New Vantage Update
Author
Discussion

ripley500

Original Poster:

390 posts

242 months

Wednesday 3rd April 2019
quotequote all
I thought I’d post an update on what the new Vantage is like having lived with it for around six months now.

I originally put a deposit on the car shortly after they were announced as I really liked the looks of the car given that it’s very close to the looks of a DB10 which I always thought was one of the best looking Astons and the fact that it would be the first car that Matt Becker had responsibility for the handling, hence expecting something special. After a 10 month wait my car finally arrived.

I’d have to say that initially I was somewhat underwhelmed. Probably due to the fact that I was hoping the car would be a very focussed sports car when in fact it really is part sports and part GT car.

I mentioned to my dealer that whilst I liked the car it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. Shortly after AM contacted me directly and offered to take the car back to the factory to check everything was as it should be. Their desire to ensure I was a happy customer was very impressive so I agreed and they had the car back for a couple of weeks.

I’ve now had the car back a few weeks and finally had chance to drive it and I have to say that it gets better & better. The car is actually at its best when pushed hard, the faster and harder you push it, the more impressive the handling and composure of the car is - the factory certainly made some minor but effective tweaks to the car, addressing some of the feedback/handling concerns I originally had.

As a GT car, it’s very comfortable but once on B roads it’s really impressive how a car that is really quite heavy, handles like a much lighter and more agile car. I’m looking forward to getting on track with it as I think it will really shine.

On the road the brakes feel as good as CCM from the V12V, not sure how they will fare on track but on road they are perhaps too aggressive as I still find it quite hard to be very smooth with them at low speeds.

The performance of the car is superb but ideally it would have a dual clutch gearbox or manual as with the 8 speed auto, whilst changes are very fast, it doesn’t match the smoothness of a twin clutch.

General reaction from people has been hugely positive - actually getting more attention than my V12V. There are quite a few new Vantages for sale at the moment and it’s clear there are some great deals to be had - for anyone considering one I think they represent a great car. After the first three months with mine, I would have sold it if I could have got a decent price for it, but since AM worked their magic the car has really grown on me and I expect to keep it for some time.

Viahuerto

162 posts

92 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
Great intel as I just test drove Vantage yesterday and am seriously considering. Your observations fit very closely to my (brief) experience. I noticed grabby brakes for sure at low speeds. Otherwise car feels very charismatic. I also feel car hangs between GT/ sport. The Vantage seems to live in it's own niche. Do you use as a daily driver?

dbs2000

2,756 posts

223 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
Nice write up, good to see more positive reviews for the new Vantage as well cool

anonymous-user

85 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
Nice write up.

Really interested to hear what the changes were that AM made to the car and what the issues were before.

golfpunks

1 posts

91 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
very curious to see what they have done for you also. I have been very unhappy with Aston Martin with my new vantage, the day I bought it, the tranny been whining,, driving me nuts at 65-75 mph.. and they have yet to want to do anything about it, saying its a common issue and my car is in line with what they allow. this is my second and will be my last, I highly advise staying away from this car,,

ripley500

Original Poster:

390 posts

242 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
golfpunks said:
very curious to see what they have done for you also. I have been very unhappy with Aston Martin with my new vantage, the day I bought it, the tranny been whining,, driving me nuts at 65-75 mph.. and they have yet to want to do anything about it, saying its a common issue and my car is in line with what they allow. this is my second and will be my last, I highly advise staying away from this car,,
Most of what was done was geo set up which has improved the car. Interesting you’ve had tranny whine - when I first got mine I also had a horrible whine at motorway speeds on very light throttle, drove me mad. Went back to the dealer and they changed the diff. The problem was solved for a short time, then it started to come back. When it went back to AM I flagged that the diff whine was coming back (though not as bad as it was originally) - they did some reset and it improved but I have noticed it coming back again.


ripley500

Original Poster:

390 posts

242 months

Thursday 4th April 2019
quotequote all
Viahuerto said:
Great intel as I just test drove Vantage yesterday and am seriously considering. Your observations fit very closely to my (brief) experience. I noticed grabby brakes for sure at low speeds. Otherwise car feels very charismatic. I also feel car hangs between GT/ sport. The Vantage seems to live in it's own niche. Do you use as a daily driver?
I don’t do a lot of mileage but it’s used more than my other cars - I’d be happy using it as a daily driver and I think it makes a great car for this