I saw the Vantage in the Flesh!

[Crazy_Sean]

I recently drove to Sydney to have my DB9 serviced.

The next day, when collecting my car I found myself walking around the fancy show room whilst waiting for the paperwork to be concluded. The salesman jumped out and was talking me through a few things. I asked him when the Vantage would be arriving and he took me down to see the one they have there.

First impressions..... those sorry looking lights. The rear of it looks amazing! Inside.... holy cow, what a place to sit. That digital display, those cool looking buttons. Very impressed. Then, he asked me to start it!!

Took my breath away just how amazing it sounded. I cycled through the engine modes and they all sounded amazing. I am not sure how I could live with the looks, but the noise and the interior, well, perhaps i could be convinced.

Have any other Australians seen it in the flesh yet? Anyone driven it ? Anyone considering it?

[JohnG1]

Will have to get over to Trivett and have a look :-)

What was the price tag? LCT is a killer!

[Graze01]

Sean

I drove it at an Aston day on the Gold Coast in May

On the track for 5 short laps only (there was a queue) as it wasn't homologated for road use

fast, sounds god, good seats, great brakes & grip, looked ok in that colour - even the front

Cant afford it at the moment but would want to own a V12 beforehand

[AlexT]

Inspected the one above Graze mentioned.

I don't need to say anymore other than that I test drove an AMG GTC Coupe recently and the Vantage is head and shoulders above it in terms of interior/exterior design & quality. When driving down the road the Benz doesn't feel like its worth dropping $350k cash for as it didn't give me an extra $200k worth of emotion above a C63s. Wife much prefers the Vantage.

Not happy at all with the new Vantage wheel choices though.

NOTE that I NEVER buy first year out. Especially not a low volume car like the Aston as there will surely be many issues that need to be ironed out. Same deal, for example, with the AMG GT when it was released in 2016.

12 months into production the new Vantage should be well on its way to perfection.

[goddo]

Crazy_Sean said:

I recently drove to Sydney to have my DB9 serviced.

First impressions..... those sorry looking lights. The rear of it looks amazing!

Sean, are you referring to the front or rear lights?
I too love the look of the rear as a whole.

[Jon39]

AlexT said:

NOTE that I NEVER buy first year out. Especially not a low volume car like the Aston as there will surely be many issues that need to be ironed out. Same deal, for example, with the AMG GT when it was released in 2016.

12 months into production the new Vantage should be well on its way to perfection.

I don't think 12 months into production is correct.
8 weeks is more likely.

https://www.astonmartin.com/en/live/news/2018/05/1...

[Minglar]

Jon39 said:

I don't think 12 months into production is correct.
8 weeks is more likely.

https://www.astonmartin.com/en/live/news/2018/05/1...

Jon39

I think he means that it will take 12 months of production to iron out any early niggles?
So perhaps wait a year or so before getting the New Vanatge? That’s the way I read it anyway.

Best Regards

Minglar

[Crazy_Sean]

goddo said:

Sean, are you referring to the front or rear lights?
I too love the look of the rear as a whole.

The front lights. I like the overall look of the car from the side, and from the rear it looks amazing. The front just looks sad! Really don't like the look of the front. Would it put me off ownership.... Hmm... Got to wait and thrash it out.

Graze, I am weighing it up - might have to wait for the LCT stuff to sort itself out.

[cayman-black]

goddo said:

I too love the look of the rear as a whole.

Surely not those exhaust pipe though? Terrible.

[goddo]

cayman-black said:

Surely not those exhaust pipe though? Terrible.

No, you are right. The exhaust pipes do let it down.
Maybe the next evolution will improve as others have said.

[telum01]

An aftermarket muffler is going to do wonders for the car. Should fix the exhaust note, plus have larger tips to fill out the rear. The optional Sport exhaust has quad tips, which helps a little. But I think it was a seriously poor decision to leave the standard exhaust tips so lacking.

[JB65]

Had a look at the car at goodwood, disappointing front and as said messy rear with mini exhausts (same issue as the previous rangrover sport that now has been corrected). Cars been displayed full throttle onto the hill, disappointing sound and in need of an after market sound bite...

[RSbandit]

Saw one of these in the flesh today finally..its quite a bit wider than the old car for sure, thought the number plate helps break up the front but still not that impressed, looks great from the rear 3/4 view though

[Crazy_Sean]

So to follow on to this thread..... yesterday the dealer from Sydney came to Canberra (Where I live) with the new Bentley, DB11, New Vantage, and a McLaren 570. They had 20 minute slots for people to drive each of the cars. I invited a couple of my car friends along to have a go. Whilst my friends had a drive of a few - I decided to stick to the Astons.

I'm surprised.... Very surprised. The car the I enjoyed driving the most was the Vantage. Such a different car to my own DB9. Quick and so pointy. I thought I'd like the DB11 - thought I'd enjoy the GT stuff and it's the successor to my own car (Although it feels 30 years newer).

Once I got home after this amazing day I sat on the Aston Martin configuration tool for ages.. But then I realised that unless one of the configuration options was "A cheap price" there was not really any point getting excited.

They say there is no beauty without some strangeness about it... Those lights might be just too strange for me. Perhaps they'll grow on me.