Aston Martin Wants To Keep Manual Transmissions Alive After Everyone Else Has Gone Auto
When the Porsche 911 GT3 RS was launched without the option of a manual gearbox, we all thought it was the beginning of the end of for the stick-shift. But every cloud has a silver lining, as Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer told Car and Driver that the manual ‘box is far from dead.
“I’ve already gone on record saying I want to be the last manufacturer in the world to offer a manual sports car,” he said.
Palmer dismissed ideas of moving to a dual-clutch gearbox, which features in the GT3 RS, because “they can’t do anything that a well-tuned automatic can’t”.
Car and Driver also says that Palmer sees Aston expanding to a seven car range, with one engine option per car. He did, however, acknowledge that there may be demand for some engines to cross over.
We’ve already seen the new (and rather beautiful) Aston Martin DB11 at the Geneva motor show, but we’re expecting both the DBX crossover and a replacement for the V8 Vantage to join the range in the near future.
Here’s what happened when we lived with a Vanquish for the day:
Comments
Strange considering the only car they sell with a manual is the Vantage
Why mess wit perfection
This is why I love Aston Martin, they’re one the only purists left in the game:D
porsche too, automatics for speed, manuals for fun
Sad that they didn’t keep the hydraulic steering on the DB11.
Respect :D
Good news
The Dacia Sandero is also manual! 😉
Im proud that my name is Martin :D
Thank you Aston Martin XD
My man
“Next year’s AMG-engined V8 Vantage replacement will stick with a manual transmission.”
I see what you did there!
Take my upvote😀
So when you own one, your gf can touch a stick
This is why I love Aston Martin.
#faithrecovered
I’m definitely happy to hear that they want to keep manuals around. I do understand that automanual transmissions are more efficient and in this generation where all manufacturers are trying to make everything in their cars fast, automanuals seem like the only option. But I’m happy to see that Aston Martin won’t let it disappear.