Vantage v12S owners

[Zod]

franki68 said:

Zod said:

I don't own a V12VS, but I have driven the car on road and track and did not change cars, because given most of my fun driving is on road, I get more enjoyment from the manual box.

Yes, ASM III is old-fashioned, but I lived happily enough with SMG II and III gearboxes on an M3, a CSL and an M5, so I'm not inherently biased against them. The double clutch boxes are better, although there is a less direct feel. The auto mode on a dual clutch box is usable. I think it must be a certainty that Aston will use dual clutch boxes in the next generation vantage. For now though, my preference would be for a V12VS with a manual box.

I hated the smg on the M6 I had,too many settings for it and none of them good imo.

I just used the fastest mode all the time. Never saw the point of the rest.

[SFO]

jonby said:

Sportshift I quite like and ASM3 is a vast improvement over ASM2 (and yes, I have driven them both).

could you elaborate please?

[DB9VolanteDriver]

jonby said:

Personally, it's the loss of those things that I find spoils the thrills. I have a daily driver to be smooth & boring in. I want drama, noise, etc when changing gear. Losing that equates to losing fun when I drive my 2nd car. I want driving my sports car to be an event, to be dramatic, to involve using my brain, etc. As many have said, once you have touchtronic, you will probably just leave it in D mode.

Sportshift I quite like and ASM3 is a vast improvement over ASM2

I agree with this. If a DCT is as good as a TC auto, then you will end up just leaving it in D virtually all of the time, with the very occasional foray into paddle use. SCT forces you to use the paddles because of its poor behavior in D. And I like lifting slightly on upshifts, it provides driver engagement where otherwise there would be none.

Each of the 4 trans types has a performance/engagement quotient. Most engagement/least 'performance' ---> manual. Least engagement/smoothest performance ----> TC auto. SCT and DCT are in between. Next best thing to a full on manual if you crave 'doing something' in the cockpit is SCT.

I love the ASM 0 in my Vanquish. Faster upshifts and way better downshifts than I could ever muster on my own. I can only imagine the improvement rendered by ASM 3.

[jonby]

SFO said:

jonby said:

Sportshift I quite like and ASM3 is a vast improvement over ASM2 (and yes, I have driven them both).

could you elaborate please?

Well there is no question that ASM takes a bit of getting used to - you have to drive it like it's a manual car. But everything in ASM3 is just a bit better, although part of the difference is simply the extra power as you can only compare ASM3 with a V12 to ASM2 in a V8

Also, everything is just a bit better in the 3 - changes are a bit smoother, hillhold works much better, changes are a bit quicker, etc

Plus, with the new Bosch management system, it leaves extra channels free for a couple of tricks, like holding on to the downshift during braking rather than lots of blips

[Jon1967x]

jonby said:

SFO said:

jonby said:

Sportshift I quite like and ASM3 is a vast improvement over ASM2 (and yes, I have driven them both).

could you elaborate please?

Well there is no question that ASM takes a bit of getting used to - you have to drive it like it's a manual car. But everything in ASM3 is just a bit better, although part of the difference is simply the extra power as you can only compare ASM3 with a V12 to ASM2 in a V8

Also, everything is just a bit better in the 3 - changes are a bit smoother, hillhold works much better, changes are a bit quicker, etc

Plus, with the new Bosch management system, it leaves extra channels free for a couple of tricks, like holding on to the downshift during braking rather than lots of blips

Not sure that constitutes as 'vast'

[SFO]

Jon1967x said:

jonby said:

SFO said:

jonby said:

Sportshift I quite like and ASM3 is a vast improvement over ASM2 (and yes, I have driven them both).

could you elaborate please?

Well there is no question that ASM takes a bit of getting used to - you have to drive it like it's a manual car. But everything in ASM3 is just a bit better, although part of the difference is simply the extra power as you can only compare ASM3 with a V12 to ASM2 in a V8

Also, everything is just a bit better in the 3 - changes are a bit smoother, hillhold works much better, changes are a bit quicker, etc

Plus, with the new Bosch management system, it leaves extra channels free for a couple of tricks, like holding on to the downshift during braking rather than lots of blips

Not sure that constitutes as 'vast'

it is 'vast' in AM development terms

[franki68]

well good news was I drove it,bad news was the vanquish demo had been sold so couldnt drive a vanquish.

Gearbox was fine ,whilst not giving the involvement of a manual it is more involving than a dual clutch ,you get a sense of satisfaction from a well executed change.

Utterly fantastic car,handling felt wonderful and tons more grip than the dbs ,traction on damp roads was not really so much of an issue.

[AdamV12V]

franki68 said:

Gearbox was fine ,whilst not giving the involvement of a manual it is more involving than a dual clutch ,you get a sense of satisfaction from a well executed change.

Utterly fantastic car,handling felt wonderful and tons more grip than the dbs ,traction on damp roads was not really so much of an issue.

Excellent to hear - so are you buying one then?

[JACK6284]

If anybody is looking for a very nice V12S I can confirm that this one is great. Drove it when I went with Grange to Le Mans this year. Price has dropped a bit since then.

http://www.grange.co.uk/used-car-details/aston-mar...

[franki68]

AdamV12V said:

Excellent to hear - so are you buying one then?

Whilst great ,it is not 50k better than my car which is the cost to change ,nor is it anywhere near as good looking ...the Dbs gets you going when you open the garage door ,I didn't feel that with the v12v ,so unlikely ,but never say never