Paris Auto Show: V8 Vantage without a clutch pedal

Aston Martin V8 Vantage paddle shifters - Aston Martin

For those who want to drive a V8 Vantage but don't want to do their own clutchwork, Aston Martin introduced a Sportshift Vantage coupe at the Paris show. It's not a fancy dual-clutch setup like Audi's DSG. Rather, Aston Martin has taken the existing six-speed manual gearbox and fitted it with electro-hydraulic control and column-mounted magnesium paddle shifters. Eighteen months of development work went into this modification, and shifts come three time faster than with the regular manual, says the company... Additionally, there's a low-speed crawl feature to minimize the jerkiness at low speeds when you're just trying to park the car without scraping the pretty wheels -- always a good thing.