V8 Vantage - what's it really like?

V8 Vantage - what's it really like?

Author
Discussion

gilbo

460 posts

199 months

Wednesday 15th July 2015
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Thanks for the reply. It's true some cars are fast and some cars feel fast. The Aston obviously does it in a different more refined way to the 911. I've had T350 TVR's that have felt like you're doing warp speed at only 90-100. (And trying to undress themselves in the process!) I know the Aston is more than just outright pace and seeing as I recently got points in my van maybe I shouldn't consider a 911 Turbo biggrin
As an aside note I sold my 355 spider about 4yrs ago because I felt it was slow, cumbersome and scuttle shake ruined the handling, but it definitely had that X factor that made it feel special. And with them now nearly 3 times more expensive I wish I'd have maybe kept it!
Thanks again, I just hope the one I view Friday is a good'un! smile

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th July 2015
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Is it an early 4.3 or are you going later?

By the way - I hope it's black - they're definitely the best looking. wink

gilbo

460 posts

199 months

Wednesday 15th July 2015
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'07 model in titanium silver. I was really set on a black one but looked at one last week and it seemed to mask the natural curves of the car. Plus it showed every chip and scratch. Silver seems rarer than the greys and blacks too smile

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Wednesday 15th July 2015
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gilbo said:
I was really set on a black one but looked at one last week and .... it showed every chip and scratch.
Ah, rookie error. It only showed every chip and scratch because it had been cleaned before you viewed it. In real life, black gets dirty so quickly it immediately hides any paint imperfections. wink

Dingle Dell

218 posts

137 months

Wednesday 15th July 2015
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The impression of speed is an odd thing, and different people can probably have differing views of the same cars.

I had a 355 that didn't feel that quick to me (though sounded glorious), in fact a Seat Leon Cupra that was my daily driver at the time felt quicker in a bizarre kind of way.

When I was shopping for the Vantage, I was disappointed with the 4.3 I drove so I ended up saving up till I could afford the 4.7 and am thankful that I made that decision if i'm honest. The 4.7 is plently quick enough for our roads these days, especially in the SE.

Quickest thing I owned from a perception point of view was either the RS500 or a 944 Turbo - both felt mental, so must be something about the turbo delivery. However, that was a long while ago so maybe my expectations were different then as well.

All that being said, my current daily driver spent a week off the road recently, so I hired something cheap from Hertz to get me to work. They gave me a 1.6 Corsa, and i'm ashamed to say it put quite a big smile on my face as going down a twisty A road at over 50 felt like I was caning it!



Edited by Dingle Dell on Wednesday 15th July 19:25

petop

2,135 posts

165 months

Thursday 16th July 2015
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The above sums this up well. I have a 4.7 and its "fast" at all time because to use ahuman anology, its personality. A 991 Turbo is also fast but its like chatting to a Professor....interesting at the start but then you wonder if he gets out at all!
We all know in a Vantage its the noise, the way it drives (especially moving that stick thing around).
I have an alternative Mini Cooper S to drive when im allowed and that is good fun to throw around ("i hope you dont rag my car when you spent all that money on the Aston"!!!) and still gives me the same feel good feeling.

gilbo

460 posts

199 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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After a 700 mile round trip and 17hrs travelling we finally returned from Durham back to Kent with an '07 titanium silver V8V with iron ore leather. 37.5k miles and full Aston history. Very pleased with it, ran faultlessly and was a pleasure to drive (using only £60 fuel on the 350mile return!) I'll give a full appraisal once I've managed to get some decent miles under its belt but rest assured I'm grinning from ear to earbiggrin (I was also pleasantly surprised at the performance...they are not slow when you do manage to open the taps up properly!)smile

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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Congratulations! Black wheels are a nice contrast.

northernmedia

1,988 posts

137 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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Gorgeous, don't see many in silver.
Btw, you can buy the wheel centres in dark graphite if you wanted to closer match the wheel colour.
No idea how you managed 350 miles on £60 worth of fuel! Get yer foot down man 😉

gilbo

460 posts

199 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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Haha I'd love to have got my foot down but unfortunately we got caught in every traffic jam known to man so it was pretty much walking pace all the way home!

andy01625

9 posts

109 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
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I bought a 2007 V8 Vantage (manual) just under a year ago and absolutely love it. Pure quality and class and a superb drive. The sound is just epic. Its being driven out in Dubai in a very dusty and hot climate (47 degrees today) and its fine. Tyres are always warm :-) If you do get one id recommend removing Fuse 22 out - improves the sound even more. A few little annoying things like the Sat Nav and Key fob which are both rubbish.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Friday 21st August 2015
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Another month has passed, and I'm now 3 months into ownership and have added just over 2k miles to the car.

It's cost me money, since I had to get the pedal travel sensor replaced to cure the emergency brake assist warning. But just over £200 for part and fitting with a full bleed of the brakes seemed fair and it does seem to have solved the problem.
I have an annoying squeak from the rear wheel (rhs I think) at low speed which seems to be a brake pad (happened before the bleed too). I've been told some hard braking might help so need to try that!

I discovered my cockpit charger socket didn't work - solved with a new fuse.

Apart from that, the car is pretty faultless now. When I first bought it - and tried to get petrol on the way home - the fuel flap didn't open properly, meaning I had to use the manual release cable. It got worse (although always worked when I tried it at home!) and even the cable didn't work once, so had to resort to the credit card trick. That was a step too far - I adjusted the flap (closed the hinge slightly) and the fuel flap now opens first press of the button every time.

I still absolutely love the car. I bought an early one because I didn't want to spend more and find I didn't like it. But I find myself wishing I'd bought newer. On the other hand, a newer one wouldn't really do much that mine doesn't so there is no real reason to change. A 4.7 would be nice but I've got used to the power now, and generally don't feel the need to drive it like I stole it. Brisk progress is still made with a slightly more relaxed approach.

I have seen people move from Porsche - often 996 turbo - to Vantage, hate it and move back quickly. I can honestly say I have zero regrets. The 996 turbo was very good at many things, but for me it was never the holy grail of cars many people seem to consider them now.

It is a gorgeous car - I used my 360 today, and when I got home and parked next to the Aston I thought the Aston was the better looking of the two cars.

Although they have a reputation for having a few idiosyncrasies, there is some mundane stuff it does better than those - supposedly - well built German sports cars. The windscreen wipers on my 996 turbo were adequate. The 360 wipers are adequate. The Cayenne wipers are not adequate even when brand new. The Vantage wipers actually clear the screen completely. It's quite amazing when you're not used to it!

Overall, there isn't really much to say this month - everything works as it should, it looks and sounds fabulous (when it's not squeaking), it's great to drive and I should have bought one years ago.

I've seen a few threads recently where people are considering buying a Vantage in the £30k ballpark. Here's a gratuitous photo showing what you get for your money. smile


northernmedia

1,988 posts

137 months

Friday 28th August 2015
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Nice write up buddy.

Glad you're enjoying it! clap

hashluck

1,611 posts

274 months

Friday 28th August 2015
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I somehow missed this last week, indeed good write up, glad you are enjoying

JS1500

579 posts

176 months

Friday 28th August 2015
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Beauty! Well I would say that, it's nearly identical to mine!

Good to see you're enjoying V8V ownership as much as I am. Sadly I'm losing my job so looks like I'll have to sell mine soon, however.

kbooker

728 posts

138 months

Monday 31st August 2015
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Great write up OP, I'm viewing a 4.3 this week but unsure what to expect, the apparent "lack " of straight line performance is the stand out concern for me, however, after reading this I'm hopeful I'll enjoy the test drive...

kensilver

312 posts

118 months

Tuesday 1st September 2015
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Dingle Dell said:
When I was shopping for the Vantage, I was disappointed with the 4.3 I drove so I ended up saving up till I could afford the 4.7 and am thankful that I made that decision if i'm honest. ]
I had a 4.3 and saved up for a 6.0 smile

After several v12's in other brands I couldn't go back to a V8 again. The DB9 has more the kind of instant acceleration I've been used to. But the Vantage was fun in a different way.

Speedraser

1,656 posts

182 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
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Ken,

A 4.7 V8V is at least as fast as a DB9. Not as torquey, though.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,795 posts

174 months

Sunday 11th October 2015
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As I mentioned in another thread, in the last month or so I've been tempted to upgrade - either to get my 4.3 tweaked at the next service or to upgrade to a 4.7. I even went to see a 2010 car and got an idea of trade in value but that was a day before I flew to a week of sunshine. I agreed I'd probably take it for a test drive when I got back but it looks like it sold when I was away. But I'm not actually disappointed.

The car felt great on the drive to view the other car, and having had a week away from it I think it feels even better and I'm wondering why I even thought I needed it to be quicker. I preferred the centre console on mine but the centre cubby in the newer cars is nice. Not £20k nice though which is about what it would cost me to upgrade.

So instead, I treated the car to a wash and a couple of coats of wax today and am pretty sure it's going nowhere. I know it's a good one and I want to keep it!



So, how has the car performed over the last couple of months?

It continues to be pretty faultless. I had a couple of days with a bit of a squeak that I assumed was the belt tensioner wheel, but that silenced itself within a couple of days - I'll see if it comes back.

I gave a friend a lift back from a pub a couple of weeks ago and although he knew I'd bought it, he'd not seen it before. Lesson 1 is that drunk people struggle to open Vantage doors from the outside.... But apart from that, he loved it. It is - apparently - the best car I have ever owned / own.

On the drive today, I did find it handled rather like a shopping trolley under power - topped the tyres up and all back to normal. They weren't that low but had dropped a good few psi.

5 months and 3k miles in, I really did expect to have a list of issues by now. But there really isn't - the car continues to be fabulous, and simply does what it should. I still love it. smile

justin220

5,331 posts

203 months

Sunday 11th October 2015
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Good to hear you are still enjoying it. I am nnow 2 years into Vantage ownership and have just swapped my 4.7 for another 4.7 hehe true man maths at work! I will post a thread later.

My first 4.7 was absolutely faultless, unfortunately my newer one is going back to the dealership tomorrow for a intermittent stalling problem. Hopefully its not the start of a lot of issues.

These cars aren't about performance for me. They are about the entire package.