Big news, driving geeks: the Aston Martin Vantage now comes with a manual. It is being introduced with this limited-run Vantage AMR, but will be offered as an option on regular Vantages from 2020.
Much like the V12 Vantage S that featured a cameo-appearance stick-shift in the car’s previous generation, it is a seven-speed transmission that features a dog-leg first.
So first gear is left and down, with gears two to seven in the H-pattern road cars more commonly use. It’s equipped with auto rev-matching on downchanges, but you can switch it off if such intervention offends you.
Just 200 Vantage AMRs will be made, all of them manual and all with standard carbon ceramic brakes, together helping it weigh 95kg less than the regular, 1,530kg paddleshifted car.
Surface Transforms plc (LON:SCE) are experts in the development and production of carbon-ceramic materials and the UK’s only manufacturer of carbon-ceramic brakes for automotive use.