So what have you done with your Aston today? (Vol. 2)

[Rappa]

Ninja59 said:

Longy00000 said:

Yeah i put 120 miles in my missus EV on an overnight tariff for about £2.80 but it don't sound like a V12 when I start it up !
I shall just have to suck it up at £2.12 per litre for my guilty pleasure at least for now.

Where was the £2.12?

I paid £2.05 for some V power today.

£2.09.9 in Devon for Esso 99 (Think that’s the one with little to no Ethanol in it). Tesco 99 is a bit cheaper.

Still with the exhaust valves open it burns ‘less’ fuel!

[Ninja59]

Rappa said:

£2.09.9 in Devon for Esso 99 (Think that’s the one with little to no Ethanol in it). Tesco 99 is a bit cheaper.

Still with the exhaust valves open it burns ‘less’ fuel!

Found mine runs far better on Esso than momentum which is a bit of fake 99 to me at least.

Even better when it was pretty much the same price, filled mine up at 2.09 which I was oddly okay with.

Super impressed with the vantage, 31mpg over 300 miles today cheshire to kent. This includes getting stuck in traffic.

[Mr.Tremlini]

On Wednesday I drove to Stuttgart, (lots of trucks on the road) and went to visit the Porsche museum. Pretty cool, lots of nice road and track hardware to peruse. Yesterday I went to the Mercedes museum, which is a much bigger and more historic experience, and the building atrium has a very 1930`s vision of the future look about it. Both museums well worth a look for a paltry 10€ entry fee. Drove home in the afternoon, roads again fairly busy but did squeeze 230km/h out of fifth gear. MPG diabolical.

[Wafu7]

Rappa said:

£2.09.9 in Devon for Esso 99 (Think that’s the one with little to no Ethanol in it). Tesco 99 is a bit cheaper.

Still with the exhaust valves open it burns ‘less’ fuel!

Alas, Devon (along with Cornwall, North Wales, North England and Scotland) still has ethanol in the Supreme+ 99:

https://www.esso.co.uk/en-gb/fuels/petrol

[Longy00000]

Supporting a charity event at Croft today giving 'dream rides' to the public for a charitable donation.
Brilliant day. Lots of track action, dealer support and thousands of visitors with great weather too.
A great chance to open the Vanquish S up on track.
Thoroughly enjoyable day.

[TheRainMaker]

Nigel_O said:

Put new front discs and pads on the Vantage.

They look fantastic, did you have to modify anything or were they a straight fit?

What would be a ballpark figure for those?

[AstonZagato]

Got it serviced. My local dealer has shut down, so I needed to go a little further afield.

[kevin_cambs_uk]

AstonZagato said:

Got it serviced. My local dealer has shut down, so I needed to go a little further afield.

Hello

Did you leave the car there , or wait while it was done?

Thanks

Kev

[Jon39]

AstonZagato said:

Got it serviced. My local dealer has shut down, so I needed to go a little further afield.

Looking so beautiful, AZ.
Might we see your car at the Brooklands celebration ?

I expect I have mentioned before, that you are clearly an extremely loyal AML customer. Eight cars show on your profile, from DB7 to Vanquish S Ultimate Coupe.

Along with numerous other multiple AM owners, you have posted on my ' ... more than one car' topic.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Looking at the topic makes us realise, that the extreme loyalty might have been largely a 'VH era' phenomenon.
The importance of repeat buying by existing customers though, must have been of considerable importance to AML and also their dealers. I think we do now get the impression, that repeat buying no longer seems to have the same momentum.

Will the the openly stated new strategy, of 'Ultra-Luxury', much higher list prices and limited production models, attract different and presumably fewer customers?

[cayman-black]

AstonZagato said:

Got it serviced. My local dealer has shut down, so I needed to go a little further afield.

That is gorgeous!

[AstonZagato]

kevin_cambs_uk said:

Hello

Did you leave the car there , or wait while it was done?

Thanks

Kev

They picked it up from home (£25 IIRC).
They had it a couple of days.
The plan was that they would deliver it back. They had an issue delivering it back on the day they finished (no driver), so I just jumped on a train from Cambridge to Hatfield and they picked me up from the station.

[AstonZagato]

Jon39 said:

Looking so beautiful, AZ.
Might we see your car at the Brooklands celebration ?

I expect I have mentioned before, that you are clearly an extremely loyal AML customer. Eight cars show on your profile, from DB7 to Vanquish S Ultimate Coupe.

Along with numerous other multiple AM owners, you have posted on my ' ... more than one car' topic.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Looking at the topic makes us realise, that the extreme loyalty might have been largely a 'VH era' phenomenon.
The importance of repeat buying by existing customers though, must have been of considerable importance to AML and also their dealers. I think we do now get the impression, that repeat buying no longer seems to have the same momentum.

Will the the openly stated new strategy, of 'Ultra-Luxury', much higher list prices and limited production models, attract different and presumably fewer customers?

I missed that there will be a Brooklands Celebration. When is it? If my diary allows it, I'll be there.

I have indeed been a loyal customer. I don't have a problem with the engineering of the current cars but I have found the styling (interior and exterior) to lie rather outside my tastes. The current DBSS Volante is the closest to getting me interested but I am waiting to see if they refresh it at all.

In the meantime, my Vanquish ticks all my boxes. If nothing in the AM range appeals, it will remain a keeper.

[Jon39]

AstonZagato said:

I missed that there will be a Brooklands Celebration. When is it? If my diary allows it, I'll be there.

14th August 2022. Booking needed, because the cars will be displayed in period order.
Details here.
https://astonmartinheritagefestival.co.uk/

AstonZagato said:

.... I don't have a problem with the engineering of the current cars, but I have found the styling (interior and exterior) to lie rather outside my tastes.

You sum it up exactly AZ. The problem AML must have belatedly realised, is that so many of the existing owners share that same opinion.

AML must have foreseen (perhaps not), that by suddenly abandoning 50 years of tradition (front grille and side strakes) it would immediately be noticed. That was just the begining of the changed design direction.

Perhaps Marek Reichmann thought, because the Vulcan had been well received (although the last few took a while to sell), he would be safe to use Vulcan design features on his new road car range. Road and track design acceptance can be quite different though. My own view, is that a Vantage GTE looks great on track, but would look rather out of place in a High Street traffic queue.

[kevin_cambs_uk]

AstonZagato said:

They picked it up from home (£25 IIRC).
They had it a couple of days.
The plan was that they would deliver it back. They had an issue delivering it back on the day they finished (no driver), so I just jumped on a train from Cambridge to Hatfield and they picked me up from the station.

That is great service
Thanks for the update

Kev

[DB4DM]

And the side vents with the strakes are functional, at least on a DB4. Some years ago I was "pressing on" when the oil cooler feed pipe gave way. Much of the resulting hot oil mist exited all down the driver's side through the vent. Made stopping "interesting" with no brakes on the right side, both saturated with oil and didn't want to use engine braking with an engine with only pints of oil in, not gallons

Edited by DB4DM on Monday 11th July 15:25

[TheRainMaker]

Last week it had a service by the Flying Tech

Today an MOT and a tank of fuel.

Holy cow petrol has got expensive

[kevin_cambs_uk]

I spent 400 quid on petrol alone in June. I remember moaning when it was £1.70.
Its getting crazy

[TheRainMaker]

It does seem to be a bit nuts at the moment.

[GTRene]

kevin_cambs_uk said:

I spent 400 quid on petrol alone in June. I remember moaning when it was £1.70.
Its getting crazy

also energie for at home, gas/electric I always pay about 1600,- euro per year, the same today come to 5000,-euro! per year! so they are stealing3400,-euro a year from me! why? cause they can... they get also paid by us, we pay for a war we do not want, we pay for climate change that is a natural thing but they let us pay for it, all immigrants every year about 100.000 a year in NL more then most big city's a year! and who pays for those incl all people that are needed for those... we all we the taxpayers, its crazy! you will own nothing and will be... hm.

anyhow, have fun as long as you can, or as long as 'they' decide for you...

[Simpo Two]

AstonZagato said:

kevin_cambs_uk said:

Hello

Did you leave the car there , or wait while it was done?

Thanks

Kev

They picked it up from home (£25 IIRC).
They had it a couple of days.
The plan was that they would deliver it back. They had an issue delivering it back on the day they finished (no driver), so I just jumped on a train from Cambridge to Hatfield and they picked me up from the station.

Nicholas Mee was recommended to me by another independent, so they will be on the list as/when the time comes. Stratton was originally my first choice but they disgraced themselves, AM Cambridge were very helpful but are now closed, and Grange didn't inspire when I enquired.

As for Mr Martin, he has spent the day snoozing under his cover