Discussion
After months of looking and huge amounts of browsing these forums for tips and advice I've finally got my Aston in my hands.
I thought rather than posting on the first day I would wait a few days just to get a feel for the car and see what its like. My previous car was a Cayman S so this is quite a change. The new car is an 06 V8 Vantage in Meteorite Silver, with a few options to go with. Now I've had a few days to get used to it, I thought I'd review it.
Wow. I cant get over the way this thing looks, as you can see from the pictures its had the number plate mount dropped so you can see the grill (not sure if I will remove it as it looks fine IMO), its got a changed rear diffuser and clear lights on the back. I'm still really excited every time I get in it, even for a trip to the shops when its just parked in the car park it looks amazing.
Unfortunately when I picked it up from Stratstone's they had missed a very small mark that was to be fixed on one of the wheels, fair play to the dealer they spotted it before I did and have said they will take it back, fix it, clean the whole car and give me a Merc for a few days, I can live with that. It's been a few wet days here in Wales so the car has lost all that shine under a layer of dust and spray from the roads, so next task is to give it a quick wash over so its perfect for the weekend again.
This was actually one of the big reasons I moved to the Vantage, not a 911. Going from the cayman to the 911 I sat in one and thought it was just more of the same. The aston on the other hand feels really special, in fact it smells it too! Every time I get in you can just smell all that leather! The driving position needs a little getting used to, why the peddles are on the right I don't know, but I've managed to adjust over a few days and it feels fine now. The car comes with a few decent facilities like a CD changer, sat nav, bluetooth and cruise control. There is definitely something not perfect about all of these, you need to setup the phone system using voice commands, the sat nav options are buried in its own menu and then other setup options are somewhere else! Somehow you just forgive the car for these things as the rest is so fantastic.
Unfortunately the car doesnt have premium audio. I did test it out and its great but I'm not a huge audio person so the standard is perfect for what I need, and I was more inclined to go for the car with the amazing lights/diffuser option than over better audio. To be fair I wondered if that was a good call, but the standard audio is perfect for my needs and I've spent the last few days with the windows down and audio off so I can hear that exhaust note!
Before I left the dealership I had fuse 22 out and in the next few weeks I'll wire in a remote switch for it (don't want to annoy the neighbours at 6am!). The noise and feel this car has as it moves mean its just as enjoyable as a cruiser as it is blasting along a B road. I would say the car becomes less fun under 15 mph as its quite big and things like parking, traffic, etc are not that enjoyable but apart from that its great. Strangely I hugely enjoy the car in a GT fashion just cruising along the motorway, I feel much less need to up my speed than I did in the Porsche. Similarly around town I feel no need to shoot off from the lights to enjoy my time in the car, it's very enjoyable to just cruise along. I really didnt expect with all the extra power and noise that I would feel inclined to slow down more and relax but I do, or maybe the big 3 0 is approaching faster than i thought and im just getting old!
Coming from the porsche the great thing is to have one boot, the split setup on the cayman means on paper it has more space but its just not as usable. I settled on the vantage as it can be used every day, in fact it seems most people think its better that way as you get less issues. It has a sizeable boot, a useful shelf in the car and some useful storage on the insides of the doors. However it does lack any form of useful glove box (that tiny thing is useless) and on the 06 model the centre arm rest is lacking useful space.
The running costs of the Vantage are not insane, well coming from the cayman at least. Serving and warranty are quite a big chunk of cash each year, but apart from that tyres, brakes, pads, etc are all just a bit more or comparable with something like a 911. The clutch is the big concern so I'm putting a war chest away ready if that goes! Fuel consumption varies dramatically, with cruise control on sat in a reasonable moving motorway I've seen numbers steady around the low to mid 20's, some bad traffic or an eager right foot can drop that into the single figures quite easily. The being said I'm expecting to average mid to high teens.
I've noticed a couple of little issues/quirks and wondered what people's views were on them.
I haven't fully got used to all that noise yet so find I'm releasing the clutch a bit early. Under about 1000 RPM I noticed a sort of odd noise coming from the gear box/clutch as it was being let out. I have gone under the assumption this is because its just on the point of being about to stall. I'm more used to it all after a few days and at 1500 RPM its all fine, but thought I would shout it out and see what others thought.
In the passenger side of the car either the door or glove box area there seems to be a rattle a bit as I got along, I know its part of the deal that comes with the 'handbuilt in england' stamp but I wondered if anyone had had this issue before I knew of a fix? I was going to break out the torch on the weekend to look about but thought I'd see what others know.
I thought rather than posting on the first day I would wait a few days just to get a feel for the car and see what its like. My previous car was a Cayman S so this is quite a change. The new car is an 06 V8 Vantage in Meteorite Silver, with a few options to go with. Now I've had a few days to get used to it, I thought I'd review it.
Exterior
Wow. I cant get over the way this thing looks, as you can see from the pictures its had the number plate mount dropped so you can see the grill (not sure if I will remove it as it looks fine IMO), its got a changed rear diffuser and clear lights on the back. I'm still really excited every time I get in it, even for a trip to the shops when its just parked in the car park it looks amazing.
Unfortunately when I picked it up from Stratstone's they had missed a very small mark that was to be fixed on one of the wheels, fair play to the dealer they spotted it before I did and have said they will take it back, fix it, clean the whole car and give me a Merc for a few days, I can live with that. It's been a few wet days here in Wales so the car has lost all that shine under a layer of dust and spray from the roads, so next task is to give it a quick wash over so its perfect for the weekend again.
Interior
This was actually one of the big reasons I moved to the Vantage, not a 911. Going from the cayman to the 911 I sat in one and thought it was just more of the same. The aston on the other hand feels really special, in fact it smells it too! Every time I get in you can just smell all that leather! The driving position needs a little getting used to, why the peddles are on the right I don't know, but I've managed to adjust over a few days and it feels fine now. The car comes with a few decent facilities like a CD changer, sat nav, bluetooth and cruise control. There is definitely something not perfect about all of these, you need to setup the phone system using voice commands, the sat nav options are buried in its own menu and then other setup options are somewhere else! Somehow you just forgive the car for these things as the rest is so fantastic.
Unfortunately the car doesnt have premium audio. I did test it out and its great but I'm not a huge audio person so the standard is perfect for what I need, and I was more inclined to go for the car with the amazing lights/diffuser option than over better audio. To be fair I wondered if that was a good call, but the standard audio is perfect for my needs and I've spent the last few days with the windows down and audio off so I can hear that exhaust note!
Driving
Before I left the dealership I had fuse 22 out and in the next few weeks I'll wire in a remote switch for it (don't want to annoy the neighbours at 6am!). The noise and feel this car has as it moves mean its just as enjoyable as a cruiser as it is blasting along a B road. I would say the car becomes less fun under 15 mph as its quite big and things like parking, traffic, etc are not that enjoyable but apart from that its great. Strangely I hugely enjoy the car in a GT fashion just cruising along the motorway, I feel much less need to up my speed than I did in the Porsche. Similarly around town I feel no need to shoot off from the lights to enjoy my time in the car, it's very enjoyable to just cruise along. I really didnt expect with all the extra power and noise that I would feel inclined to slow down more and relax but I do, or maybe the big 3 0 is approaching faster than i thought and im just getting old!
Practicality
Coming from the porsche the great thing is to have one boot, the split setup on the cayman means on paper it has more space but its just not as usable. I settled on the vantage as it can be used every day, in fact it seems most people think its better that way as you get less issues. It has a sizeable boot, a useful shelf in the car and some useful storage on the insides of the doors. However it does lack any form of useful glove box (that tiny thing is useless) and on the 06 model the centre arm rest is lacking useful space.
The running costs of the Vantage are not insane, well coming from the cayman at least. Serving and warranty are quite a big chunk of cash each year, but apart from that tyres, brakes, pads, etc are all just a bit more or comparable with something like a 911. The clutch is the big concern so I'm putting a war chest away ready if that goes! Fuel consumption varies dramatically, with cruise control on sat in a reasonable moving motorway I've seen numbers steady around the low to mid 20's, some bad traffic or an eager right foot can drop that into the single figures quite easily. The being said I'm expecting to average mid to high teens.
Issues
I've noticed a couple of little issues/quirks and wondered what people's views were on them.
I haven't fully got used to all that noise yet so find I'm releasing the clutch a bit early. Under about 1000 RPM I noticed a sort of odd noise coming from the gear box/clutch as it was being let out. I have gone under the assumption this is because its just on the point of being about to stall. I'm more used to it all after a few days and at 1500 RPM its all fine, but thought I would shout it out and see what others thought.
In the passenger side of the car either the door or glove box area there seems to be a rattle a bit as I got along, I know its part of the deal that comes with the 'handbuilt in england' stamp but I wondered if anyone had had this issue before I knew of a fix? I was going to break out the torch on the weekend to look about but thought I'd see what others know.
Summary
So far I've had the car for less than a week and its been fantastic. I loved the whole show of picking it up and revealing it, the noise and presence on the road is intoxicating and the plus points about the car mean you can forgive some of its imperfections. More than anything I'm so pleased to have realised a childhood dream and be lucky enough to drive one of these fantastic cars every day. Now if you'd all be so kind as to bring your Astons back down to Wales we can go for a drive!Chris, many congratulations... a lovely car and it reminds me of collecting mine from the very same showroom! As for annoying the neighbours, I am sure they are going to grow to love your start up! The remote switch is very easy to fit (I use the one with fitting instructions on the forum) but it only kicks in when you have selected it on. Beautiful car, great choice and enjoy!
Chris, the noise on pulling away is most likely the propshaft rattle, which is a very common issue. You're right, in so far as more revs makes it less likely to happen. Car looks great, welcome to the world of AM ownership. Get yourself along to a meet soon, get to see some of the mad-hatters in person before they insult you online 
You could get the Tranny-magnet like Big Tone 
Great looking car, bring it over to Bristol sometime, and add to Aston numbers... https://www.facebook.com/BristolBreakfastClub
Great looking car, bring it over to Bristol sometime, and add to Aston numbers... https://www.facebook.com/BristolBreakfastClub
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