Aston Martin introduces new 8-speed gearbox for Vanquish and Rapide S

British sports carmaker Aston Martin, today, revealed details of important enhancements to two of the brand’s most popular and successful sports cars - the Vanquish ultimate GT and Rapide S four-door sports car.

The new Touchtronic III eight-speed automatic gearbox can be found in both Vanquish and Rapide S – the first time that this state-of-the-art gearbox has been incorporated into a transaxle layout. Aston Martin is improving every major area of the cars’ performance and fuel economy. Company engineers have worked closely with its technical partner, ZF, to develop the eight-speed technology and incorporate it perfectly into the latest generation Aston Martin VH architecture.

The new gearbox results in improved acceleration timings for both the cars. The Vanquish now accelerates from 0-60mph (96kmph) in 3.6 seconds as compared to the 4.1 seconds earlier The Rapide S now does the same run in only 4.2 seconds (4.4 seconds 0-100 kmph) – also down by a full half second from its previous figure of 4.7 seconds. These figures confirm Vanquish as the quickest accelerating series production Aston Martin in the company’s 101-year history.

Ian Minards, Product Development Director at Aston Martin, explained: “We have a long and successful technical partnership with ZF and so it was a natural step for us to adapt and integrate their world class 8HP transmission in to our transaxle layout.

“This has been a detailed piece of work involving careful consideration of many technical parameters including gear ratios, software integration and shifting strategies.  This has delivered a significant step change in both vehicle performance and economy whilst preserving the unique Aston Martin V12 driving experience.”

Aston Martin has the Rapide S and the Vanquish S on sale in India. While we may not get the Vanquish ultimate GT edition, the Rapide S with update gearbox will soon be available.  

Source:WCF