997 GT3 Vantage V8 & Spec Advice

[Steviebeee]

Evening Gents,

Not posted on the pages of PH for some time! For years it had been in the Pork section, but after 6 years in my 997 GT3 and 2 in a 996tt before, it's time for a change.

I've yet to find anyone who has posted a tale of regret going to AM from Porsche.

I'm now at the stage where I would like a car that behaves properly on all roads, and not just when the road is flat and even. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed the GT3, but can be the worst experience on earth of you find yourself on a poor road surface!

So, having scanned the interweb I'm fairly sure I'm in the market for a 2012 or newer car. I started by looking at just the 'S, but turns out there isn't a great deal between them with the exception of two things I'd really prefer, one being the sports exhaust which I can address and the other being the lower final drive which I can't. Does this latar difference make itself apparent? I note the 0-60 time is .7 quicker on the S with only 10hp. I'm not fussed about times, but the lower final drive does appear to have quite a profound effect on performance. Could anyone comment?

Last querie if anyone could help, is the comfort / sport suspension. Big difference? I've picked up ALOT of cars on Auotrader (N430 models inc) that have comfort rather than the sport suspension option.

The other item would be bucket seats, but these appear to be near impossible to get and would just make finding the right used car impossible to find.

Sorry for the long post, just want to get it right. It's been a long time since I was last in the market for a sports car and hope to make the change with zero regrets!

Cheers,
Stevie

[Jon39]

Welcome Stephen.

I am sure you will forgive, but we are all very passionate here, about one make of car.
One of our jokes is, you will just have to get used to being let out of side turnings.

I can comment on a couple of your points, but others will be along.

I don't think you stated V8 or V12. The is an S version of both models.

Presuming you are talking V8, the quicker acceleration time would mostly be because the early V8S cars all had automated manual gearboxes, so quicker gear changes. There would only be one change though, for the 0 to 60 mph time.

Re. Comfort / Sports. A part Marmite choice. I have not driven on Scotland roads for a long time, but many English roads are in a shocking condition. My car has the standard 'Comfort' setup, and that is fine for me. Teeth fillings are shaken, but still just in place. It is certainly not soft.

Enjoy your research. Obviously drive some to find what you prefer.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 7th January 17:52

[dalecan]

I have a V8VS with sports suspension. I live in Seattle and the roads around here are terrible! The sport suspension is pretty good at absorbing the terrible roads here. The exhaust note on the S really is awesome. The only thing I don't really like are the seats, they don't really hug me enough. The seats I had in my previous M were much better. Unfortunately for the US market, we cannot get the sports seats.

[Steviebeee]

Jon39 said:

Welcome Stephen.

I am sure you will forgive, but we are all very passionate here, about one make of car.
One of our jokes is, you will just have to get used to being let out of side turnings.

I can comment on a couple of your points, but others will be along.

I don't think you stated V8 or V12. The is an S version of both models.

Presuming you are talking V8, the quicker acceleration time would mostly be because the early V8S cars all had automated manual gearboxes, so quicker gear changes. There would only be one change though, for the 0 to 60 mph time.

Re. Comfort / Sports. A part Marmite choice. I have not driven on Scotland roads for a long time, but many English roads are in a shocking condition. My car has the standard 'Comfort' setup, and that is fine for me. Teeth fillings are shaken, but still just in place. It is certainly not soft.

Enjoy your research. Obviously drive some to find what you prefer.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 7th January 17:52

Hi Jon,

As much as I'd love a V12, I'm moving down in value rather than up. For all I use the car, 60k ish is more than enough

So the acceleration times are due to the gearbox rather than the final drive of the S?

Yeah, our roads aren't in the best condition either, hense why the change from GT3 to Aston, plus I need a change!

The GT3 always goes down well with thumbs up on every drive from other motorists. Joys of running a car with a roll cage on the road, always goes down very well. My old turbo was the complete opposite!

Thanks for the input!

Stevie

[Steviebeee]

dalecan said:

I have a V8VS with sports suspension. I live in Seattle and the roads around here are terrible! The sport suspension is pretty good at absorbing the terrible roads here. The exhaust note on the S really is awesome. The only thing I don't really like are the seats, they don't really hug me enough. The seats I had in my previous M were much better. Unfortunately for the US market, we cannot get the sports seats.

Hi Delecan,

Are your seats the Sport Seats rather than the Carbon Buckets? Or is there another 'standard' seat I've not seen?

Yeah, the sports exhaust does sound brilliant. I can add that to the regular car though. Just trying to figure out of the other S features that are not so easy to add are worth chasing.

Thanks for posting!

Stevie

[Jon39]

Steviebeee said:

Hi Jon,

So the acceleration times are due to the gearbox rather than the final drive of the S?

Stevie

Don't take that as being the correct answer.
I am not an engineer, but it just seems logical to me, that if a gear change is faster, power is back on the road quicker. It could be due to the final drive though.

In reality, a few seconds of full throttle risks the licence anyway, so as you say, quicker 0 to 60mph times don't really matter.

Whilst talking about gearboxes, do you know that the Sportshift (automated manual gearbox), is loved by some, but hated by others? Make sure you like it before buying. There is still some demand for manuals, and the newish CEO wants Aston to be last in their segment to offer manual gearboxes.

I love my manual gearchange and feel it suits the character of my own car.

[PJI]

hi and welcome.

I own a 997 GT3 Clubsport and a V12VS. To be honest I love them both but for different reasons. The Aston is without doubt a great road car, comfortable, refined but very quick, however I wouldn't take it on track whereas the GT3 I generally will only drive it to a track.

[RobDown]

Stevie - I'm sure Grant (he of the book) will be along shortly with the real technical details for 2012, but if I look at the current models Aston Martin quote an identical 0-60 time for both S and non-S models (and the same final drive ratio)

As you say there's only a 10bhp difference between them, not enough to notice in practice, so all other things being equal the only way you would see a decent gap in the 0-60s would be with some major changes to 1sr and 2nd

I think the best advice here would be to go out and look/test a few, but keep an open mind about whether it's an S or not; if you find a non-S with the right spec at a good price go for it!

Happy hunting!

[dalecan]

Steviebeee said:

dalecan said:

I have a V8VS with sports suspension. I live in Seattle and the roads around here are terrible! The sport suspension is pretty good at absorbing the terrible roads here. The exhaust note on the S really is awesome. The only thing I don't really like are the seats, they don't really hug me enough. The seats I had in my previous M were much better. Unfortunately for the US market, we cannot get the sports seats.

Hi Delecan,

Are your seats the Sport Seats rather than the Carbon Buckets? Or is there another 'standard' seat I've not seen?

Yeah, the sports exhaust does sound brilliant. I can add that to the regular car though. Just trying to figure out of the other S features that are not so easy to add are worth chasing.

Thanks for posting!

Stevie

Sorry Stevie, I should have said we don't get the carbon bucket seats in the USA.
I'm not sure if the non-S have the air box valve in addition to the sports exhaust.

[V8V Pete]

Hi Stevie and welcome. Lot's of options, some of which are important to some and irrelevant to others. Hopefully my views can help guide you. I have a manual V8VS with Sports suspension and the lightweight carbon fibre bucket seats and I love it.

Firstly, are you looking for manual or Sportshift? If manual then that significantly limits the number of Vantage S available to you as a manual version was not available initially.

Suspension. The Sports Suspension is perfect for me. I actually think it rides very well and is significantly better when pushing on but this choice is obviously subjective so try both and make your own decision.

The sports exhaust on the S is great but as you say many exhaust mods are available although not necessarily cheap.

Seats. This is a deal breaker for me. The lightweight bucket seats are fantastic and now I have them I wouldn't buy another Vantage without them. Yes, they are rare, particularly in a V8, but they are worth the wait. My advice would be don't buy a car until you've tried them.

So from what I can see you are looking at quite a specific spec which may be hard to find. Try the lightweight seats by test driving a V12V in which they are more common. Be warned, I am one of the few people who have managed to test drive a V12V without HAVING to buy one but it was close! You say you can't afford a V12 but this one has the bucket seats and is well priced https://used.astonmartin.com/en-GB/Search/Details~...

Interestingly, when I was at Aston Martin Works yesterday they said they had a used V8VS with lightweight seats coming in soon. I would give them a call and ask to speak to Simon who may be able to tell you all about your future car

[cayman-black]

Stop teasing the OP Pete.

[Steviebeee]

V8V Pete said:

Hi Stevie and welcome. Lot's of options, some of which are important to some and irrelevant to others. Hopefully my views can help guide you. I have a manual V8VS with Sports suspension and the lightweight carbon fibre bucket seats and I love it.

Firstly, are you looking for manual or Sportshift? If manual then that significantly limits the number of Vantage S available to you as a manual version was not available initially.

Suspension. The Sports Suspension is perfect for me. I actually think it rides very well and is significantly better when pushing on but this choice is obviously subjective so try both and make your own decision.

The sports exhaust on the S is great but as you say many exhaust mods are available although not necessarily cheap.

Seats. This is a deal breaker for me. The lightweight bucket seats are fantastic and now I have them I wouldn't buy another Vantage without them. Yes, they are rare, particularly in a V8, but they are worth the wait. My advice would be don't buy a car until you've tried them.

So from what I can see you are looking at quite a specific spec which may be hard to find. Try the lightweight seats by test driving a V12V in which they are more common. Be warned, I am one of the few people who have managed to test drive a V12V without HAVING to buy one but it was close! You say you can't afford a V12 but this one has the bucket seats and is well priced https://used.astonmartin.com/en-GB/Search/Details~...

Interestingly, when I was at Aston Martin Works yesterday they said they had a used V8VS with lightweight seats coming in soon. I would give them a call and ask to speak to Simon who may be able to tell you all about your future car

Hi Pete,

Thank you v much for posting! It's definately a manual car I'm after. Some great info there, although it appears my search might be harder that I first thought. Still, I'm not really in a rush. Quite enjoying the search actually! Would you say prices soften a little at this time of year like GT3s?

I'm positive the buckets are exactly the same seats I had in my old CSL. They were fantastic!

To make things harder, I'm not keen on silver (unless it's that beautiful pearlescent Silver AM do). Ideally I'm looking to get into a car that's no older than 2012 and under 20k miles, so pretty much discounts the V12Vs, although that silver car is a fantastic price!

I will call Simon today!

Thanks again,
Stephen

[alscar]

Stevie , Pete's reply pretty much sums up what I would have said other than dont necessarily get fixated on the car needing sports suspension - I had a SP10 ( pretty much a V8S special ) with comfort suspension which on our crap roads was pretty good most of the time.In context compared to my 997 Gen2 CS GT3 where in sports suspension mode it is almost horrible to drive on the road.That said and without wishing to expand your budget the suspension on my V12S in normal mode is miles more acceptable in daily driving than both and there are of course plenty of mods and indy's around that could improve the suspension to your taste.Seats are subjective and I have the lightweights in mine and wouldnt go back to sports seats - I miss the heating element a little on early starts but having mine in alcantara balances them up.
If Works have got one coming in then as Pete says give the Barista a call - Ive seen none with them.Premium audio (700w) almost a must compared to the standard set up.
Good luck.

[Steviebeee]

alscar said:

Stevie , Pete's reply pretty much sums up what I would have said other than dont necessarily get fixated on the car needing sports suspension - I had a SP10 ( pretty much a V8S special ) with comfort suspension which on our crap roads was pretty good most of the time.In context compared to my 997 Gen2 CS GT3 where in sports suspension mode it is almost horrible to drive on the road.That said and without wishing to expand your budget the suspension on my V12S in normal mode is miles more acceptable in daily driving than both and there are of course plenty of mods and indy's around that could improve the suspension to your taste.Seats are subjective and I have the lightweights in mine and wouldnt go back to sports seats - I miss the heating element a little on early starts but having mine in alcantara balances them up.
If Works have got one coming in then as Pete says give the Barista a call - Ive seen none with them.Premium audio (700w) almost a must compared to the standard set up.
Good luck.

I'd almost settled on this car in Edinburgh, but sounds like the lack of HiFi, seats & Sports suspension might mean the search continues;

http://www.levencarcompany.co.uk/aston-martin/pre-...

I've seen it in the flesh and it is lovely. Love the colour, ownership details and the colour. Are prepared to do a deal on the car too.

Stevie

[Gettoff]

How about this one? It's a manual S with lightweights, been for sale for a couple of months as well I believe.

http://www.thboler.com/used-cars/6358580-aston-mar...

[Steviebeee]

alscar said:

Stevie , Pete's reply pretty much sums up what I would have said other than dont necessarily get fixated on the car needing sports suspension - I had a SP10 ( pretty much a V8S special ) with comfort suspension which on our crap roads was pretty good most of the time.In context compared to my 997 Gen2 CS GT3 where in sports suspension mode it is almost horrible to drive on the road.That said and without wishing to expand your budget the suspension on my V12S in normal mode is miles more acceptable in daily driving than both and there are of course plenty of mods and indy's around that could improve the suspension to your taste.Seats are subjective and I have the lightweights in mine and wouldnt go back to sports seats - I miss the heating element a little on early starts but having mine in alcantara balances them up.
If Works have got one coming in then as Pete says give the Barista a call - Ive seen none with them.Premium audio (700w) almost a must compared to the standard set up.
Good luck.

I'd almost settled on this car in Edinburgh, but sounds like the lack of HiFi, seats & Sports suspension might mean the search continues;

http://www.levencarcompany.co.uk/aston-martin/pre-...

I've seen it in the flesh and it is lovely. Love the colour, ownership details and the colour. Are prepared to do a deal on the car too.

Stevie

[12pack]

OP, as you noted no point in obsessing over acceleration times, but I would really doubt a consistent 0.7 sec difference for the S. More than likely any such difference was to do with test launch and road conditions. I would say drive both as well as a manual and the SS.

[V8V Pete]

Steviebeee said:

I'd almost settled on this car in Edinburgh, but sounds like the lack of HiFi, seats & Sports suspension might mean the search continues;

http://www.levencarcompany.co.uk/aston-martin/pre-...

I've seen it in the flesh and it is lovely. Love the colour, ownership details and the colour. Are prepared to do a deal on the car too.

Stevie

Don't buy a Stratus White car until you've seen Morning Frost in the flesh as it's a million times nicer (sorry to any Stratus owners but it's true). That car isn't a great spec anyway and hasn't got the seats which are about the only thing you can't retrofit at a sensible price (I've heard quotes in the teens of thousands - WTF!).

The car Jeff found is obviously a good spec, ticks all your boxes (or does dark metallic grey count as silver) and also has the lovely forged alloys but I suspect may be a bit more than you want to spend. Bear in mind that it presumably has a year of manufacturers warranty left and is probably still a little overpriced.

Premium audio is also important to me but again that depends on your priorities.

Hope we're helping rather than just making matters worse.

[Steviebeee]

V8V Pete said:

Don't buy a Stratus White car until you've seen Morning Frost in the flesh as it's a million times nicer (sorry to any Stratus owners but it's true). That car isn't a great spec anyway and hasn't got the seats which are about the only thing you can't retrofit at a sensible price (I've heard quotes in the teens of thousands - WTF!).

The car Jeff found is obviously a good spec, ticks all your boxes (or does dark metallic grey count as silver) and also has the lovely forged alloys but I suspect may be a bit more than you want to spend. Bear in mind that it presumably has a year of manufacturers warranty left and is probably still a little overpriced.

Premium audio is also important to me but again that depends on your priorities.

Hope we're helping rather than just making matters worse.

Hi Pete,

Thanks for posting again. No, you most certainly aren't making matters worse. Nor are any of the other contributors to the thread. It's all great info.

Stratos White is very similar to my old Pearl White Lexus ISF which I absolutely loved. Morning Frost is epic, but Stratos would do me fine. I have such a long list of desirables, something has to give! Im buying used at the end of the day, and unless I'm willing to pay what ever it takes (which I'm not) and wait indefinitely (which I'd rather not!) I think I have to put value in the new, lower owner car and for-go a few options.

Edinburgh AM have been great to deal with which is a refreshing change from any Porsche centre I've dealt with.

Stevie

[Steviebeee]

Gettoff said:

How about this one? It's a manual S with lightweights, been for sale for a couple of months as well I believe.

http://www.thboler.com/used-cars/6358580-aston-mar...

Hi Gettof,

Thanks for the link but I'm not looking to spend more than 63/5. I'm expecting c. 75 for my GT3 and Hoping for the new car plus 10k to help with a planned extension this year. Time to be semi sensible lol

Stevie