Off to test a DBS and V12VS tomorrow...Any advice?

[Nijius Maximus]

mblade123 said:

Good man enjoy. The tyres will get better in warmer weather

Oooh, looking forward to it.

[Nijius Maximus]

mblade123 said:

When I bought mine I paid for it on my debit card. Took for ages to get clearnace even though I've private banking and warned them beforehand.
On the way home I was enjoying myself so much I needed to stop to fill up.
Card declined. Due to spending so much in the morning

Good job I had my back up credit card

A third of the tank gone. From full.

[Nijius Maximus]

Just got home! What an EPIC DRIVE. Even driving at 30mph is so much fun with the noise. It just loves to GROWL everywhere it goes. Driving fast is quite a handful - it's like holding onto a beast...

Looking forward to trying to tame it. The opposite (and more dangerous) than the R8!

Phone battery ran out hours ago because of all the photos I took. Will add some more to the album later tonight...

30 miles of fuel left from a full tank. Not bad.

[Nijius Maximus]

Quarterly said:

Thanks for the updates, I'll look forward to seeing the next photos. When you took the fuse out was it much louder? I don't feel the need to remove mine, but I'm curious to know what it would sound like.

Basically having the fuse out means that pottering around at even 10-20mph is absolutely amazing. Just going from 1st to 2nd with your foot down makes the craziest sounds. And the sound just echoes off everything - even other cars! Everyone turns round. Do it. You won't stop smiling.

Edited by Nijius Maximus on Thursday 11th February 18:45

[Nijius Maximus]

Thank you guys for your posts above.

It's only my first day and I've realised that Sports mode ON needs to be permanent - the throttle feels mushy otherwise. And that with the fuse out driving around even central London is loads of fun. But of course the wife might not agree with the noise when going away this weekend...so let's see!

Although driving all day, yes I am thinking about the car parked downstairs...quick midnight drive...??

RIGHT: ALL the photos have now been added to the album ( https://goo.gl/photos/jCMCzgayB7pn2j3t5 for those who missed the link earlier) thanks to all my cousin's photos. There's loads. Some amazing ones up there as well - settle yourselves down and re-browse through them. She took loads of the showroom and all the cars there as well.

My FAVOURITE PHOTOS though are here with my R8 and Vantage together at the end!













Tomorrow morning I will record the startup from cold in my underground car park - should sound epic! And will give my initial thoughts of the car.

Edited by Nijius Maximus on Thursday 11th February 21:42

[Nijius Maximus]

mblade123 said:

Photos look stunning . Bet you had a great day.
One word of caution though. Last year I was going to a photo shoot with supercar driver. I was pissing around on the M6 with a ferrari F40. The weather was horrendous. Torrential rain and all that. Because the V12 has carbon ceramic brakes, when I I came to try and stop it didn't. Man that was scarey.
Just make sure you warm them up in the wet

It was a wicked day - almost feels like a dream. And what weather! It seemed like it was late spring.

I can imagine the V12V has issues in the cold weather...and the wet...and when not warmed up. The car feels on edge and today was a dry day! I feel like I have to give it constant attention...which makes it feel even sweeter when you DON'T crash it around a corner...

With the R8 you just throw it at a corner at any speed and look forward to the g-forces. With the V12V you look forward to the hospital...

[Nijius Maximus]

Quarterly said:

Yes, photos are excellent. Did you get a key ring?

Ha, no but got both a leather pouch for the glass key and a teddy bear for the wife thrown in! Do two cups of coffee and a glass of water count as a freebie??

Bought quite a few other accessories myself...

[Nijius Maximus]

Cold start and revving in car park video added to the end of the album. Enjoy.

https://goo.gl/photos/jCMCzgayB7pn2j3t5

EDIT: Direct link to the video here:
https://goo.gl/photos/9mWZeoMhvqRXASoN9

Edited by Nijius Maximus on Friday 12th February 14:48

[Nijius Maximus]

tonyhall38 said:

Needs the decat.....but still nice

Tony that's the first nice thing you've said all thread. Haha...

Edited by Nijius Maximus on Friday 12th February 16:50

[Nijius Maximus]

phil bird said:

See video https://www.dropbox.com/s/groohf7ao5p1ah0/File%201...

JESUS CHRIST.

What do the neighbours think when you drive by...??

[Nijius Maximus]

Ed50 said:

Bet you forgot to loot the dealer for me,didn't you.

BTW, you can bid for a set of fitted RS Fabrications 200 Cell Cats in the Burghley Auction.

Just thought its worth mentioning like...

Afraid so Ed - I was so mesmerised by the whole experience I completely forgot! However, there's a still few things they need to send me and sort out... So will call up on Monday to touch base and use as a bargaining tool for their inclusion in Burghley...

Auction hey...what else you gonna have up...?

[Nijius Maximus]

Just wanted to say, before I reply to people I forgot to, that I'm taking the wife away for Valentine's this weekend to Bristol. That means a lot of driving in the V12V over a variety of roads which I can't wait to do.

Especially along the cliff face and tunnel under Clifton suspension bridge which I loved last time I did it in my V8V. The sound should echo off nicely! So I feel like I'll be in a good position then to write up my thoughts and compare directly to my soon to vanish R8.

IanV12VR said:

It reminds me of when we were on the AMOC centenary tour at Lake Lucerne and 68 Astons were starting up underground for the days run and all the pollution sensors went off and the car park got locked down until it sorted itself out it was an epic experience.

You should've recorded it - bet it sounded amazing. I started up my R8 once from cold at my office car park and the motorbike's alarm next to me went off!

Mako V12V said:

When I start mine from cold in the garage I always leave drivers door open to hear max roar from the beast. And everything you've said about the drive is spot on. The beast needs respect. Can you tame it....I doubt it. My Mako beast laughs at me when I "think" I'm pushing it because it is wondering is that all I've got as far as driving skills go. Provoke it at your peril though haha. Enjoy!

Btw not being nasty but the R8 looks very ordinary parked next to the black beast!.

I do the same with my R8 and will continue to do so with the Vantage - all the windows down at least. The only way!

Yes, this beast is a beast. The bonnet grills make it look more so. I feel like you could spend a lot of time enjoying perfecting your driving skills in this car. It scares me and excites me equally.

cayman-black said:

Congratulations and welcome to the Carbon Black Club Nijius.
Car looks Epic! Enjoy.

Thanks, great to ACTUALLY be an official member with the car in my possession. Feels great to be part of this club!

bentley01 said:

Decat is definitely needed. Car looks great btw

Thanks mate. It seems so loud already...do I dare go louder? I can imagine driving through villages at the moment getting a warm reception but would the decatted version turn that into hate and annoyance??

phil bird said:

Luckily they are all Aston fans.. Love the car and exhaust note!??.. It's had velocity manifolds fitted and 200 cell sport cats by appelby engineering - 50-60 extra bhp costly conversion but huge difference! Congrats on yours mate enjoy!

Lukcy for you! I'm enjoying it but may have to further investigate this decat business as time goes on...

[Nijius Maximus]

Ed50 said:

btw, Mr Maximus you haven't ordered your copy of the Burghley poster yet for your bedroom wall…………..come on get with the programme…….

Well, considering it's my first Burghley (of many!) looks like I'll have to oblige...

[Nijius Maximus]

Decided to take my concierge out for a drive in the Aston at 6am today. Eeek! Lack of traction in first, second and third gears! Got better as it warmed up.

This is gonna take some getting used to...

Typical rainy weather on the M4 today... But saw a great colour DBS with Kuwait plates on it. Looked stunning:

[Nijius Maximus]

Yeah using non Corsas seems to be the general consensus. I've already emailed Grange today about getting them swapped over and keeping the Corsas for summer.

Saying that however... It was absolutely pissing it down on the way to Bristol and yet the Vantage seemed to be holding its own surprisingly easy!

Curious... Need to experiment over the next day with this beast... I may get bitten though...

[Nijius Maximus]

These decatted noises are epic...but how do you get around the MOT??

On a separate note: those of you of a NERVOUS DISPOSITION, please look away now:



Some bd previous owner / previous owner's child / random person has crudely scratched the above number onto the bottom of my glass key?!! Only noticed it yesterday. Spoke to Grange about it today but the feeling I'm getting back from them is that they can't do anything because it's too expensive to replace...

It's like writing your name with felt tip on a Prada bag. Why God, why??????? The person responsible should be publicly flogged...

[Nijius Maximus]

roughrider said:

Is that the VIN?

Hmmm...could be the serial number part of the VIN as that's the last six digits. But why scratch it onto the glass key??

[Nijius Maximus]

DocW said:

What a strange thing to do. Try taking it into a jewellery store where they have manufacturing equipment, if it's not too deep they may be able to polish it out. There are others on PH who know a lot more about polishing than me but could be worth a try.

Good shout. You can feel it but it doesn't seem to be too deep. Still, you'd expect buying an £85k car from an Aston dealer that they'd replace it instantly without protest.

I know Tony's supposed to be a bit of knob polisher.... He's also apparently good at removing scratches from aluminium gear sticks.

Wonder what he has to say...

IanV12VR said:

what a weird thing to do. Perhaps he went to parties with other Aston owners and wanted to be identify his own key once they had all been chucked in the middle

Ha! Maybe this is a blessing in disguise...this is the (literal) key to an Eyes Wide Shut style "party"... See if there's an address anywhere in the car...

Edited by Nijius Maximus on Monday 15th February 10:50

[Nijius Maximus]

northernmedia said:

Yeah would annoy me a tad.
They're over a grand aren't they?

Apparently they're only £500 so there shouldn't really be any excuse...

Flugplatz said:

Idiots!!!!

I would call them every hour on the hour until I got my new key.

Totally unacceptable and absolute nonsense for them to put up any resistance.

Haha, they're actually coming to take the car away as the tracker isn't working. So they'll have a look at the key themselves. They actually know all the previous owners as they sold them all and said they would try and find out about the origin of the scratch...

[Nijius Maximus]

Quickmoose said:

Can't see how finding out about the origin is going to help removing the numbers...
Dealer should get that polished out for you IMO...

I like this general consensus from you lot. I'm not gonna give up until I have a new key. It's just not acceptable.

J12KJR said:

New key with a complimentary leather holder at the least.

I take it that apart from the silly little key thing and a non functioning tracker you are enjoying the whole experience.

Yes, loving the experience so far. In fact I'm just finishing writing up a lengthy review/comparison of my V12V against my R8. I'll be posting it up within the next half hour. I'm sure you lot will find it enjoyable and informative!

Completely random though: last night when I was driving back through London traffic every time I had to slow down to about 1 or 2mph with the clutch all the way down and then pulling away there seemed to be a weird noise, almnost as if the handbrake was on, even though it wasn't. I'll see if it happens again today. Anyone else experience this?