Aston Martin Cygnet

Which Aston Martin Cygnet to buy: 1.3 MT vs 1.3 CVT

If you are choosing an Aston Martin Cygnet, the catalogue has one generation (2011–2013), one body (Mini 3-doors), and two versions: 1.3 MT and 1.3 CVT. Both share the same 1329 cm³ Gasoline engine, 98 hp, 125 Nm, FWD, 988 kg kerb weight, and 170 km/h top speed.

Which Aston Martin Cygnet to buy: 1.3 MT vs 1.3 CVT

If you are choosing an Aston Martin Cygnet, the catalogue has one generation (2011–2013), one body (Mini 3-doors), and two versions: 1.3 MT and 1.3 CVT. Both share the same 1329 cm³ Gasoline engine, 98 hp, 125 Nm, FWD, 988 kg kerb weight, and 170 km/h top speed. The buy decision is not “which generation” or “which engine size.” It is which gearbox you want, and what that gearbox does to 0–100, mpg-style consumption, CO2, and tank range.

There is no second generation to wait for, no restyling generation to treat as a different car, and no V8 or V12 version in this dataset. Searches for Cygnet V8, V12, Super Cygnet, engine swap, and USA sale prices are common; they are not numbers you can use to pick a stock catalogue car here. What you can pick is 1.3 MT or 1.3 CVT.

Cygnet generations: what actually changed

1 generation (2011-01-01 to 2013-12-31) is the whole production window. Body: Mini 3-doors. Versions in this generation: 2 (1.3 MT, 1.3 CVT). Both versions start and stop on the same dates. Nothing in the data shows a later generation with more power, a different drive layout, or a different kerb weight. Arithmetic between generations is therefore empty: there is no later car that buys you extra horsepower, extra gears, or extra tank volume.

What “changed” inside the generation is the gearbox line only. Engine output, displacement, cylinder count, layout, boost, drive, weights, ground clearance, and tank are identical. If a listing is labelled Cygnet without a gearbox, treat 1.3 MT and 1.3 CVT as the two real forks, not as two eras.

Engine specs that do not help you choose (because they match)

Use this block when a seller talks “engine bay,” “1.3 engine,” or “horsepower” as if one car were stronger.

Shared engine facts (both versions): front, transverse; distributed injection (multi-point); compression 11.5; bore × stroke 72.5 × 80.5; fuel 95. Eco class: not measured on both.

Power per litre is the same: 98 hp ÷ 1.329 L ≈ 73.7 hp/L. Kerb weight per horsepower is the same: 988 kg ÷ 98 hp ≈ 10.08 kg/hp. Gross weight per horsepower: 1290 ÷ 98 ≈ 13.16 kg/hp. Payload is the same: 1290 − 988 = 302 kg. None of those ratios picks a winner. The gearbox does.

Performance and economy: where the two versions actually differ

1.3 CVT reaches 100 km/h 0.2 s sooner (11.6 vs 11.8). That is about 1.7% less time. Top speed does not move: both 170 km/h. So if the question is “Cygnet top speed,” gearbox does not buy speed.

1.3 MT uses less fuel on every measured cycle:

• City: 5.8 vs 6.1 → 1.3 CVT uses 0.3 more (+5.2%).
• Highway: 4.5 vs 4.6 → 1.3 CVT uses 0.1 more (+2.2%).
• Mixed: 5 vs 5.2 → 1.3 CVT uses 0.2 more (+4.0%).
• CO2: 116 vs 120 → 1.3 CVT is 4 g/km higher (+3.4%).

The extra consumption is largest in the city cycle, which is the cycle that matches a Mini 3-doors FWD city car better than a highway sprint.

Tank is 32 L on both. Mixed-cycle range from that tank:

• 1.3 MT: 32 ÷ 5 × 100 = 640 km
• 1.3 CVT: 32 ÷ 5.2 × 100 ≈ 615 km

Difference: about 25 km less mixed range on 1.3 CVT. City range: 1.3 MT 32 ÷ 5.8 × 100 ≈ 552 km; 1.3 CVT 32 ÷ 6.1 × 100 ≈ 525 km (~27 km less). Highway: 1.3 MT ≈ 711 km; 1.3 CVT ≈ 696 km (~15 km less).

Wheel size: not measured on either version. Do not treat “Cygnet wheel size” searches as a spec you can compare here.

Dimensions, weight, chassis: still a tie

Curb/kerb weight in this catalogue is 988 kg for both. There is no heavier CVT line in the data, so you cannot argue that 1.3 CVT “weighs more” or that 1.3 MT is the light one. Ground clearance 135 mm is shared; payload 302 kg is shared. Body type does not split: Mini 3-doors only.

Overall length/width/height: not measured in the given data. “Cygnet dimensions” and “Cygnet size” as exterior millimetres are not measured here; weight, clearance, and tank are.

Which version to buy and why

Buy 1.3 MT if the numbers you care about are mpg-style use, CO2, and tank range. It is the 6-speed Manual, FWD, same 98 hp / 125 Nm 1329 cm³ Gasoline engine, 0–100 in 11.8 s, mixed 5, city 5.8, highway 4.5, CO2 116, mixed range from 32 L about 640 km. Versus 1.3 CVT you give up 0.2 s to 100 km/h and you keep 0.2 mixed, 0.3 city, 0.1 highway, and 4 g/km CO2. That is the only “extra” the other car buys in this table, and it is not power.

Buy 1.3 CVT if the 0.2 s 0–100 gap is the whole point and you accept Variable instead of 6-speed Manual. Same engine, same 170 km/h, same 988/1290 kg, same 135 mm, same 32 L. Gears on 1.3 CVT: not measured (do not invent a ratio count). You pay +4% mixed fuel, +5.2% city fuel, +3.4% CO2, and about 25 km less mixed range from the same tank. There is no hp, Nm, or drive upgrade attached to that line.

Do not buy “the V8 Cygnet” or “the V12 Cygnet” from this catalogue. Those names are search traffic, not versions in the data. Engine size here is 1329 cm³ on both cars. Horsepower is 98 on both. A stock pick is 1.3 MT vs 1.3 CVT, not a different cylinder count.

Do not use generation as a filter. 1 generation, two versions, same years. A 2011 1.3 MT and a 2013 1.3 MT are not separated by a restyle generation in this dataset. Compare gearbox, not model year as if it were a new platform.

Price and “what the extra money buys.” MSRP, for-sale USA, and asking prices are not in the data, so money cannot be a measured input. What is measured is what the other version buys in physics: 1.3 CVT buys 0.2 s; 1.3 MT buys lower consumption, lower CO2, and more kilometres from 32 L. If a seller prices 1.3 CVT above 1.3 MT, the catalogue numbers say that premium is not extra horsepower, not extra top speed, not extra payload, and not extra tank.

Versus Toyota iQ / Scion iQ / Smart. Those names are not in this dataset. You cannot rank Cygnet against them on hp, weight, or mpg from these figures. Stay inside 1.3 MT vs 1.3 CVT.

Short rule: same 98 hp Mini 3-doors FWD car twice. 1.3 MT = 6 Manual, 11.8 s, mixed 5, CO2 116. 1.3 CVT = Variable, 11.6 s, mixed 5.2, CO2 120. If you want the lower-use car, take 1.3 MT. If you want the slightly shorter 0–100 time and a Variable gearbox, take 1.3 CVT. Everything else on the spec sheet is a tie.