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Aston Martin V12 Vantage S gains manual option, but not for Australia – UPDATE

UPDATE: Australia has, for now, been ruled out for this new manual option. See full update at bottom of article. 


Aston Martin has announced that customers in the market for its 2017 V12 Vantage S will now have the chance to order the performance hero with a manual gearbox.

The British car maker says the more ‘traditional’ style of transmission will be a welcome sight for driving enthusiasts, with the gearbox featuring a classic dog-leg first gear, grouping the most used gears together in a double ‘H’ pattern.

The manual option will also feature the AMSHIFT system, a driver-selectable option that can mimic heel-and-toe downshifting as well as full-throttle upshifts.

Aston Martin claims that, regardless of which gearbox is transmitting power from the 6.0-litre V12 engine, the Vantage S will hit 100km/h in just 3.9 seconds. Both shifters will facilitate a top speed of 330km/h.

“Broadening the scope of the V12 Vantage S with a manual transmission option is an indication of our desire to offer the keenest drivers a more analogue and immersive machine to enjoy,” Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer said in a statement this week.

“At a time when manual transmissions have almost entirely disappeared in performance cars, this makes the manual V12 Vantage S a very special car indeed.”

In Europe, the Vantage V12 S supercar’s manual transmission will be offered as a no-cost option - which, in a sense, means that buyers will pay as much for a manual as they do for an auto, despite manual models usually being the more affordable option.

Also on offer will be a new Sport-Plus Pack, which features a number of changes inside and out. Five new body colours are on the menu, which can be combined with a number of no-cost optional accent colours for the grille lipstick, side sills, mirror caps and rear diffuser. Ten-spoke graphite-finish alloy wheels complete the package.

Australia - and New Zealand 

A spokesperson for Aston Martin in Australia has confirmed that, "at this stage", there is no plan to offer the manual-equipped V12 Vantage S alongside the current automatic model locally.

New Zealand buyers, however, can expect "a limited run" of the new manual variants. Exact numbers were not offered, and it is unclear why Australia will go without. CarAdvice is seeking clarification on this point.

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