V12 vantage 'S' gearbox and driveability....
Discussion
I am addicted to Manual sport cars, and therefore will stick to my DBS for a long long time, but I test drove both the V12VS as well as the Vanquish with the new 8-speed auto box one week ago, and I was surprised about my conclusion afterwards....
Both cars share the same engine, but are completely different to drive. I would neer buy the V12VS as a daily driver. It drives great when pushing it, of course, and probably is good competition for nay Porsche on a track, but on normal roads it is too nervous for my taste. And then the SS III box........it is indeed better than earlier SS boxes of AM, but it still a nightmare to drive it in Auto mode. In Manual (with the fippers) it is a little bit better (because somewhat controllable) but it is still far from involving. Downshifting is great, especially with the exhaust blips coming with that. I could live with that part, but when upshifting.....even when lifting the right, it is not smooth, and keeps you focussing on the transmission instead of the steering and the road. Test drove a manual V12V a while ago, and would prefer that transmission by a mile (also the reason I bought a manual DBS).
Then stepped over to the Vanquish with the new, 8-speed ZF autobox. Since I am not a fan of torque convertors, etc, I was very sceptic. But what a difference this makes: of course you can drive it in Auto, and it is as smooth as any other higg power German car with an auto box, but when using the pedals in Manual mode, it appeard much more involvng than the previous 6-speed auto box, and yes, more involving than the SS III in the V12VS! Since I drive a RS5 with S-tronic (double clutch) transmission, I started to cmpare the shift times, and the down/upshift behaviour, and I must say that AM/ZF did a great job with this 8-speed auto box: the down/upshifts are very fast, and direct, and it is (almost) on the same level as a S-tronic/DSG/etc double clutch box.
I still would prefer a Manual box, but since that era seems over for good, this 8-speed box is a blessing for the Vanquish. Probably not for long, since when all new car, engines, etc appear next year, a totally new transmission will appear too (AMG double clutch?).
Both cars share the same engine, but are completely different to drive. I would neer buy the V12VS as a daily driver. It drives great when pushing it, of course, and probably is good competition for nay Porsche on a track, but on normal roads it is too nervous for my taste. And then the SS III box........it is indeed better than earlier SS boxes of AM, but it still a nightmare to drive it in Auto mode. In Manual (with the fippers) it is a little bit better (because somewhat controllable) but it is still far from involving. Downshifting is great, especially with the exhaust blips coming with that. I could live with that part, but when upshifting.....even when lifting the right, it is not smooth, and keeps you focussing on the transmission instead of the steering and the road. Test drove a manual V12V a while ago, and would prefer that transmission by a mile (also the reason I bought a manual DBS).
Then stepped over to the Vanquish with the new, 8-speed ZF autobox. Since I am not a fan of torque convertors, etc, I was very sceptic. But what a difference this makes: of course you can drive it in Auto, and it is as smooth as any other higg power German car with an auto box, but when using the pedals in Manual mode, it appeard much more involvng than the previous 6-speed auto box, and yes, more involving than the SS III in the V12VS! Since I drive a RS5 with S-tronic (double clutch) transmission, I started to cmpare the shift times, and the down/upshift behaviour, and I must say that AM/ZF did a great job with this 8-speed auto box: the down/upshifts are very fast, and direct, and it is (almost) on the same level as a S-tronic/DSG/etc double clutch box.
I still would prefer a Manual box, but since that era seems over for good, this 8-speed box is a blessing for the Vanquish. Probably not for long, since when all new car, engines, etc appear next year, a totally new transmission will appear too (AMG double clutch?).
Phil74891 said:
The SSIII gearbox in the V12S works just great in all driving conditions. You just need to know how to get the best out of it. Never use D and you'll love the car. I wouldn't swap mine for anything.
Even though mine is the V8 S with ASM II, having driven both, the fundamentals are the same ASM 11 and ASM III.This weekend and today I have used mine for everything. Domestic duties, shopping, town driving, traffic jams, commuting, motorway, and fast A and B roads (where the car is really at its best). I have driven Miss Daisy style and HARD. It has been amazing. The gearbox is a joy.
I LOVE MY CAR!
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