As you may or may not have heard, Aston Martin has announced that they will be making the Vantage AMR pretty soon. But, more importantly, that it will have a manual gearbox (rejoice!). That’s right, very soon we will be seeing three pedals instead of two inside of Aston’s entry-level machine. Unfortunately, though, only 200 of this rare breed of a car will be made, for now at least.
The Vantage AMR will feature Aston Martin’s 7-speed dog-leg gearbox. As a result, the car now weighs 95 kilograms less than the ordinary Vantage. Less weight, of course, means that this car will be even more spritely than before. The top speed is unchanged at 314 km/h and the same AMG-sourced 4.0-litre, 503 HP (375 kW), twin-turbo V8 engine will be housed under the bonnet. 0-100 km/h will take 3.9 seconds instead of 3.6 seconds as a result of the manual changing of gears.
Creating the car didn’t simply entail replacing the auto gearbox with a manual one, though. As part of the manual offering, you will get no-lift upshifts and selectable active rev-matching to ensure for a more entertaining drive. The driving modes of Sport, Sport+ and Track have also been calibrated to suit the manual better, as well as the car’s limited-slip diff.
Curious what specifications are available for the Vantage AMR? Well, Aston Martin tells us here:
“Limited to 200 units, Vantage AMR is available in five designer specifications. One-hundred and forty-one of those 200 will be available in either Sabiro Blue, Onyx Black, China Grey or White Stone. In contrast, the final 59 will be crafted in celebration of the 60th anniversary since Aston Martin’s triumphant 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans victory with DBR1. Named “Vantage 59,” this fixed specification features a Stirling Green and Lime exterior paint scheme and Dark Knight leather and Alcantara interior, finished with a signature AMR lime stripe and stitch.”
You’ll be glad to know that once all 200 of these AMRs have been produced, the manual gearbox will be offered in the standard V8 Vantage too. Hopefully, we will see a few of these cars reach our South African shores, too.
