Vantage and activehybrid 5 or an m6?

[RockDoctor]

yeti said:

I had to look up what an 'Active Hybrid' was, mainly as I hate the concept and the utter halfwitedness of what people are trying to do with those types of cars. The whole concept of flawed and deeply unsettling as you realise how little people understand about the use of energy and raw materials.

Then I saw it had a turbocharged inline six engine which is rather cynical and that made me smile. I bet that shifts quite nicely

It'll have 80% of the performance of the M car, you certainly won't notice the difference on a commute when all you want is comfort, lots of toys and a bit of poke once or twice on the journey. When you do try and overtake some head-up-their-arse-pseudo-planet-saving moron in a Prius or whatever pathetic car they bought to impress equally mentally-restricted wannabee environmentalists, it'll shift perfectly well.

But then at the weekends you get into something very special and a world away from your daily driver. There was always only going to be one response on an Aston Martin forum, but I think this one is correct. For maximum effect, get a roadster as well, just so you >really< know you're out of your daily hack. You can always drive a roadster with the roof up, you can't drop it on a coupe. True story.

I had a look at these Active Hybrid cars recently. They're genuinely quick cars, the 3 series version was a sub 6 second to 60 car, and it had a rather impressive mpg figure.

[mikey k]

Jockman said:

Does an M5/6 depreciate quicker than a V8 Vantage ??

Genuine question

Got my wondering there

M5 £73k list with 3 year old cars going for £45k = 61.6%
M6 £94k list with 3 year old cars going for £40k = 42.5%
V8V £85k list with 3 year old cars going for £47k =55.3%

For Jockman - retained value after 3 years
Now he's deleted his post

So not as much as an M6 but less than an M5

Edited by mikey k on Saturday 1st December 20:38

Edited by mikey k on Saturday 1st December 20:50

[Omega3effect]

Thanks! You guys are great! and funny too! Maverick to answer your question, at this point I can't justify (I'm not comfortable) driving such a "flashy" car to my office without feeling like I am showing off that I've been bringing in more $$ than others. I'm looking to get into a new AM, but even an older AM is just that much more of a statement that a BMW that happens to be an M.

Have you guys had similar experiences or thoughts/worries?

thanks!

[Omega3effect]

Also, yeti, I agree with your thoughts!!

[Mr Aston Martin]

Omega3effect said:

Thanks! You guys are great! and funny too! Maverick to answer your question, at this point I can't justify (I'm not comfortable) driving such a "flashy" car to my office without feeling like I am showing off that I've been bringing in more $$ than others. I'm looking to get into a new AM, but even an older AM is just that much more of a statement that a BMW that happens to be an M.

Have you guys had similar experiences or thoughts/worries?

thanks!

One of the reasons I went for the Vantage was it hides its wealth discreetly and is a thing of beauty.

IMHO That perception is widely held by other road users and other drivers seem more likely to let you out at junctions. You will get total strangers striking up a conversation at garages and car parks and the look in their eye is not one of jealousy but genuine excitement. There was one old guy walking with his wife who stopped walking and turned and watched the car drive down the road. That said there doesn't seem to be many Astons in Shropshire. There's one less now as I've sold mine. There was no intention to replace my Vantage but the emotion has crystallised that i'm between Astons at the moment which is another aspect of ownership. They really do get under your skin.

[897sma]

Mr Aston Martin said:

IMHO That perception is widely held by other road users and other drivers seem more likely to let you out at junctions. You will get total strangers striking up a conversation at garages and car parks and the look in their eye is not one of jealousy but genuine excitement............................They really do get under your skin.

The experience of ownership which is shared by most if not all of us on here.

[MaverickAM9]

Omega3effect said:

at this point I can't justify (I'm not comfortable) driving such a "flashy" car to my office without feeling like I am showing off that I've been bringing in more $$ than others. I'm looking to get into a new AM, but even an older AM is just that much more of a statement that a BMW that happens to be an M.

Have you guys had similar experiences or thoughts/worries?

Omega3, I see you are in the good old US of A, I have a feeling that an AM in California is different to an AM here. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I think that 1/3 of all AM's go to US, 1/3 to the rest of the world, and 1/3 to our little island. So whilst AM are rare here, in the US, I image there just are not any. So anyone with an AM would appear flashy.

However I agree with other posters here, in Blighty people let AM owners pull out of junctions, they do stop and talk, people come out of fuel stations to look. I still find it funny that young children stop and look, the times I get, "thumbs up"..... My wife laughs when she gets in, that people are constantly smiling, thumbs up, letting you out. I've had a number of other cars and if you're in a Range Rover and you want to pull out, not only are you left to your own devices, but actually not let out, and if you had a Porche, well forget it ......

A vast majority of people can't tell what car my 9 is, they just see it as, "James Bond", they can't tell its a few years old and not a DBS or a Vanquish, where as anyone who knows cars can tell what year the damn thing is........

Omega3, it is a problem to have a nice car, what I have learnt to do, is not mention it at all, let it be alone in the car park, people will after a few weeks (maybe a couple of months) get used to your car, only then can you (marginally) talk about it. BUT, people WILL want to talk about their car , and they WILL give you a LONG list of cars that can go faster than yours ....... AND, the people who, "know someone with a Ferrari", will just beggar belief.

Take the car to work, DON'T talk about it at all, let other people gradually mention it, let them talk about THEIR car, they will get used to it and you will be accepted

So please ... drive it every day .....

[Omega3effect]

Maverick,
Thanks for your thoughts -- I totally agree. I've had what I believe are "understated" M cars for the past 6-7 years -- in California, BMWs are the norm. The AM is indeed a rare car -- a statement that definitely turns heads. I'm going to think through what it would mean to drive an AM to work everyday...

Excellent to hear that you get lots of positive reactions to your AM!

[Speedraser]

I could never love a car that fakes its engine sound through the audio speakers.

[Omega3effect]

agree on the fake engine sound!!!

[Mr Aston Martin]

Omega3effect said:

agree on the fake engine sound!!!

That fake engine sound is the future as we will all be driving around in electric milk floats with large speakers so while you can get the Aston bought and start enjoying the ownership experience.