Friday 29th September 2006

Aston's paddle steamer

New automated manual 'box for V8 Vantage

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Paddles Jim

Aston Martin chose Paris to launch its new "Automated Manual" Transmission for the V8 Vantage. It's called the "Sportshift".

The system adds electo-hydraulic control to the standard six speed 'box and it controlled by paddles behind the steering wheel.

Aston's top bod, Dr Ulrich Bez raved: “Sportshift offers a truly engaging and rewarding driving experience giving an even greater performance feel. It is the sporting choice which we have developed to perfectly suit the inherent characteristics of the Vantage.”

Aston engineers have been developing it for 18 months at Nardo in Italy and the N?rburgring.

The system also comes with a low speed ‘crawl’ feature, which acts as a manoeuvring aid, gently engaging the clutch to move the car up to 4mph – allowing the driver to focus on positioning rather than throttle control when parking. Additionally, Sportshift includes a user-selected ‘Auto Drive’ mode, which, when operated, takes full control of the timing of all changes.

 

[GTRene]

I hope its a good box, then I welcome it...and better then the box showed in Top Gear, but I think it is...hope soon comes with more info about that, lets wait the outcome.
GTRene

[mrenaut]

What's the 'N?rburgring' ??

[anonymous-user]

mrenaut said:

What's the 'N?rburgring' ??

That thingy in G?rmany :wibble:

[GetCarter]

>>> allowing the driver to focus on positioning rather than throttle control when parking <<<<

This would be really useful when reversing uphill round a corner (which I do a lot!). At the moment it's a pain.

[spice]

no creep/crawl in a DB9 1st gear throttle very sensative, you need a little creep on an auto, nice in traffic just to use the brake, shame the trim still falls apart doh!

[Rednut05]

Well Carter, live off a normal street then!

[williamp]

Rednut05 said:

Well Carter, live off a normal street then!

Its not that, but his career is a driving instructor, and thats one of the manoeveurs they need to do...

[dvs_dave]

Systems like this are nothing more than an expensive gimmick. Very lazy effort on the part of AM. They should offer a conventional auto (big market for this, especially in the US) and a manual, and eventually replace the auto with a dual clutch system when they can buy in or develop one suitable.

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

Edited by dvs_dave on Friday 29th September 21:04

[anonymous-user]

dvs_dave said:

Systems like this are nothing more than an expensive gimmick. Very lazy effort on the part of AM. They should offer a conventional auto (big market for this, especially in the US) and a manual, and eventually replace the auto with a dual clutch system when they can buy in or develop one suitable.

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

Disagree, as it depends on the car and driver. My misses has this in her Smart ForFour - it's great. She's not happy driving a manual, but having this means you don't have the same loss of torque as an auto. It's also much lighter and cheaper than a full dual system like the DSG.
p.s. whether it's completely suitable for the Aston is another matter!

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 30th September 00:10

[Polarbert]

williamp said:

Rednut05 said:

Well Carter, live off a normal street then!

Its not that, but his career is a driving instructor, and thats one of the manoeveurs they need to do...

I'd take lessons all over again if it was in an Aston!

[dvs_dave]

dod said:

dvs_dave said:

Systems like this are nothing more than an expensive gimmick. Very lazy effort on the part of AM. They should offer a conventional auto (big market for this, especially in the US) and a manual, and eventually replace the auto with a dual clutch system when they can buy in or develop one suitable.

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

Disagree, as it depends on the car and driver. My misses has this in her Smart ForFour - it's great. She's not happy driving a manual, but having this means you don't have the same loss of torque as an auto. It's also much lighter and cheaper than a full dual system like the DSG.
p.s. whether it's completely suitable for the Aston is another matter!

Edited by dod on Saturday 30th September 00:10

Smart ForFour.... We all know what they say about those Smart gearboxes......utter shite.

[Dr S]

Will be a good business for Aston. First they sell the auto box for a hefty premium over the manual and then the same customers need to buy new clutches very 10k miles...

[mjk1]

Hope the hydraulic rams have more luck finding second on a cold morning than I do. But then again, how long will the gearbox last, not too much mechanical sympathy from a hydraulic ram.

[Al 450]

dvs_dave said:

Systems like this are nothing more than an expensive gimmick. Very lazy effort on the part of AM. They should offer a conventional auto (big market for this, especially in the US) and a manual, and eventually replace the auto with a dual clutch system when they can buy in or develop one suitable.

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

Edited by dvs_dave on Friday 29th September 21:04

How about no transmission losses like a torque converter auto box? Also ASM changes gear much faster than a human possibly could, and the car is therefore faster. A significant advantage over both I believe.

[anonymous-user]

dvs_dave said:

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

So that explains why all of the F1 cars use this, and most of the latest Ferrari road cars...and by the BMW SMG system as well!

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 1st October 23:09

[DJC]

dod said:

dvs_dave said:

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

So that explains why all of the F1 cars use this, and most of the latest Ferrari road cars...and by the BMW SMG system as well!

Edited by dod on Sunday 1st October 23:09

Well the BMW system has been universally panned as w@nk, so not a great advert there! Ferrari use the system simply so they can say "F1 in our cars!" no more, no less. Selling the illusion of playing Michael Schumacher, which lets be honest, an awful lot of ppl are quite happy spending a few grand to do so and fair play to them. F1 cars use them because the software now allows extremely fast gearchanges in a world where "extremely fast" is an entirely different concept!

On the road, the systems arent needed and the extra speed of the that gearchange isnt needed and will not be required/used 99% of the time. You want brutal fast gearchanges, be prepared for a not exactly uber smooth mechanical process and much shortened component lifespan.

Aston dont have the F1 image to sell and they have only just got back into GT racing so the no1. PR/raison d'etre selling pt of the system doesnt exist.

Have played with the flappy paddles on the Vanquish and didnt feel either bad or good about them to be honest, but I generally always prefer changes gears via a mechanical shift, I like the action. If some ppl prefer changing gear using paddled on a wheel then if they want to pay for it good for them.

[scuderia55]

DJC said:

dod said:

dvs_dave said:

Auto-manuals are the Betamax of gearboxes and offer no real world advantages over a conventional manual or auto box.

So that explains why all of the F1 cars use this, and most of the latest Ferrari road cars...and by the BMW SMG system as well!

Edited by dod on Sunday 1st October 23:09

Well the BMW system has been universally panned as w@nk, so not a great advert there! Ferrari use the system simply so they can say "F1 in our cars!" no more, no less. Selling the illusion of playing Michael Schumacher, which lets be honest, an awful lot of ppl are quite happy spending a few grand to do so and fair play to them. F1 cars use them because the software now allows extremely fast gearchanges in a world where "extremely fast" is an entirely different concept!

On the road, the systems arent needed and the extra speed of the that gearchange isnt needed and will not be required/used 99% of the time. You want brutal fast gearchanges, be prepared for a not exactly uber smooth mechanical process and much shortened component lifespan.

Aston dont have the F1 image to sell and they have only just got back into GT racing so the no1. PR/raison d'etre selling pt of the system doesnt exist.

Have played with the flappy paddles on the Vanquish and didnt feel either bad or good about them to be honest, but I generally always prefer changes gears via a mechanical shift, I like the action. If some ppl prefer changing gear using paddled on a wheel then if they want to pay for it good for them.

I have to agree with DJC. I have driven an Audi equipped with the direct shift gear system for the last year and would not buy another paddle shift / triptronic car. How can this AM system be 'engaging' if its electro hydraulic? Fully automated micro-second gear changes are fine but i really dont think micro-seconds are relevant at 'amatuer' level. Its a shame the BMW M3 CSL only comes with SMG!!

[anonymous-user]

Contrary to what the mags and TV reviews might have you believe, SMG is not a flawed system. I've done 18k in my CSL and believe that SMG is a large part of what makes the car so fantastic. I love it - if the Aston system is even marginally better it will be stunning.

[DJC]

jweedon said:

Contrary to what the mags and TV reviews might have you believe, SMG is not a flawed system. I've done 18k in my CSL and believe that SMG is a large part of what makes the car so fantastic. I love it - if the Aston system is even marginally better it will be stunning.

Who mentioned it was flawed? I said it was panned as w@nk. Please, if you are going to argue against the statement, at least get the level of criticism correct! Flawed is something like a DB7, looks stunning, underpowered and ultimately underwhelming, "w@nk" means its just plain crap. Which given that the CSL was just an excuse by BMW for a p1ss poor raping of a proper model in their history, is rather fitting.

[anonymous-user]

djc said:

Who mentioned it was flawed? I said it was panned as w@nk. Please, if you are going to argue against the statement, at least get the level of criticism correct! Flawed is something like a DB7, looks stunning, underpowered and ultimately underwhelming, "w@nk" means its just plain crap. Which given that the CSL was just an excuse by BMW for a p1ss poor raping of a proper model in their history, is rather fitting.

Its a real shame to read such jaundiced comments. Its true to say that SMG is not an easy system to master, it takes experience to get the best out of it. I've not driven a car with DSG but have read a number of reviews that say it is almost too smooth and can make the driver feel remote from the action.

SMG isnt like that. If you get it right, it's fantastic, if you are clumsy it will make you look like a chump. You really have to think ahead when driving as you cannot simply slip or dip the clutch to cover up a poorly timed change. Personally I like the challenge ... and when you aren't up for it you can put it into 'Auto'.

Each to there own re:your general comments on the CSL. After 18 months of ownership I'd still make the same choice, and its not often that I've felt like that about a car.