New Vantage Manual Transmission on a drive
Discussion
I've had my 2020 Vantage w/ manual transmission for a few months & I have driven it quite a bit but haven't had the chance to really open it up. Due to current events I've been pretty stir crazy around home. Yesterday I decided to drive 30 miles to a restaurant we like and get two of their pre-packaged dinners to bring home. The road from the coast, where I live, to the restaurant crosses a medium height mountain range (4000 ft). It's a fairly curvy road with some nice rolling straights. These days there is much less traffic than normal.
The car drove great through the twists but I was shocked when I got to a passing lane and accelerated in 5th gear to pass. I went from 60 mph to 115 mph in no time. I mean NO time. I wouldn't have known how fast I was going if I hadn't glanced at the speedometer. Previously when I took my 991.2 911S on the same road I'd certainly feel the car leap when I passed but it was nothing like this. When I got to the second passing lane I gave it a go again and I got to 133 mph. The car was planted. That's pretty fast on a public road. (I'm not sharing this with my spouse!) The car revealed an almost demonic capacity to accelerate in gear and at high speed it had a serene ride. I'm thankful we don't have speed cameras in this part of the world!
I've been reading a lot of criticism of the new Vantage and I must say that as a pure driving tool (in the real world) the car is superb. The previous generation has a definite charm but in terms of brute performance there is no comparison.
If the car had a true premium stereo, apple car play and auto dimming headlights it would be perfect.
The car drove great through the twists but I was shocked when I got to a passing lane and accelerated in 5th gear to pass. I went from 60 mph to 115 mph in no time. I mean NO time. I wouldn't have known how fast I was going if I hadn't glanced at the speedometer. Previously when I took my 991.2 911S on the same road I'd certainly feel the car leap when I passed but it was nothing like this. When I got to the second passing lane I gave it a go again and I got to 133 mph. The car was planted. That's pretty fast on a public road. (I'm not sharing this with my spouse!) The car revealed an almost demonic capacity to accelerate in gear and at high speed it had a serene ride. I'm thankful we don't have speed cameras in this part of the world!
I've been reading a lot of criticism of the new Vantage and I must say that as a pure driving tool (in the real world) the car is superb. The previous generation has a definite charm but in terms of brute performance there is no comparison.
If the car had a true premium stereo, apple car play and auto dimming headlights it would be perfect.
Viahuerto said:
I've had my 2020 Vantage w/ manual transmission for a few months & I have driven it quite a bit but haven't had the chance to really open it up. Due to current events I've been pretty stir crazy around home. Yesterday I decided to drive 30 miles to a restaurant we like and get two of their pre-packaged dinners to bring home. The road from the coast, where I live, to the restaurant crosses a medium height mountain range (4000 ft). It's a fairly curvy road with some nice rolling straights. These days there is much less traffic than normal.
The car drove great through the twists but I was shocked when I got to a passing lane and accelerated in 5th gear to pass. I went from 60 mph to 115 mph in no time. I mean NO time. I wouldn't have known how fast I was going if I hadn't glanced at the speedometer. Previously when I took my 991.2 911S on the same road I'd certainly feel the car leap when I passed but it was nothing like this. When I got to the second passing lane I gave it a go again and I got to 133 mph. The car was planted. That's pretty fast on a public road. (I'm not sharing this with my spouse!) The car revealed an almost demonic capacity to accelerate in gear and at high speed it had a serene ride. I'm thankful we don't have speed cameras in this part of the world!
I've been reading a lot of criticism of the new Vantage and I must say that as a pure driving tool (in the real world) the car is superb. The previous generation has a definite charm but in terms of brute performance there is no comparison.
If the car had a true premium stereo, apple car play and auto dimming headlights it would be perfect.
Try it in 4th gear and report back!The car drove great through the twists but I was shocked when I got to a passing lane and accelerated in 5th gear to pass. I went from 60 mph to 115 mph in no time. I mean NO time. I wouldn't have known how fast I was going if I hadn't glanced at the speedometer. Previously when I took my 991.2 911S on the same road I'd certainly feel the car leap when I passed but it was nothing like this. When I got to the second passing lane I gave it a go again and I got to 133 mph. The car was planted. That's pretty fast on a public road. (I'm not sharing this with my spouse!) The car revealed an almost demonic capacity to accelerate in gear and at high speed it had a serene ride. I'm thankful we don't have speed cameras in this part of the world!
I've been reading a lot of criticism of the new Vantage and I must say that as a pure driving tool (in the real world) the car is superb. The previous generation has a definite charm but in terms of brute performance there is no comparison.
If the car had a true premium stereo, apple car play and auto dimming headlights it would be perfect.
yellow_tang said:
AstonV said:
DB9VolanteDriver said:
Performance without beauty is pointless in an Aston, even one with an AMG lump.
Well said. Unfortunate, but well said. Viahuerto,
Glad to hear you're enjoying your new car, and very well done getting the manual. Enjoy it (as much as possible under the circumstances)!
I've been vocal about what I do and don't like about the New Vantage on these forums -- on the various threads that were about discussing what people do/don't like. I've never expressed what I don't like about it on a thread started by an owner discussing his New Vantage.
Glad to hear you're enjoying your new car, and very well done getting the manual. Enjoy it (as much as possible under the circumstances)!
I've been vocal about what I do and don't like about the New Vantage on these forums -- on the various threads that were about discussing what people do/don't like. I've never expressed what I don't like about it on a thread started by an owner discussing his New Vantage.
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff


