More Temptation!
Discussion
Passing JCT600 yesterday I decided to call in and have a chat about V12VS roadsters now the factory have officially released them. Turns out the dealers still know very little. They have not got pricing structure and are not taking orders at the moment. They have not even got a build slot for demo cars.
So I decided to have a drive of a V12VS coupe to see what it was like.
Their demo car is a V12 version of Pearl, looked nice.
Not too much of an opportunity to "really" drive it round Leeds
It was enough to note the front end is heavy, the suspension and CCM's work very well.
ASM3 is a little better than my old ASM2 set up, but worse than Johnny is now.
Sport button improves it all, but even with that in it is quieter than a stock V8VS
Sad to say it left me a little underwhelmed
Last night I used the coupe price list +£10k roadster premium to spec the car I'd want -£186,710!
As I got back wifey was wandering round the Vanquish Volante demo in Morning Frost (Iphone pic doesn't do it justice) fantastic colour!
Vanquish Volante by mikey k V8VR, on Flickr
Tim offered us a drive in that on the same route.
The interior is very nice and a quantum leap from my Vantage. Some really nice touches including a cup holder that you can actually use
lots of the buttons have been moved to the flip up screen and the joy stick, the only thing that put me off the interior was the look of the square 1-77 steering wheel. 
Externally I'd always struggled with the look of the front lip, on this car they have tied it in well with black grills, meshes and CF trims. It looks great.
The exhaust note is sublime. It has a Sport button and 3 stage damping as per the V12VS, it has the same engine but mated to a 6 speed ZF gearbox. Strangely I found this box better to use on the paddles than the V12VS (especially in Sport mode!)
I soon had it in hard suspension and the sport button on (they are on the steering wheel!)
Due to the small difference in weight to the V12VS it is just as quick, not quite as nimble, but surprisingly good. It looks like a big car but is the same width as a vantage and not that much longer.
Wifey also had a drive and was very pleased with it, one thing we both noted was the seats on both were no where near as good as the light weights in Johnny.
I'm tempted, this is going to take some serious man maths!
So I decided to have a drive of a V12VS coupe to see what it was like.
Their demo car is a V12 version of Pearl, looked nice.
Not too much of an opportunity to "really" drive it round Leeds
It was enough to note the front end is heavy, the suspension and CCM's work very well.
ASM3 is a little better than my old ASM2 set up, but worse than Johnny is now.
Sport button improves it all, but even with that in it is quieter than a stock V8VS
Sad to say it left me a little underwhelmed
Last night I used the coupe price list +£10k roadster premium to spec the car I'd want -£186,710!
As I got back wifey was wandering round the Vanquish Volante demo in Morning Frost (Iphone pic doesn't do it justice) fantastic colour!
Vanquish Volante by mikey k V8VR, on FlickrTim offered us a drive in that on the same route.
The interior is very nice and a quantum leap from my Vantage. Some really nice touches including a cup holder that you can actually use
lots of the buttons have been moved to the flip up screen and the joy stick, the only thing that put me off the interior was the look of the square 1-77 steering wheel. Externally I'd always struggled with the look of the front lip, on this car they have tied it in well with black grills, meshes and CF trims. It looks great.
The exhaust note is sublime. It has a Sport button and 3 stage damping as per the V12VS, it has the same engine but mated to a 6 speed ZF gearbox. Strangely I found this box better to use on the paddles than the V12VS (especially in Sport mode!)
I soon had it in hard suspension and the sport button on (they are on the steering wheel!)
Due to the small difference in weight to the V12VS it is just as quick, not quite as nimble, but surprisingly good. It looks like a big car but is the same width as a vantage and not that much longer.
Wifey also had a drive and was very pleased with it, one thing we both noted was the seats on both were no where near as good as the light weights in Johnny.
I'm tempted, this is going to take some serious man maths!
jonby said:
thanks - interesting Mikey
The only slight surprises were your comments on ASM3 and pricing
On ASM3, I can imagine that some elements of a single shift when looked at in isolation may be better in Johnny (which obviously I've never driven) but I thought it a huge improvement over ASM2 in terms of the shifts alone and also, there are some functional elements to ASM3 which are a big improvement, via the software with the new engine management chip.
On pricing, I am aware of some dealers taking orders/booking/booked slots but not having the actual prices. I believe it will be an 8k premium as per the V8. I'm struggling to see what takes it to 186, unless it's some of the V12VS introduced cosmetic options - not disputing, just intrigued. From a slightly higher base point, including Q, going for everything except B&O and then some, I got to less than 170k on my v12vr
In fairness ASM3 is a lot better than ASM2, but Johnny's rebuild of ASM2, the lighter clutch/flywheel and the balanced engine means it is better than ASM3 IMHO.The only slight surprises were your comments on ASM3 and pricing
On ASM3, I can imagine that some elements of a single shift when looked at in isolation may be better in Johnny (which obviously I've never driven) but I thought it a huge improvement over ASM2 in terms of the shifts alone and also, there are some functional elements to ASM3 which are a big improvement, via the software with the new engine management chip.
On pricing, I am aware of some dealers taking orders/booking/booked slots but not having the actual prices. I believe it will be an 8k premium as per the V8. I'm struggling to see what takes it to 186, unless it's some of the V12VS introduced cosmetic options - not disputing, just intrigued. From a slightly higher base point, including Q, going for everything except B&O and then some, I got to less than 170k on my v12vr
JCT were willing to get me a build slot but it's chicken and egg until I know prices.
A quick run down the V12VS options list;
Exterior CF pack £3k
Coloured Calipers £900
Front grill CF & body colour £700
CF side strakes £1k
Black meshes £700
Special AML colour £3.5k
Silver L weight wheels £3k
Front park sensors £400
CF fascia £1k
CF internal pack £3k
Contemporary leather £1k
Contemporary carpet £1k
Fine stitching £400
Headrest Logos £500
Reverse camera £1k
B&O £5.5k
Light weight seats £2.5k
It all adds up!
Edited by mikey k on Thursday 24th July 13:26
Lotto
J12MOC said:
Mikey...The big question...How did they compare to Johnny?;)
I'd need to wring their necks on some back roads but initial impressions V12VS nothing in it, Johnny turns in a bit quicker due to less front end weight. Vanquish is a VERY different animal and I actually prefer it to the V12VS. Not sure it is £120k better than Johnny though Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff