Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Sportshift | Spotted
You shouldn't be put off by Aston's old automated manual - you should embrace it
I've picked this Aston Martin Vantage V12 S for two reasons. The first is I drove one recently for a PH Heroes feature, and I liked it. Actually, I loved it - a lot. The second motive is that I really do think these are ones to watch from an investment point of view. So while it's £82,000 and that's a lot of money, if you have that sort of stake money knocking around, it could well prove to be cheap motoring.
And I mean motoring - I am not encouraging you to sit on it. I've made my view quite clear on the idea of locking cars away in a sanitised shed waiting for them to double in value. Bah humbug to that sort of pernicious hording heresy. The fact that the V12 S drives so wonderfully - sharpened and lither than the regular V12 - means that it should be darting along country lanes of a Sunday morning, with a big fat smile sat behind the wheel. And smile you will, I promise.
For a start, there's the engine. A V12 that's as crisp-sounding as a spring dawn, and which totally compelling from idle to full chat. It's a facet of the car that'll keep you endlessly entertained, that much I guarantee, as will the performance on offer. The V12 S came with tweaks to the engine management system, CNC-machined combustion chambers and hollow camshafts, and together these changes raised its potential to 573hp and 457lb ft. And being lighter, thanks in part to its Sportshift III transmission, it'll fling you to 62mph in just 3.9 seconds and carry on pulling beyond 200mph.
And don't worry about the Sportshift III denting your enjoyment. It doesn't. It's quicker than you or I would be when it comes to slicing through gears, but still gives you a level of interaction that the technically better (but more digital) dual-clutch transmissions don't. Even if they'd made a manual version of the S, which they didn't, I still wouldn't make it a must-have over this automated manual.
Beyond its mighty performance, I love the way the V12 S drives. It has a quicker rack than the normal V12, which makes it wieldier and keener to hunt for apexes, and the body control - it's ability to deal with the most punishingly grotesque surfaces - marks it out as a truly great driver's car. And a truly great Aston for that matter.
On which point, people's love of the Aston Martin brand, with its rich history and on-screen presence, often leads to words like 'great' being used when less flattering adjectives would do. This isn't one of those cars, though. Because it's an Aston that not only looks the biz, but has a great engine and a great chassis. And that's why they've shot up from £65,000 a couple of years ago, to over £80,000 now. But unlike crypto currencies, where no one seems to have a clue where the ceiling is, how can this not riser further?
After all, they only made 1,278 V12 S coupés, so it's not like there's a great pool to pick from. That's barely 200 more than the original number of DB5's made - and in the right colour, I've heard they're worth a fair bit these days. Fair enough, DB5s will always be the pinup car thanks to the enduring Bond theme, but at least this V12 S, which has covered just 20,000 miles, can claim to be painted in a Bond colour: Quantum Silver, as depicted on the DBS in Quantum of Solace. It's a car that's going places, mark my words, and you should be in it along every step of its journey.
Specification | Aston Martin V12 Vantage S
Engine: 5,935cc, V12, naturally aspirated
Transmission: 7-speed automated manual (Sportshift III), rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 573 @ 6,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 457 lb ft @ 5,750rpm
MPG: 19.3
CO2: 343g/km
First registered: 2014
Recorded mileage: 20,000
Price new: £138,000
Yours for: £81,995
(I’d love one btw)
The SportShift II and III gear boxes (never driven an early SportShift I, so unlike my esteemed colleague above, I can't comment) are brilliant and really suit the Vantage.
I owned a 2014 V8 manual for a year. The 'box is fine. But the ergonomics of the stick position really didn't work for me. So I grudgingly tried a SportShift II on a 2016 V8S and fell in love with the 'box. It's so interactive and lets you concentrate on driving.
All my other cars have been manuals apart from a PDK 2015 Boxster S which was just so boring (the 'box). It was too perfect and didn't really want you to intervene. And the paddle rotated with the wheel which annoyed the hell out of me on tight country lanes and junctions (the gear lever wasn't natural to use).
As others pointed out, there's a 7 speed manual 'box option on later V12S models. But when I lumped for my V12 AMR (the last 100 of the V12S models), I only considered a SportShift 'box and love it to bits. It's also one of the two main reasons I didn't go for a Vanquish S; that car has a full auto which doesn't appeal to me. Plus it's a little wider compared to the brilliantly compact VH-platform Vantage.
With SportShift, you drive 98% of the time with the paddles. Auto/drive mode is OK for crawling traffic. Nothing really bad about it, just not remotely as fun. It's an automated manual and does require some thought to get the best from it. It's a sports car, for heaven's sake! People whinge about a lack of interaction in modern cars, but then whinge even more if they are made to think. <rant over>
But, what do I know...
PS - finally, some light in this article about not copying/pasting the ill-informed tripe about later SportShift boxes!
).And, after owning these Vantages for several years now, they are really robust. Who'd have thunk...
(I’d love one btw)
I would argue the best Aston of this era is the vanquish with a ZF auto
I would argue the best Aston of this era is the vanquish with a ZF auto
The SS1 was awful, the SS2 and SS3 aren't bad when you are used to their quirks, but you have to understand how they work and give a little lift on anything other than a full-bore high-revs shift and how to handle it at junctions, etc.
I've tried the V12 Vantage S with the 7-speed manual and didn't really like it - too fiddley for such a high performance car and easy to mis-shift going across the gate. Might have gotten used to it with practice, but for a few thousand miles a year I wasn't going to pay almost 50% over the trade-in value for my SS3 car to find out.
The box in new Vantage with ZF 8-speed felt a bit dull by comparison.
Got to drive a Rapide and Vanquish back to back with it at Millbrook, of all of them I'd say that the Rapide actually drove the nicest.
At the time I owned a R35 and I I was happy to be driving that home in preference to anything Aston Martin sold in that era.
I look back on the V12 Vantages with fondness now (particularly the S), V12 NA, beautiful to look at, manual option but to me at least I've just never really been able to get past that they weren't quite what I hoped they would be to drive.
With the Vanquish it's actually got very little weight penalty relative the the Vantage and I have it in the box of GT car which means I can forgive it not being a GT4, plus I think it's probably the best looking of the recent Astons to my eye.
Splitting hairs really, all very lovely cars.
Forums | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff