V8VS Lightning Silver with Pics

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Well here she is

really, really pleased with the way it turned out with the exterior colour and standard grille and meshes and with the interior combination. Will upload more pics later but here are a few to be going on with.

First impressions. ASM II is really easy and intuitive and even on moderate throttle openings it does shift along nicely. The tech is actually OK, the Garmin seems to work well. Ride is firmer than I recall from the test drive but I am sure I will get used to that. Only not so good things so far, wind noise was a little more than I would like and the DAB drops out very easily and not elegantly (pops and squeaks) but yes, yes I should not be listening to the radio anyway.

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More

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Hang on Hang on having to re-size them. Sorry

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Bodywork!

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Right off to play now...

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Feeling generous, one more to show standard grille and meshes

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avinalarf said:

Very nice car,but don't give up the day job.
Pop round and I'll take some decent pics for you.

I am rubbish at pics but also I was trying to leave the number plate out for the public ones hence them looking a bit chopped! Paddy can take some proper ones when he does his stuff

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I am leaving the lights clear. I still think that red would look better but the clear look a lot nicer than I thought they would and I can't be arsed to change them now.

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Grant3 said:

Congratulations she is a beauty and the interior looks pure class.....

Many thanks Grant. I have to say I felt this strange sense of responsibility having the privilege to factory spec a car not to bugger it up! I am aware Iron Ore is not universally liked but feedback so far has been very positive. It may depend on the exterior colour and what you pair with it internally and how you break it up. I can also say, whilst mostly my fault for being st at photography, the pictures do not do it justice at all inside or out.

Thanks again for all the nice comments, constructive criticism also accepted.

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Thought I would make a quick 1200 mile report which the car clicked over today (and is thus officially run-in).

Fact is there is not a lot to report. Having established thanks to fellow PH friends that anything that might have been a cause for concern is normal. A great run out on August 24th in Northants (nice to meet you all) really helped me explore more of the potential of the car and really begin to feel at home with it. Now everything is set the way I want it I just drive it, smile a lot and stare at it a lot when I am not in it. A few observations (and keep in mind I am a fussy bugger borderline OCD)..

Paint - love the colour. Perfect for a DD. The Paddy Gtechniq Crystal Serum means it looks shiny all the time and is really easy to clean with a Quick Detailer. Paddy said the paint finish ex-factory was pretty good. I have one very tiny stone chip which after 1200 miles hard driving in all conditions I am more than happy with.

Interior - love the colour(s) and the quality is excellent, everything feels nice and smells nice. No quality issues as yet or rattles (fingers crossed on that one).

Panel fit - pretty good I think. I have not got the hang of closing the boot lid yet unless slamming it is the best way

Overall I am pretty impressed with the quality, the finishing touches on the S are nice and there was no need for me to spend hundreed (or thousands) of Pounds on different grille, strakes, mesh, interior finishes etc. It looks great out of the box and I love the CF front splitter and rear diffuser fitted only to the S (and SP10)

Engine - what can I say, not the quickest perhaps but bags of character and encourages you to use it

Gearbox (SS ASM II) - I actually really like it. Very tactile and satisfying to use which you end up doing without thinking about it. Thought I would use D mode now and again but never have. I am struggling to understand the major critcism this 'box gets which I assume applies mainly to ASM1. Not so easy (but not diffcult either) in traffic on slight inclines but then neither is a full manual.

Handling - superb and confidence inspiring. Really lets you know what it is doing

Ride (Sports Suspension) - FIRM but you get used to it. A bit strange how it soaks some stuff up OK and the odd innocent looking hump will make it skip or bounce a little. Overall I am happy after being initially worried it was too frim and no complaints from passengers yet. Would be interesting if the V8VS had switchable suspension where it would be set most of the time.

Seats (Sports) - I think I finally have them set right for me. Keep messing with the lumbar that seems to have a gap between lower and upper right where I want something. I am reserving judgement for now since I have had a bad back (pre-Aston!). I also had a major blind spot but a better mirror adjustment sorted that. Memory Seats are very useful for this process!

Tech - one of the things I was most worried about (coming from a tech-laden Audi A7 and remember this is a DD) but in reality this csr (as specified) has everything you need and nothing you do not. I do not miss a single feature from the A7 and in fact would struggle to remember what most of them were. THere are silly things like the radio not muting when the reverse parking sensors kick in (Volvo sorted that out on this system 10 years ago). The DAB radio works like the add on it is but overall the Sat Nav and Bluetooth, iPod etc. work better than I was expecting. FM radio is poor. DAB sounds great when it locks on to a station - one nice thing the Audi had is it would morph between DAB and FM when the DAB went away whereas the AM just cuts out. In current weather conditions the DAB is working better than it was when I took delivery and I can live with it as it is.

Ergonomics - POOR but once you have stuff set then you figure out the requited short cuts for stuff you mught change (bu t overall you avoid messing too much). This is an area which could be much improved without destroying any 'character' but it does not really spoil the overall experience. (Garmin) Sat Nav surprisingly OK.

Economy - at the moment I am filling up every time I pass a Shell Garage but I am getting 20+mpg and think I could approach 350 miles on a tank but certainly 300+ - will be happy to average 320 which would be fine.

Refinement - more wind noise than I was expecting on the motorway but I have got used to that now. The driveshaft noise at low speed trailing throttle is disconcerting but other than that the car is surprisingly civilised especially with the Sport button OFF. Nice to know it can be that way if circumstances dictate, but the car drives SO much better with the Sport button ON (and sounds menacing) that Sport stays on all the time. Pressing the loud button in non sport mode is also a bit disconcerting as nothing much seems to happen.

Practicality - surprisingly good but not fully tested yet

So overall this is the perfect car for me right now. Covers both the daily commute and a fun blast or going shopping. I have no regrets and cannot think of anything else I would rather own. I am sure there will be moments when I question that but right now, happy days. For the record I also considered Audi RS7, Jaguar F-Type, Maserati Granturismo Sport. The Audi was the best car, the Maserati was the closest I came to otherwise buying. The Jaguar was never really in the frame for reasons discussed on other threads. At the end of the day I would have sat in all of those having spent similar amounts of money and at some point have said 'I could have had an Aston Martin'and not forgiven myself. I don't think that will ever happen with me sat in the AM thinking about those other marques even if we do fall out from time to time.

Thanks all for your support through the choosing, ordering, speciifying and delivery process. Anyone on the fence, DO IT

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Christian51 said:

Beautiful in that Silver. The red tail lights are fine if you like to look at them but for me the addition of that red note of color draws the eye away from the over all design and lines of the car. I wouldn't have the red on mine.

I should have added to my write up rhat I am a clear light convert (on this car with this colour and trim at least), makes for a very cohesive design as you say

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wokkadriver said:

Glad you are enjoying the car - What was the add-on element to get the DAB you went for? It's the only thing I'd want in my car that it doesn't have...

Sorry I did not express myself very well here. DAB is now factory fitted on Astons but it operates a little bit like it is an add-on in terms of the operation and menus etc. But it is OK (just).

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Thanks all for your comments. Another benefit of AM ownership is the support here. I also forgot to mention I was accosted the other day by a lovely young lady who wanted to sit in it. She even removed her heels to do so!

I also should have added on ASM II the Hill Hold works very well and as you would expect.

Finally I agree totally on the nice comments on the colour :-)

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ds2000 said:

Lovely, very nearly the spec and colour combo of my old car

Looks great!

I don't think I ever confirmed the final spec which is

Aston Martin V8 Vantage S SportShift Coupe

Sports Suspension, Sports Seats, Sports Exhaust (std)

Carbon Fibre Splitter and Diffuser. Bright Tailpipes, Clear Rear Lamps (std)

Contemporary Paint - Lightning Silver

Interior - Iron Ore Red (w/Cirrus Grey Headlining, Dark Grey(Q) contrast coarse stitch to door panel and inner seat only, all other stitching fine match Iron Ore to match leather, upper lip and binnacle Obsidian Black, Iridium interior trim, Piano Black facia trim, Black Cherry Carpets, Warm Charcoal Seatbelts, Silver logo to seat and carpets and coarse Silver s/wheel stitch

Front Parking Sensors

Grey Brake Calipers

Platinum Grille

Platinum Meshes and Side Strakes

Glass Switches

Wheels V-Spoke Graphite DT

Reversing Camera

Aston Martin Premium Audio

Auto Dimming Interior Mirror

Heated Seats

Memory Seats

Sat Nav/Bluetooth/Cruise/Tracker (std on S)

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divetheworld said:

Paint protection film...... Best thing I ever did, best advise I give. I don't worry anymore about chips.

Yep, I thought long and hard about this. It was 50/50. I need to see some of the very latest film installed but I decided I would rather have a few chips and the feel of nice clean paint rather than possibly see a join and feel something plastic. I know the film gets rave reviews and the Aston paint is supposedly soft but so far it is standing up better than my Audi did (fingers very crossed on that one). I do not mind the odd chip on a DD anyway and ChipsAway also gets good reviews.