Aston Martin V-12 Vanquish

For all its advanced technology, the new Aston is no lightweight. It is important to say that straight off because a weight of 4099 pounds explains why it has no chance of beating the Ferrari's performance numbers. Its 5.9-liter V-12, first fitted to the DB7 Vantage model, is in what Aston calls "Stage 2" tune, which means 460 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Its opponent here, the 550 Maranello, has 19 more horsepower and 19 more pound-feet of torque, and the Ferrari is 187 pounds lighter, despite its mainly steel structure. So the Vanquish was vanquished in the acceleration tests.
But since both are among that elite group of superfast cars capable of 0-to-60 blasts in the low-to-mid-four-second realm and of getting to 100 miles an hour in about 10 seconds, the difference between the two is hardly noticeable on public roads. Indeed, in circumstances short of wringing the last few hundred revs and tenths of a second, the Aston can not only feel quicker but actually be so.
The reason is its electrohydraulic gearshift. Ironically, the system is from Magneti Marelli, the same as the one fitted to the Ferrari 360 F1 but never offered for the front-engined Ferraris. It is a six-speed manual transmission that is operated without a clutch pedal or gearshift but rather by paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. At any time, however, the driver can turn over the job of shifting to the computer by simply pushing a button on the dash marked "ASM," for automatic sequential mode.
As in the Ferrari 360, the left-hand paddle marked with a minus sign is to downshift, the right-hand one to upshift. The Vanquish mates the Magneti Marelli system to a hefty Tremec six-speed manual gearbox. Aston has developed its own software, which ensures the smoothest shifts we have encountered with this type of transmission (which has, oddly enough, not been given a name). The shifting is not as roughly abrupt as the 360 F1's system, even in sport mode, which quickens the shifts. The ASM is perfectly acceptable for dawdling around town.
Downshifts at speed are a delight. Flick the left-hand paddle, and the engine's electronic brain not only blips the throttle but also works out how much of a blip is needed for the swiftest and smoothest engagement.
We are sure most drivers will learn to love the system. Only a couple of things about it disappoint. It dithers and jerks when trying to trickle along in second gear; first gear is engaged automatically only when the car comes to a halt. And it makes starting up and getting going less than instantaneous