ecurie25's Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Buying a supercar can be a tricky and expensive affair.
Tricky because with so many dream machines to choose from, making a choice is hard. There is also a chance that you'll end up getting something that might not live up to your expectations, and that means you'll be looking to sell it.
Expensive because of depreciation. No matter what you buy today, you will lose a hefty amount a year down the road, in addition to the usual service, insurance and fuel costs.
Add the fact you wouldn't use it as an everyday car, and it means you get little fun out of it. So owning a supercar can be downright impossible and for most if us, it's simply not an option. However, now there is a way to enjoy not just one, but several supercars, and all for a very reasonable price.
The solution comes from Ecurie25, Britain's newest supercar club. Describing itself as the “Intelligent Supercar Ownership” experience, for an annual fee of £8,000, you can spend time with a growing number of supercars from its fleet. The club has sorted the cars into three categories, differentiated by the number of points it costs you to hire a car. The cheaper the car, the more time you can spend driving it. Using your points equally among categories will see you motoring about 35 days a year.
All this driving fun, and you don't even have to worry about taking the car down to the garage for an oil change. Plus there is the personal service Ecurie25 provide, like picking up or dropping off your car at your convenience.
The experience
And that is how my time with Ecurie25 started. Flying in from Canada, I was collected from Heathrow Airport by marketing director Flora Heathcote who brought with her the lovely new Aston Martin V8 Vantage. As an experience to remember, being picked up from the airport in an Aston Martin makes you feel you have truly arrived.
Arrived and in the middle of a traffic jam and it took over an hour to get to Ecurie25's head office on Old Street, where I met MD Erik Fairbairn who had made all the arrangements for the day.
Having driven a Vanquish in the past and spent quite a lot of time with the DB9, I was really looking forward to seeing what the baby Aston was all about. One of the world's prettiest cars, it just makes you smile to look at it. It looked particularly good in Meteorite Silver paint -- a dark gun-metal grey.
Unlike Mr. Bond, I didn't feel quite as cool and composed as I headed out in London traffic. First of all, the clutch is heavy as is the gearbox and both took some getting used to, as did the London traffic. If it weren't for the car's excellent navigation system, I would still be lost somewhere in the capital.
The inevitable 911 question
Onto the motorway then, I felt much more relaxed and it didn't take long to answer two vital questions: yes, it sounds fantastic, and no, this car is not better than a Porsche 911.
First of all, full credit to Aston Martin for making such a beautiful car, which not only looks and sounds great, and handles very well. However, the 911 is still the better car to drive overall. While the 911 feels more fluid in all its controls and everything feels in harmony, there are a few things about the Aston that just aren't in sync.
As well as the clutch and gearbox, both of which are not as smooth as the 911's, there's the ride quality. You expect it to be a sporting GT car with a smooth ride with good body control, but not an out and out racer. The V8 Vantage however has a very stiff ride, which makes you feel every little tar-line and crack on the road, and there is more tyre noise when cruising than you'd expect from a car of this kind.
However, I would like to point out, that when you start driving it with a bit more vigour, things seem to flow better and the car feels more natural. After all, this car spent a lot of time being fettled on the famous Nürburgring. So take it by the scruff of its neck, and it plays its game better.
Yet the more time you spend with this car, the better it gets. Like a friendship that grows better with time, I really did start falling in love with it. Technically it might not be as sorted as the 911, I can honestly understand why one would choose a V8 Vantage as their supercar of choice.
It looks and sounds great (have I mentioned that enough?) and being in this Aston Martin makes you feel special -- and ultimately that's what a car like this is supposed to do.
It is also supposed to be very fast. While not earth-shatteringly fast, an honest 0-60 mph run in 5.2 seconds topping out at 175 mph, it's is no slouch. And not bad for a naturally aspirated 4.3-litre V8 with 380bhp. Just be careful how much you enjoy that power, since this car has a serious drink problem.
No commitment required
So it's not a bad car by any means: I took it home and it was great to arrive at my destination in it. But I wouldn't buy one, which is the whole point of clubs such as Ecurie25: if you don't like a car, you don't have to take it home.
Imagine this: if you bought a V8 Vantage and drove it 5,000 miles, you'd probably lose £10,000 in one year in depreciation alone. For less, you can become an Ecurie25 member and play with a whole collection of cars. With a vast variety to choose from at Ecurie25, you can see for yourself which supercar makes you feel more super.