Is the 7 speed manual a dog??
Discussion
So I was kindly offered an extended test drive by my friendly dealership for the weekend in their V12 Vantage S Manual Sports Pack Plus car, so I thought I would provide you some of my thoughts.. The weather today was good. A great opportunity to meet up with some of the usual suspects on here (bell ends obviously 
), for a morning drive on some great B roads, and finishing with a pub lunch.
First the positives..
Torque, torque, torque, and more torque!! Probably the single most obvious, and biggest positive for me was the additional torque over the 510BHP engine in my DBS. I found myself having loads of fun short shifting @~4000rpm, just so that I could ride the massive wave of torque again, and again, and again…
Adaptive Suspension - Another significant improvement over the two stage adaptive damping in the DBS. I found that with the three stage, it was actually possible to drive it with the suspension in track mode, something that I couldn’t really do in the DBS, as the firm setting was just waaay too hard for anything but the smoothest of tarmac, which let’s face it, doesn’t really exist on any UK B road.. With that said, I’ll go one further and suggest that you’d never really use or need it at all in the UK. I think the Vantage S is definitely better for it, as the switch gives you the option to firm it up when required rather than having the car setup permanently firm.
AMShift - I actually really really liked AMShift
What a good little electronic aid that is! It sounds amazing, helps keep the car balanced, and will probably extend the clutch life too. Obviously for the driving gods amongst us it would be permanently switched off in favour of some heal and toe action, however with 565BHP under my right foot it really was one less thing for me to get wrong, especially whilst also trying to master the 7 speed manual gearbox.
Not sure if this is a positive or a negative, but I found the V12VSM very pointy. The DBS tends to push wide, so some throttle input quickly tightens the line, however the V12V turns in extremely well so a little too much right foot, too early, could very easily become oversteer. I guess I'm so used to being able to give the DBS a boot full without really having to think too much about doing so. Definitely something that you think about in the V12 Vantage.
Other things I liked??
The short throw gear stick, the lightweight seats (I have sports seats in my DBSV), Apple CarPlay, and finally, the premium audio.
Now the premium audio really did surprise me, and was something I really wanted to try out for myself. I’ve spent a year and ~4000 miles with my B&O setup which I thought was pretty good, but recently there have been comments on here that the premium sounded better. I can now confirm, at least to my ears, that I too prefer the premium audio over the B&O.
Oh, and I nearly forgot the exhaust… Wow… I used to think that the V8’s were the best sounding Astons, but the new exhaust system in the V12 Vantage S sounds amazing! This together with the additional torque and manual gearbox really does make driving the V12 Vantage S a very, very special event.
Now just for a little balance, here are a few of my negative observations.
1st Gear! Not only is it a bit of a nuisance to engage 1st, as you have to push pretty far to the left to get it, but also it is such a short gear that you have to change very quickly into second.. Irritating that was for sure, but maybe, the car is better for it? I mean you then have 6 further gears that are more usable when on the move??
Now that we have the the crappy 1st gear out the way, 3, 4, 5, & 6 were the gears I used the most.. I think 7 gears may be a little unnecessary, and as a result shifting between some of the gears can be awkward (1-2 and 4-3), however on the last 20 miles on more familiar roads, I was finally getting the right gears, all of the time, and that did feel extremely satisfying. It was satisfying almost just because I was mastering something that was unnecessarily awkward.
One other big difference over my DBS was the V12 Vantage S really can feel quite twitchy on uneven surfaces. You really do need to exercise some caution when putting down the power as the car can hop around quite a bit and break traction.
Now for a few very minor (and personal) dislikes… I definitely do not like alcantara, dark headlining, bonnet vents (Mesh or louvres), Vantage S front grille, and the low line centre console..
So to summarise, I think the big things for me with the V12 Vantage S Manual, is the extra power, manual gearbox, adaptive damping, and exhaust. I would really struggle to justify swapping from a 6 speed V12 Vantage, especially as you could probably get upgrades for the power, suspension and exhaust from an indy... Would I have one given the opportunity?? YES!! Totally!! 100%!!
Happy Easter!!
), for a morning drive on some great B roads, and finishing with a pub lunch.First the positives..
Torque, torque, torque, and more torque!! Probably the single most obvious, and biggest positive for me was the additional torque over the 510BHP engine in my DBS. I found myself having loads of fun short shifting @~4000rpm, just so that I could ride the massive wave of torque again, and again, and again…
Adaptive Suspension - Another significant improvement over the two stage adaptive damping in the DBS. I found that with the three stage, it was actually possible to drive it with the suspension in track mode, something that I couldn’t really do in the DBS, as the firm setting was just waaay too hard for anything but the smoothest of tarmac, which let’s face it, doesn’t really exist on any UK B road.. With that said, I’ll go one further and suggest that you’d never really use or need it at all in the UK. I think the Vantage S is definitely better for it, as the switch gives you the option to firm it up when required rather than having the car setup permanently firm.
AMShift - I actually really really liked AMShift
What a good little electronic aid that is! It sounds amazing, helps keep the car balanced, and will probably extend the clutch life too. Obviously for the driving gods amongst us it would be permanently switched off in favour of some heal and toe action, however with 565BHP under my right foot it really was one less thing for me to get wrong, especially whilst also trying to master the 7 speed manual gearbox. Not sure if this is a positive or a negative, but I found the V12VSM very pointy. The DBS tends to push wide, so some throttle input quickly tightens the line, however the V12V turns in extremely well so a little too much right foot, too early, could very easily become oversteer. I guess I'm so used to being able to give the DBS a boot full without really having to think too much about doing so. Definitely something that you think about in the V12 Vantage.
Other things I liked??
The short throw gear stick, the lightweight seats (I have sports seats in my DBSV), Apple CarPlay, and finally, the premium audio.
Now the premium audio really did surprise me, and was something I really wanted to try out for myself. I’ve spent a year and ~4000 miles with my B&O setup which I thought was pretty good, but recently there have been comments on here that the premium sounded better. I can now confirm, at least to my ears, that I too prefer the premium audio over the B&O.
Oh, and I nearly forgot the exhaust… Wow… I used to think that the V8’s were the best sounding Astons, but the new exhaust system in the V12 Vantage S sounds amazing! This together with the additional torque and manual gearbox really does make driving the V12 Vantage S a very, very special event.
Now just for a little balance, here are a few of my negative observations.
1st Gear! Not only is it a bit of a nuisance to engage 1st, as you have to push pretty far to the left to get it, but also it is such a short gear that you have to change very quickly into second.. Irritating that was for sure, but maybe, the car is better for it? I mean you then have 6 further gears that are more usable when on the move??
Now that we have the the crappy 1st gear out the way, 3, 4, 5, & 6 were the gears I used the most.. I think 7 gears may be a little unnecessary, and as a result shifting between some of the gears can be awkward (1-2 and 4-3), however on the last 20 miles on more familiar roads, I was finally getting the right gears, all of the time, and that did feel extremely satisfying. It was satisfying almost just because I was mastering something that was unnecessarily awkward.
One other big difference over my DBS was the V12 Vantage S really can feel quite twitchy on uneven surfaces. You really do need to exercise some caution when putting down the power as the car can hop around quite a bit and break traction.
Now for a few very minor (and personal) dislikes… I definitely do not like alcantara, dark headlining, bonnet vents (Mesh or louvres), Vantage S front grille, and the low line centre console..
So to summarise, I think the big things for me with the V12 Vantage S Manual, is the extra power, manual gearbox, adaptive damping, and exhaust. I would really struggle to justify swapping from a 6 speed V12 Vantage, especially as you could probably get upgrades for the power, suspension and exhaust from an indy... Would I have one given the opportunity?? YES!! Totally!! 100%!!
Happy Easter!!
Little Donkey said:
Would be interesting to see what your thoughts would be having spent the same time with a sportshift.
Hello Greg.. Second in class?? Really? Anyway, for me there would be very little point in testing out the sport shift car as it would be a little too similar an experience to my DBS Volante that has the touchtronic automatic box in it. The V12 Vantage S Manual however is a very tempting proposition for me especially if I can have it along side the DBS. I think that the two cars will complement each other really well.. The DBS being for GT duties, and the Manual Vantage on Sunday morning's for a blast through the countryside.. Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff