Very close to buying my first Aston Martin. It is 2016 vantage gt with a automatic transmission. My question is, Are they really that bad as far as shifting rough? We love the looks of the car but this will be a daily driver. Thoughts from anyone that has had experience with a automatic in this model?

 

Automated manual transmission, have you driven it yet?

 

No I have not. Sat in it but not driven yet. Hopefully tomorrow.

 

Only you can figure if it's for you, there is plenty of people that enjoy the sport shift transmission. Easy for the average person and you can still run it aggressively to enjoy the wonderful engine sound especially with the top down.

 

But recognise that it is an automated manual, it isn't an 'automatic' like in any other car you will have driven. If you put it in Auto and drive like you would in a conventional automatic, then it will feel terrible. Drive it like a manual, using paddles instead of a lever (stick) between the seats, then you might love it.

 

I have a 2015 GT and bought a sport shift specially so my wife would drive it also, and I actually like it a lot more than I expected (after having all manual cars other than a Cayenne). That said, we drive it 100% in "manual" mode using the paddles, as the automatic "drive" mode is unbearable as others have mentioned (assuming that's what you are referring to when you say "shifting rough"). Off the line the sport shift leaves a lot to be desired compared to the manual, but under full acceleration the shifts are much quicker and seem to be almost as immediate as a dual clutch. Being that this is our weekend GT car, it is really nice to be able to put the top down and cruise without the third pedal. I believe this still applies when using it as a daily driver. Now if I was planning to do some HPDEs, I would have purchased a coupe with a manual. Hope this helps.