V12 Vantage Volante S
Discussion
In the Middle Ages (or parts of the current Middle East) God was the source of all morality. Why do we hang thieves? Because God said it is a crime to steal. Why do we hang Murderers? Because God told us it is a crime to kill. Etc etc. When a few individuals began to question the logic of this state of affairs, they hung them too. This God apparently also thought that using the brain that he had endowed you with was also a sin punishable by death, preferably a perverse one. Although I am presuming that in the Christian version, He forgave you your sins if you repented because, despite all the otherwise compelling evidence to the contrary, including you own imminent, hideous, public death, God Loves You. No, me neither!
Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
I would have been there had it not been for the fact its called a Roadster not a Volante.
And this morning I've cleaned from its front a thousand dead flies that gave their life so I could enjoy creating carbon emissions which will, according to some, ultimately result in warmer summers.
And this morning I've cleaned from its front a thousand dead flies that gave their life so I could enjoy creating carbon emissions which will, according to some, ultimately result in warmer summers.
f328nvl said:
In the Middle Ages (or parts of the current Middle East) God was the source of all morality. Why do we hang thieves? Because God said it is a crime to steal. Why do we hang Murderers? Because God told us it is a crime to kill. Etc etc. When a few individuals began to question the logic of this state of affairs, they hung them too. This God apparently also thought that using the brain that he had endowed you with was also a sin punishable by death, preferably a perverse one. Although I am presuming that in the Christian version, He forgave you your sins if you repented because, despite all the otherwise compelling evidence to the contrary, including you own imminent, hideous, public death, God Loves You. No, me neither!
Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
f328nvl said:
In the Middle Ages (or parts of the current Middle East) God was the source of all morality. Why do we hang thieves? Because God said it is a crime to steal. Why do we hang Murderers? Because God told us it is a crime to kill. Etc etc. When a few individuals began to question the logic of this state of affairs, they hung them too. This God apparently also thought that using the brain that he had endowed you with was also a sin punishable by death, preferably a perverse one. Although I am presuming that in the Christian version, He forgave you your sins if you repented because, despite all the otherwise compelling evidence to the contrary, including you own imminent, hideous, public death, God Loves You. No, me neither!
Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
I have waited all my life to read a post about an Aston Martin that is so erudite,nay a narrative that is sublime in its clarity and deep understanding of the metaphysical relationship between man and machine. Today we fear this thing called Moral Relativism, where there is no simple source of truth and certainty, merely a complex and malleable system of societal norms that hold us all together. In this increasingly powerful view of human societies, there are potentially any number of possible social orders that are possible and no absolute yard stick against which to measure how “good” a society is. In this worldview the so-called Islamic Caliphate in Syria and Iraq is not morally inferior to, say, Swiss democracy, it is just different. I, like many evangelical atheists, struggle with the lack of moral certainty that comes with freedom from religious dogma. I am pretty sure that beheading innocent people is always morally reprehensible and that we, the truly enlightened people of the world should not just speak out against it, but should also do something to stop it. However, ask me to debate the point with some self-appointed religious philosopher or whatever sobriquet they have anointed themselves with, and I will probably get tied up in knots by apparent, but fundamentally empty, logic. In the end you fall back on the idea that relativism is like maths. We solve equations by holding certain elements constant. You can do the same with morality. If you accept the idea that respect for others and others property is always a good idea, you tend to get a better society than if you don’t.
What has all this to do with the Aston Martin Vantage Volante S? Well, in a sense absolutely nothing. The car is an ostentatious bauble designed and built to appeal to people who have too much money and want to show off. In another and I accept, pseud-like sense, it is relevant. You see I drove the V12VVS as it will henceforth be known and right now, this second, it is the best car I have ever driven. The problem is, I have no idea why. It is not the fastest, although it is very, very quick (200mph plus, under 4 seconds to 60mph since you asked). It is not the most beautiful, although the changes from its similar stable mates are significant, especially from behind. It handles with a combination of comfort and precision that I can’t recall outside of a Ferrari, but again it’s not so much better than the V12 Vantage Coupe that didn’t really do it for me at all. The noise is tolerable, if a bit shouty and the gearbox is utterly useless when put in drive mode. In traffic the car will roll backwards, as the chap who was behind me let me know with a startled beep of the horn when it looked like £160k of Aston Martin was going to gently reverse into him. But on an English country lane, it is as magnificent and appropriate as a Spitfire over the fields of Kent. It feels right and I now want one with a yearning that somebody’s God no doubt proscribed as sinful on tablets of stone or gold that were subsequently, inexplicably mislaid. I cannot begin to describe the difficulty I have to reconcile a world in which people do such hideous things to each other in the name of some omnipotent creator, and simultaneously, in a building in a field in Warwickshire, some genetically identical people build devices that stir your soul and make you feel alive despite their almost total futility. This is the gap in which, if we are lucky, our lives are lived. The world is better place for those who make silly cars than it is for those who make silly religious pronouncements. What that means God alone knows, if she existed, which she doesn’t.
Jon1967x said:
I would have been there had it not been for the fact its called a Roadster not a Volante.
And this morning I've cleaned from its front a thousand dead flies that gave their life so I could enjoy creating carbon emissions which will, according to some, ultimately result in warmer summers.
I suspect he works for CNET And this morning I've cleaned from its front a thousand dead flies that gave their life so I could enjoy creating carbon emissions which will, according to some, ultimately result in warmer summers.
ETA ironic considering his garage shows he's owned a V8 roadster
Edited by mikey k on Saturday 30th August 17:34
Dewi 1 said:
mikey k said:
ETA ironic considering his garage shows he's owned a V8 roadster
I am no expert on the 1970s and 1980s cars, and you are usually very accurate, but the OP might be confused because the 1989 V8, I think was indeed called a Volante.Jon1967x said:
Dewi 1 said:
mikey k said:
ETA ironic considering his garage shows he's owned a V8 roadster
I am no expert on the 1970s and 1980s cars, and you are usually very accurate, but the OP might be confused because the 1989 V8, I think was indeed called a Volante.http://www.honestjg.com/2013/01/2010-1989-aston-ma...
should have held on to it, it's worth three times what I sold it for. If I sold it today I could have afforded a V12VS Roadster (as I now know to say) and more crack...
downr said:
robgt3 said:
Just for a laugh can I suggest the OP has a look at a video of a Vantage V12S vs a 991GT3, there are a few about. I expect he will claim people do not buy such a car for performance alone. Just saying.
I agree with Rob, there are a lot of VW's about. I know the 991GT3 is a great car car Rob but after a night in the pub I couldn't resist, and I hope you enjoy your new steed as much or more than you enjoyed your last two.
robgt3 said:
Just for a laugh can I suggest the OP has a look at a video of a Vantage V12S vs a 991GT3, there are a few about. I expect he will claim people do not buy such a car for performance alone. Just saying.
Well that didn't take long. Shouldn't you be more concerned about flogging all that branded clothing you've acquired over the years and replacing it with the equivalent Pork tat? Was it you who said " it doesn't matter how fast you go, just how you feel when you are going fast"
Oh how times have changed..
robgt3 said:
Just for a laugh can I suggest the OP has a look at a video of a Vantage V12S vs a 991GT3, there are a few about. I expect he will claim people do not buy such a car for performance alone. Just saying.
I hear they are flaming brilliant, so to speak. Problem is:- it's got a roof (I didn't much take to the V12S coupe, the gear box issue was my abiding memory of it)
- It's a Porsche, and I whilst they are great cars (I have had two), to me a Porsche is what you buy when you want a sensible super car, which is an oxymoron. Today you can buy loads of fast cars, I currently have a C63 AMG PPP and it's brutally fast even with two dogs in the back. Surely the point of a £150k super car is that it isn't practical, it is emotive in whatever way you want to emote. Ferrari's are for playboys, Astons for gentlemen racers and spies and Porsches are for engineers, usually retired ones. V12VVS makes you feel like you are driving like the old days when 250-300 BHP and a spot of rain meant tip-toeing through the puddles in fear of the back end swapping round. It feels like a fifteen year old imagines a supercar to feel like - to steal from the Bard of Shirley Richard Hammond.
Gettoff said:
Well that didn't take long. Shouldn't you be more concerned about flogging all that branded clothing you've acquired over the years and replacing it with the equivalent Pork tat?
Was it you who said " it doesn't matter how fast you go, just how you feel when you are going fast"
Oh how times have changed..
Geoff. It was indeed me who made that statement. I stand by it ! To date I have not driven a 991 GT3. I have driven a number of V12's including the S which I thought was fabulous. I have taken the decision to go for the Pork based on the myriad of glowing reviews and the very strong residuals. Was it you who said " it doesn't matter how fast you go, just how you feel when you are going fast"
Oh how times have changed..
Nobody could have been more hooked into Aston Martin than me . Believe me when I say I have sat on my empty garage floor and wept at my decision. Quite how a brand and a car could have got so under my skin I do not know. I have wanted to make an inflammatory remark so that people like your good self would realise how hard making the decision has been.
When I see you next I will explain the 34 reasons that have been the deciding factor.
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