2015 Aston Martin Vanquish, Vanquish Volante & Rapide S updated with new 8-speed ZF gearbox

The 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish (pictured) upgraded

It really is astonishing how Aston Martin keep managing to upgrade their cars despite a platform and engine that are more than a decade old. But they do, and the tweaks for 2015 for the aston Martin Vanquish (and Vanquish Volante) as we ll as the 4-door Rapide S are all quite impressive.

Most notably, Aston Martin finally ditch their ancient 6-speed auto ‘box in favour of a new 8-speed ZF auto shifter - Touchtronic III – which cleverly adds an extra pair of cogs without needing a new housing (and all the work that would entail), improves economy and boosts performance.

The new ZF ‘box – the first time this ZF ‘box has been fitted in a transaxle layout – not only offers more cogs but boosts performance, with the Vanquish now getting to 60mph in 3.6 seconds (0-62mph in 3.8s) and the Rapide S in 4.2 seconds (o-62mph 4.4s), and improvement of 0.5s for both cars.

There are also a choice of Drive and Drive Sport modes together with Paddle Shift and Paddle Shift Sport to give more control over the drive depending on your mood.

A change to the final drive ratios coupled with the new gearbox also means that both cars can top 200mph, but despite this the official economy has improved to 31mpg (think half that in the real world) and emissions to 298g/km for the Vanquish and 300g/k for the Rapide S.

Further performance improvements come courtesy of reduced back pressure in the exhaust, adding 3bhp to the output which is now 568bhp in the Vanquish and 552bhp in the Rapide S.

Ian Minards, Product Development Director, said:

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.

Other changes include a revised torque tube reduces transmission noise, a revised DSC is set up to work with the new ‘box, the steering is tweaked for better response, the Vanquish gets stiffer dampers, the Rapide S gets bigger front brakes and both cars get retuned brake booster and new rear suspension bushes.

Cosmetic tweaks include new 10-spoke alloys, new paint colours – including Diavalo Red from the V12 Zagato – new leather choices and an new headlining options.

Marek Reichman, Aston’s DEsign Director, said:

More bold and dynamic interior and exterior treatments are the perfect offering for customers of the latest models.

It is, of course, possible to add more colour to our cars while maintaining Aston Martin’s reputation for elegance and beauty, and I’m very happy to see this enhanced and extended colour palette offered to our loyal customers around the world.

The 2015 Aston Martin Vanquish, Vanquish Volante and Rapide S go in to production in Q3 2014 and promise to be an impressive improvement on the current models.

The 2015 Aston Martin Rapide S (pictured) gets a new ZF 8-speed ‘box

By Cars UK