, there should quite a fair bit of option in the market considering the lack lustre economy in this part of the world.