Astons about town - recommendation for gearbox?

[jayemm89]

Hi all

Trying to help my dad find a new car. Mostly going to be used by his wife for driving about town, with him (and hopefully me) borrowing it on occasion too.

He really likes the V8 Vantage so I drove one of those, really liked it and most importantly thought the manual box was very easy to get on with - no worse than my BMW.

However, they have now thrown me a bit of a curveball and suggested they might prefer an auto as she does mostly town driving. It is my understanding that the V8 Vantage's "auto" is an automated manual, where the DB9's is a proper auto, with a paddleshift on it. Is that right?

If so, what do people think about the two? Is the Sportshift any good as a self-shifter? I recently drove my neighbour's E46 M3 SMG a short while and it was a hideous gearbox when cold.

IF it helps, she is coming from a Z4MC which I think has a relatively heavy clutch and gearbox - at least according to her it does (not tried it myself)

Thanks!
James

[Jon1967x]

The ASM gearbox has steadily improved but in auto it's not great. Most of us drive it as if a manual which you can do pretty smoothly. Slow stop start traffic the box can suffer and be jerky. If she wants the best of both worlds then I'd say get the ASM just don't expect great things in auto world and she may find the ease of use (in manual mode) gives her something between an auto and manual.

Edited by Jon1967x on Sunday 27th April 19:57

[AndyBrew]

Seriously try one, the gearbox is the weak link, I quite enjoy the challenge of the ASM3 but it is a total nightmare in auto mode, I only used it once without the paddles to get me out of Derby the problem being you don't know when it is going to change and thus cannot modulate your throttle accordingly to achieve the non head bobbing gear change lol!

[yeti]

If they want an auto, get an auto which means a DB9, not the Vantage.

It's not complicated. The Vantage is nowhere near as good as the DB9 when used as an autobox, it's pretend vs real! In terms of using either of them in paddle mode, they're really not too different though.

[Jon1967x]

If she's coming from a Z4M with a heavy clutch there's an implication it's the clutch she doesn't want. Ts not like she's been cocooned in other cars.

OP I think it does matter why they've suggest they may want an auto but I think we all agree, as a full auto the ASM is not a good choice.

[jayemm89]

That's what I'm thinking. I know it is a Vantage they want but I am trying to get them to understand what they'll get if they buy an "auto" one.

I personally thought the clutch pedal in the Vantage was fine. It was certainly lighter than the two Porsches I have had.

I have got in touch with Grange Brentwood, my local dealer, to see if they have a Sportshift and a DB9 for comparison. I found them to be very helpful when I popped there last.

With any luck I might be able to talk them into a manual V8, but we'll see.