RE: 413-mile Aston Martin Vanquish prototype for sale
Discussion
Ggeo1uk said:
Mark_Blanchard said:
I saw the Vanquish prototype driving in Brunei in June 1998, owned by Prince Jefri. My jaw was on the floor.
If it was 1998 it was my car, Project Vantage, the 1998 concept and engineering prototype. Very different animal The gearbox isn’t as bad as agents touting for manual conversions would have you believe.
Treat it like a manual during up-shifts – ie, completely lift off the accelerator pedal – and *never* sit in stationary traffic, waiting at the lights, etc, while in-gear, always select N. Otherwise the clutch will overheat, and smoke, after approx 4 secs.
It’s the same ‘box as the 575M, with a wee change in software programming: the Vanquish has smoother, faster down-shifts while up-shifts needed ‘managing’. The 575M was the complete opposite.
Treat it like a manual during up-shifts – ie, completely lift off the accelerator pedal – and *never* sit in stationary traffic, waiting at the lights, etc, while in-gear, always select N. Otherwise the clutch will overheat, and smoke, after approx 4 secs.
It’s the same ‘box as the 575M, with a wee change in software programming: the Vanquish has smoother, faster down-shifts while up-shifts needed ‘managing’. The 575M was the complete opposite.
The original gearboxes were garbage, but once they changed to the ones with magnetic sensors, there were no more problems.
I've had a Vanquish for 9 years (which luckily had had the magnetic sensor conversion before I got it) with absolutely zero gearbox problems encountered.
I wish the upholstery that they put into the prototype shown had been extended to the production cars, which I considered the one failing point for the car.
Mine was really cheap and nasty (and I know other VQ owners that feel the same). Had to have the seats re-upholstered along with part of the door trims.
That was when it was only 11 years old. Not what you would expect on a car that was £150k+ new.
I've had a Vanquish for 9 years (which luckily had had the magnetic sensor conversion before I got it) with absolutely zero gearbox problems encountered.
I wish the upholstery that they put into the prototype shown had been extended to the production cars, which I considered the one failing point for the car.
Mine was really cheap and nasty (and I know other VQ owners that feel the same). Had to have the seats re-upholstered along with part of the door trims.
That was when it was only 11 years old. Not what you would expect on a car that was £150k+ new.
SilverSeraph said:
The original gearboxes were garbage, but once they changed to the ones with magnetic sensors, there were no more problems.
I've had a Vanquish for 9 years (which luckily had had the magnetic sensor conversion before I got it) with absolutely zero gearbox problems encountered.
I wish the upholstery that they put into the prototype shown had been extended to the production cars, which I considered the one failing point for the car.
Mine was really cheap and nasty (and I know other VQ owners that feel the same). Had to have the seats re-upholstered along with part of the door trims.
That was when it was only 11 years old. Not what you would expect on a car that was £150k+ new.
Yes the leather is quite disappointing and doesn't seem to wear well. I've had a Vanquish for 9 years (which luckily had had the magnetic sensor conversion before I got it) with absolutely zero gearbox problems encountered.
I wish the upholstery that they put into the prototype shown had been extended to the production cars, which I considered the one failing point for the car.
Mine was really cheap and nasty (and I know other VQ owners that feel the same). Had to have the seats re-upholstered along with part of the door trims.
That was when it was only 11 years old. Not what you would expect on a car that was £150k+ new.
NGK210 said:
The gearbox isn’t as bad as agents touting for manual conversions would have you believe.
Treat it like a manual during up-shifts – ie, completely lift off the accelerator pedal – and *never* sit in stationary traffic, waiting at the lights, etc, while in-gear, always select N. Otherwise the clutch will overheat, and smoke, after approx 4 secs.
.
Sorry but the sitting in traffic bit in gear isn’t true . You can do it . I always select neutral when stationary for any length of time ( as I do in a manual ) but the clutch won’t burn out in 4 secs if you don’t do so. After a certain amount of time the transmission can automatically move to neutral and tells you it has done so . But they prefer not to be stuck in stop start traffic Treat it like a manual during up-shifts – ie, completely lift off the accelerator pedal – and *never* sit in stationary traffic, waiting at the lights, etc, while in-gear, always select N. Otherwise the clutch will overheat, and smoke, after approx 4 secs.
.
ds666 said:
Sorry but the sitting in traffic bit in gear isn’t true . You can do it . I always select neutral when stationary for any length of time ( as I do in a manual ) but the clutch won’t burn out in 4 secs if you don’t do so. After a certain amount of time the transmission can automatically move to neutral and tells you it has done so . But they prefer not to be stuck in stop start traffic
Whoosh Parrot of the Day award: “4 seconds” - I was exaggerating. It was 9 seconds. Only joking 
In London stop-start traffic, especially when waiting for traffic lights to change, the clutch in the Vanquish I drove – which was from Aston’s press fleet – filled the cabin with acrid pongs and wisps of smoke would curl out of the air vents.
There gearbox never auto-selected N when it got hot. But always popping it into N cured the problem.
Apart from the above and the OEM-spec tyres’ wobbly sidewalls, the car was rather lovely
NGK210 said:
ds666 said:
Sorry but the sitting in traffic bit in gear isn’t true . You can do it . I always select neutral when stationary for any length of time ( as I do in a manual ) but the clutch won’t burn out in 4 secs if you don’t do so. After a certain amount of time the transmission can automatically move to neutral and tells you it has done so . But they prefer not to be stuck in stop start traffic
Whoosh Parrot of the Day award: “4 seconds” - I was exaggerating. It was 9 seconds. Only joking In London stop-start traffic, especially when waiting for traffic lights to change, the clutch in the Vanquish I drove – which was from Aston’s press fleet – filled the cabin with acrid pongs and wisps of smoke would curl out of the air vents.
There gearbox never auto-selected N when it got hot. But always popping it into N cured the problem.
Apart from the above and the OEM-spec tyres’ wobbly sidewalls, the car was rather lovely
ds666 said:
Unfortunately your comments perpetuate the nonsense talked about the gearbox - I've never had any clutch smell with mine in thousands of miles , including being stop /start on the motorways and central Paris. But you also need to know how to get the best out of the gearbox , like you said and that includes knowing how to drive it in traffic .
Can only speak as I find / found. The Vanquish I drove was of autumn 2001 vintage. So, as it was a press fleet car, perhaps it was a pre-production model?
In turn, yours probably has revised software / calibration and upgraded friction material?
Edited by NGK210 on Thursday 23 May 20:23
ds666 said:
Mine is nov 2021 , so an early car.
It managed to do 500 miles the other week with no smelly clutch . lol
I should hope so too – if it hasn’t had any gearbox-specific software and calibration updates during the past 23 years, it would be a tad remiss of Aston’s service agents. It managed to do 500 miles the other week with no smelly clutch . lol
BTW, do Vanquish owners deem Bamford Rose’s gearbox upgrades to be effective / worth the £s?
https://bamfordrose.com/road-car-upgrades/classic-...
Ta
The gearbox discussion is, er, interesting. I had a 2005 Vanquish S for 9 years. IMO, it's one of the greatest supercar-GTs ever made. That's what it was designed to be, and it's absolutely superb at it. When properly set up (which is critical), the gearbox works perfectly fine -- if one understands that it is a single-clutch electro-hydraulically operated manual transmission. Always use the paddles. Lift off the throttle a bit when you pull the paddle for an upshift. Get back on the throttle as the clutch re-engages. Time that properly by getting to know the system, and it works quite well. Obviously the shifts aren't super-quick -- it's a 20+ year-old system. As someone who will always prefer 3 pedals and a gear lever to any other transmission, I find it more fun to use than a dual-clutch or torque-converter auto paddle system because it requires quite a bit of driver input to get it to work well. A dual-clutch or torque-converter auto is objectively much better -- but it does all the work, which I find impressive but not engaging. When I got my car I had the 'box set up properly. After that, I had NO trouble with it at all. I live in the the NY Metro area, so I am all too familiar with heavy traffic. Not once did I smell the clutch, even in the very worst traffic. With the magnetic sensors (which were standard on all but the very first S models) it's SO MUCH better than legend would have you believe.
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