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Aston and Jag from James Bond Spectre have at it

Daniel Craig hasn't made a bad James Bond film yet. Spectre is his next step into the iconic role that's due to hit theaters on November 6, and it doesn't look likely to ruin his streak. Still, that's a long wait for such an exciting movie. If you're willing to possibly spoil just a little for yourself, a new featurette shows part of one of the big car chases right now. From what we've seen so far, the chase through Rome in Spectre has earned a good amount of screen time. While the reason for it in the plot is a mystery, that doesn't really matter anyway. What's important is that the scene stars Bond in the Aston Martin DB10 and a villain played by Dave Bautista in the now supercharged V8-powered version of the Jaguar C-X75 racing around the Italian capital's tight streets at night. This clip gives a glimpse at some of the work necessary to get the difficult filming completed. We've seen some of that effort before, though, when footage of the preparation for one shot leaked out. Craig reportedly sustained a pretty bad bump on the head during the shooting, and an earlier rumor also suggested that Bond might get behind the wheel of a Fiat 500 at some point in the scene.

Aston Martin to keep the faith with V12, manual transmission

Downsized engines and dual-clutch transmissions may be the way the industry is heading, but Aston Martin is more deeply rooted in the past than most. Which could explain – at least in part – why the British automaker is planning on sticking with V12 engines and manual transmissions for the foreseeable future. After speaking with Aston's new chief executive Andy Palmer at the Geneva Motor Show last week, Car and Driver reports that Gaydon is in no rush to get rid of the building blocks that have made it what it is today. And that means continuing to evolve its VH architecture, twelve-cylinder engine and six-speed manual gearbox. The company is working to develop a new platform and is collaborating on a new twin-turbo V8 with Mercedes-AMG. But those are still several years out, and Aston doesn't plan to wait that long before rolling out new models. Before the new AMG-powered Vantage is ready, C/D reports that Aston will introduce the replacement for the DB9 that will still be based on the VH platform and pack an evolution of the company's ubiquitous and long-serving 6.0-liter V12. "That platform was definitely far ahead of its time," Palmer told C/D. "It should have been described as a modular architecture, like [VW's] MQB or one of the other systems big manufacturers have adopted. We're always making excuses about it being an old platform, but if you were to compare the original VH platform to today's there's an enormous transformation. And it's a great way to build cars in the volumes that we do." The platform and the engine aren't the only old-school technologies Palmer is intent to keep. While Ferrari and Lamborghini do away with the manual altogether, and even Porsche goes PDK-only on the 911 GT3 and GT3 RS, Aston isn't giving up its clutch pedal any time soon. "I would love to be the last car manufacturer providing stick shifts in the U.S.," said Palmer. "That's my hope, we will keep the faith." Of course part of that could come down to Aston not having a dual-clutch transmission to offer, while its antiquated sequential gearbox lags behind the times. But it will likely gain access to Mercedes transmissions along with the engine deal.

Chris Harris pits Aston GT12 vs 911 GT3 RS vs McLaren 650S

The Geneva Motor Show is never lacking in exciting performance machinery. And this year was no exception. Our eyes, like those of Chris Harris, were drawn by two hardcore, track-focused versions of existing sports cars. Both wore the name GT3, and now Harris has brought them together for a supercar shootout. And he's thrown one more in for good measure. Those natural rivals are the Aston Martin Vantage GT12 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, the latter manufacturer having pressed the former to drop the GT3 name to which it claims exclusive domain. There's a great deal that separates them, of course: one's got a V12 up front, the other a flat-six way in the back. But what binds them together is a common approach of taking an existing model, stripping it down, and tightening everything up to make it more of a weapon than a grand tourer. What that means in the Aston's case is a rather high price tag, much higher than that of the Porsche. But scarce demand and speculation on the open market have left British customers, at least, paying as much for the GT3 RS as for the limited-edition Aston. And that takes both into proper supercar territory. So to show what else that kind of money can get you, Monkey has brought along a McLaren. Not the similarly track-focused 675LT, but the standard 650S... Spider, no less, and with worn hard rubber. So which one performs best on the road? Which clocks the fastest lap time on the track? And which gets Harris' vote? You'll have to watch the video for yourself to find out, but it's well worth the 25 minutes of your lunch break. News Source: Chris Harris on Cars via YouTube Aston Martin McLaren Porsche Videos porsche 911 gt3 chris harris mclaren 650s