The GT8! Carbon fibre bodied £200K 440BHP 7 Speed V8.

[carbonfib3r]

The front spoiler has additional gapping on each side and a slight hint of Vulcaness. The back end diffuser has a simpler design than that of the GT12, but it does carry over the side vents by the rear lights from its big brother. U shape vent on the bonnet and internal one piece CF centre console is exclusive to the GT12, where as the massive side vents behind front wheel arches are now sealed retaining only the design.

GT8 is a more elegantly designed exercise with 10 Bhp increase, 75kg lose in standard form and 6 speed manual transmission, less the extravagant graphic paint work, worth the asking £165,000? Your call. Personally I'd go for the V12 VS over GT8 which should be just as rare.

IMHO, GT8 is a consolation to those who weren't quick enough to snap a GT12, for th same price, there are plenty of alternatives worth considering.

Edited by carbonfib3r on Thursday 7th April 10:07

[jonby]

carbonfib3r said:

IMHO, GT8 is a consolation to those who weren't quick enough to snap a GT12, for the same price, there are plenty of alternatives worth considering.

Edited by carbonfib3r on Thursday 7th April 09:33

That's what I've been inclined to think since I first heard about this and with the information drip fed over the period since, I've not changed my mind

What I'm very mindful of however is that when I first looked at GT12, I was underwhelmed and sceptical just how much development work they would do to maximise what could be done with the project. Regardless of thoughts of value, GT12 I think over delivered on expectations. So I'm not going to write off GT8 as being incapable of doing the same

But on the face of it, regardless of how it may well hold it's value because of rarity and specialness, I'm struggling to get excited about this, especially given how much more will cost extra on this compared to GT12 and even then, it won't have some GT12 goodies such as the centre console

[AdamV12V]

carbonfib3r said:

The front spoiler has additional gapping on each side and a slight hint of Vulcaness. The back end diffuser has a simpler design than that of the GT12, but it does carry over the side vents by the rear lights from its big brother. U shape vent on the bonnet and internal one piece CF centre console is exclusive to the GT12, where as the massive side vents behind front wheel arches are now sealed retaining only the design.

GT8 is a more elegantly designed exercise with 10 Bhp increase with 75kg lose in standard form with 6 speed manual transmission, less the extravagant graphic paint work, worth the asking £165,000? Your call. Personally I'd go for the V12 VS over GT8 which should just be as rare.

IMHO, GT8 is a consolation to those who weren't quick enough to snap a GT12, for th same price, there are plenty of alternatives worth considering.

So 1535Kg then - pretty much as I suggested (in fairness its in keeping with what I was told so it wasn't just a wild guess on my part...)

I must admit I had come to the same conclusion, as nice as it was it seems to be held back to be not as good as the GT12 in several key (to me) areas and so felt a bit like a consolation prize, and a pricey one at that. The V12VS Manual appealed more, hence that's the way I went. I'm sure the GT8 will appreciate however, so in that respect its a winner.

[FFM]

AdamV12V said:

Sounds great - can you share any more info now?

I would love to, but I think it's fair for who didn't see the car yet (at the factory and not) to have their own "surprise-effect", which, alongside all others AMs, this car deserves

Some rumours are true(-ish), some others are off, surely still some small fine tuning going on at AM in regards of some aspects of the car (and not necessarily tech-/spec-related)

[FFM]

carbonfib3r said:

IMHO, GT8 is a consolation to those who weren't quick enough to snap a GT12, for th same price, there are plenty of alternatives worth considering.

Edited by carbonfib3r on Thursday 7th April 09:33

Not entirely agree on that, these are different cars. On a Like-for-like basis (with same options) there is a 100kg more, >140hp in power, more torque, one envisioned as manual the other with the Speedshift, sound and, likely, different in feel/traction level.

As you mentioned there are few difference in the design as well, I agree with your comment here. Both look really great as expected with AMs, but at the end of the day, these are the GT3 and GTE design.

Lastly, definitely the GT8 isn't comparable to the V12S Manual, aside a not too dissimilar price level.

[rkwm1]

FFM said:

I would love to, but I think it's fair for who didn't see the car yet (at the factory and not) to have their own "surprise-effect", which, alongside all others AMs, this car deserves

Some rumours are true(-ish), some others are off, surely still some small fine tuning going on at AM in regards of some aspects of the car (and not necessarily tech-/spec-related)

Do you know if the centre console from the GT12 is a option on the GT8?

[FFM]

rkwm1 said:

Do you know if the centre console from the GT12 is a option on the GT8?

As jonby suggested, it appears to be a GT12 thing only. On top of the reason mentioned by jonby, there is an additional one for that, the gearshift. Although, further down in the tunnel there is something to differentiate the car from a V8S and it appears to be more a functional thing than pure aesthetic, in my opinion (which is also good).

[FFM]

rkwm1 said:

Do you know if the centre console from the GT12 is a option on the GT8?

I hope you will enjoy your visit, it was the first for myself and a great experience. My advice is to ask questions, they will explain the reasons why they did do x, didn't do y openly.

After that I went to visit AM Works, the Heritage centre and what remains of the original AM factory...more than 3 hours well spent there, I recommend it.

[whoami]

FFM said:

rkwm1 said:

Do you know if the centre console from the GT12 is a option on the GT8?

I hope you will enjoy your visit, it was the first for myself and a great experience. My advice is to ask questions, they will explain the reasons why they did do x, didn't do y openly.

After that I went to visit AM Works, the Heritage centre and what remains of the original AM factory...more than 3 hours well spent there, I recommend it.

Is the GT8 to replace another car or to add to your stable?

[jonby]

FFM said:

rkwm1 said:

Do you know if the centre console from the GT12 is a option on the GT8?

As jonby suggested, it appears to be a GT12 thing only. On top of the reason mentioned by jonby, there is an additional one for that, the gearshift. Although, further down in the tunnel there is something to differentiate the car from a V8S and it appears to be more a functional thing than pure aesthetic, in my opinion (which is also good).

Indeed - it was explained to me that they couldn't justify the cost of a different CF centre console design on this project

[FFM]

whoami said:

Is the GT8 to replace another car or to add to your stable?

This will be my 2nd Aston alongside a 4.7 Manual Coupe bought last year

I'll give you a bit more background in regards to my decision to get GT8. Aside the fact that it ticks all the boxes, It's actually a fairly simple mix of:
- Love of the brand: Born watching my father's 007 movies in VHS
- Vantage geek: loved it since its launch in '05 (I must say, not too loud, even more than the DB9!), I was 19yrs old back then.
- Specialness factor: Due to the limited presence of Aston in Italy (my country of origin), seeing an AM was a very-rare event (even in a relatively big north-italian city). Hence, the feeling of perceived class and prestigiousness was built and has always remained in my mind when I think about the AM brand
- Love Motorsport: Kart racing has always been in my blood, 100cc, 2-stroke, no shift, no heavy aero ..purity. Just give me even a remotely far feeling to that in a Road car, I am the happiest boy in the world!

Also:
With time, I started developing more interest in the technical aspects of cars... up to nowadays when, in my mind, technology has heavily been pushing purity out of GT and Sports car. Sadly, it went too far, too quickly.
I am not claiming to be a car engineer and haven't the opportunity (to date) to have intensely test-driven all the cars out there (of today and of the past). I feel Astons, for the reasons we all know, are still the one that can offer a relative analogue-experience of today's.
Spent a lot of my spare time to research what competitors are offering, understand what are the right ingredient in GT/Sports car according to some of the specialists out-there (EVO, Chris Harris, Tiff.N & Co.), ask myself lots of "why-"questions. Nowadays access to the information and data is great and this surely helped me in defining what's the better car for me, and more importantly, as I don't have unlimited resources, the trade-offs!!

Net net: the car feels right. Right vision and fit its own space in the special editions range. Strong reference to GTE heritage, pure Manual, Raw but fine looking at the same time, the design flows perfectly even with the Aero pack, the front wheel arch is a thing of beauty


To come back to topic:
The GT8 came completely out-of-the-blue for me, I was originally looking for a manual DBS or V12V back in November, couldn't find any supply, spent a lot of time on the phone with my AM dealer, for months. At some point in early March, again visited my dealer, after one hour, three letters came out "G T 8" and, in a matter of minutes the deposit was placed. A couple of days later and I got confirmation of an allocation.

Planned mileage: 1-2k miles a year car (based on the usage of my current Vantage)
Event car/petrol-heads meeting: Yes, count me in!
Track/Road: planned Road-use, for now (if it will be an official AM/AMOC track event, maybe i'll join too)

Btw, yesterday I suggested AM to start organising more prospective-owners' event to strengthen the community further (i.e. official track days, special events etc.), hopefully if someone else will ask the same, they will start planning to allocate more budget to these too?

[whoami]

FFM - thanks very much for posting.

Enjoy the car when it arrives.

[rkwm1]

FFM said:

As jonby suggested, it appears to be a GT12 thing only. On top of the reason mentioned by jonby, there is an additional one for that, the gearshift. Although, further down in the tunnel there is something to differentiate the car from a V8S and it appears to be more a functional thing than pure aesthetic, in my opinion (which is also good).

thats a shame, really do like it.

[rkwm1]

FFM said:

I hope you will enjoy your visit, it was the first for myself and a great experience. My advice is to ask questions, they will explain the reasons why they did do x, didn't do y openly.

After that I went to visit AM Works, the Heritage centre and what remains of the original AM factory...more than 3 hours well spent there, I recommend it.

Thanks. Really looking forward to seeing it and having a look around the place.

[AdamV12V]

rkwm1 said:

thats a shame, really do like it.

I'm sure Q will option it back in for a price. Might be limited to SSII only due to changes needed to support a gearstick and the loss of some of the SS glass buttons.

Anybody want to hazard a guess how much that would be though?! I can't see it being under £5k and wouldn't be surprised if it was double that. The Vanquish CF roof on GT12 was a cool £5995 and that was just reusing a part from another model!

[will77]

Great post FFM. I'm at the factory on Monday, interested to know what difference the optional ti exhaust makes, both vocally and performance / weight wise? what were your thoughts on the halo paints schemes? I'm thinking aero pack, ti exhaust, polycarbonate rear windows and screen and centre locks are all a must for me. Not sure about the carbon roof? Was it on the preview car?

[cayman-black]

whoami said:

FFM - thanks very much for posting.

Enjoy the car when it arrives.

+1 This will be a special car imo.
FFM i have My V12V here with me in Marche. A very rare sight here.

[FFM]

rkwm1 said:

thats a shame, really do like it.

Yes, had the same feeling. I appreciate there is a reason behind this move.

I asked myself this question yesterday, once back from the factory: if you could chose between A) the GT12 console with speed-shift or B) a more traditional carbon console with a gear-stick and a lower tunnel for easier shifting, what would you do?

Then I went back few steps in my thought process, to find help in answering the question:
-how the GT8 was originally envisioned? Give even more to the driver in involvement on the Road, primarily, and on the Track, if you wish so
-What could have been improved on the GT12? Chris Harris, Evo, (not my 2cent) did miss an old-style manual gearshift

I'd have gone for answer "B". What is needed in this particular car is the gear-lever.

What do you think?

[FFM]

will77 said:

Great post FFM. I'm at the factory on Monday, interested to know what difference the optional ti exhaust makes, both vocally and performance / weight wise? what were your thoughts on the halo paints schemes? I'm thinking aero pack, ti exhaust, polycarbonate rear windows and screen and centre locks are all a must for me. Not sure about the carbon roof? Was it on the preview car?

I have already an high-level view of what I want. I think there are "must-have"s and "non-must have" in the list you made, but at the end of the day, it is about "what I want the car to do" and "at what budget". I don't want to influence you based on my "vision"...and, obviously, anticipate too much before your Monday visit.

Let's do that, when the car will be officially announced and final price/options etc fully finalised, let's open another thread to help each other understand what is needed and what is not needed. I am sure there will be many other Aston owners that went through this process and can provide further insights.

Sounds good?

p.s. enjoy your visit on Monday!

[FFM]

cayman-black said:

+1 This will be a special car imo.
FFM i have My V12V here with me in Marche. A very rare sight here.

Wow, that's Pagani-level rare! Uk car moved there or 100% Italian?