Aston Martin V8 Vantage features new Sportshift gearbox

Aston Martin V8 Vantage features new Sportshift gearbox

Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the smallest in the family of British super-cars, will soon get a new manumatic gearbox — an automated manual transmission with shorter shift times and three driving modes: Auto Drive, Reverse and Neutral.

The gearbox comes with the Paddle Shift Mode system which lets the driver change gears quick and easy using lightweight magnesium paddles set just behind the steering wheel.

Aston Martin V8 Vantage (interior)

The Sportshift automatic transmission is claimed to be about three times faster than the current manual gearbox and takes only 200 m/s to change the gear.

The most interesting mode of the Sportshift is its unique ‘crawl’ feature, which is reducing the V8 Vantage’s maximum speed to only 4 mph and makes it much easier to park the car.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage equipped with the Sportshift gearbox features the same 175 mph of maximum speed, but accelerates slightly faster than its sibling with an ordinary manual transmission.

Photos: Aston Martin

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