First Road Trip
Discussion
I picked up my new Vantage a couple of months before the pandemic struck. I've used the car almost daily but I haven't been able to take any road trips in it at all. Things have gotten much better here in California and I decided to take a 3 day trip up to Mammoth Mountain to do some late season skiing. I've skied at Mammoth since I was a kid. I know the mountain like the back of my hand & late season is great fun (even in this lousy snow year!). The drive is just under 400 miles from my house in Santa Barbara. The route is mostly 2 or 4 lane highways crossing coastal Avocado groves, 3 mountain ranges, a large desert area and an alpine zone at the end. The route follows the Owens Valley which has a 3000 meter escarpment along the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Spectacular. The roads are lightly travelled, generally with a speed limit of 65 mph, but with little or no enforcement. Most people go 80-85 mph.
The car really acquitted itself well on the drive and as a road trip car really shows up my old 991.2 911S. The seating is perfect and the layout of the three pedals is perfect. The combination of engine, handling, gearbox and ride is almost perfect too. The car feels less like a sports car and more like a GT when cruising on the straights and sweeping curves. There were spots where I hit 110 mph without even noticing. I drove almost always in 6th gear and the car pulls like crazy from as slow as 50 mph. The rear boot swallowed my ski boots, and all my clothes, gear. The car is really flexible that way. I averaged 21 mpg on the trip.
I'm really happy I finally got to "use" the car for more than nipping around Santa Barbara. It is a pleasant surprise how comfortable and fun the car is. I understand the new Vantage has it's detractors but as a driving tool it is pretty un-paralleled.
The car really acquitted itself well on the drive and as a road trip car really shows up my old 991.2 911S. The seating is perfect and the layout of the three pedals is perfect. The combination of engine, handling, gearbox and ride is almost perfect too. The car feels less like a sports car and more like a GT when cruising on the straights and sweeping curves. There were spots where I hit 110 mph without even noticing. I drove almost always in 6th gear and the car pulls like crazy from as slow as 50 mph. The rear boot swallowed my ski boots, and all my clothes, gear. The car is really flexible that way. I averaged 21 mpg on the trip.
I'm really happy I finally got to "use" the car for more than nipping around Santa Barbara. It is a pleasant surprise how comfortable and fun the car is. I understand the new Vantage has it's detractors but as a driving tool it is pretty un-paralleled.
Edited by Viahuerto on Monday 3rd May 00:43
Nice write up, couldn't agree more, this was the main reason I bought mine.
Didn't want a big GT car but something nice to drive on European road trips, looks like they will have to wait a while yet, though we have got a few UK trips planned soon. So had some bespoke fine leather luggage made here in the UK, well impressed with the results, cant wait to try it out.
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/Cnb5cApJ[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/VFKyWYim[/url]
Didn't want a big GT car but something nice to drive on European road trips, looks like they will have to wait a while yet, though we have got a few UK trips planned soon. So had some bespoke fine leather luggage made here in the UK, well impressed with the results, cant wait to try it out.
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/Cnb5cApJ[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/VFKyWYim[/url]Simon.b said:
Nice write up, couldn't agree more, this was the main reason I bought mine.
Didn't want a big GT car but something nice to drive on European road trips, looks like they will have to wait a while yet, though we have got a few UK trips planned soon. So had some bespoke fine leather luggage made here in the UK, well impressed with the results, cant wait to try it out.
[url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/Cnb5cApJ[/url][url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/VFKyWYim[/url]
My boot wasn't as organized as I had my ski boots etc to jam in but it all fit very well. I'll try to remember to take a snap when I repack before I head home. By the way the skiing was great today. Classic spring conditions firm in the early morning, nice and soft mid morning and now soup. The'll re-groom over night and I'll be able to do it all over again.Didn't want a big GT car but something nice to drive on European road trips, looks like they will have to wait a while yet, though we have got a few UK trips planned soon. So had some bespoke fine leather luggage made here in the UK, well impressed with the results, cant wait to try it out.
[url]|https://thumbsnap.com/Cnb5cApJ[/url][url]|https://thumbsnap.com/VFKyWYim[/url]AdamV12V said:
LooneyTunes said:
That’s a surprisingly large boot vs a surprisingly small (and inconveniently shaped) one in the previous vantage!
350 litres capacity in the new Vantage against 300 litres in the old one.Viahuerto said:
I picked up my new Vantage a couple of months before the pandemic struck. I've used the car almost daily but I haven't been able to take any road trips in it at all. Things have gotten much better here in California and I decided to take a 3 day trip up to Mammoth Mountain to do some late season skiing. I've skied at Mammoth since I was a kid. I know the mountain like the back of my hand & late season is great fun (even in this lousy snow year!). The drive is just under 400 miles from my house in Santa Barbara. The route is mostly 2 or 4 lane highways crossing coastal Avocado groves, 3 mountain ranges, a large desert area and an alpine zone at the end. The route follows the Owens Valley which has a 3000 meter escarpment along the east side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Spectacular. The roads are lightly travelled, generally with a speed limit of 65 mph, but with little or no enforcement. Most people go 80-85 mph.
The car really acquitted itself well on the drive and as a road trip car really shows up my old 991.2 911S. The seating is perfect and the layout of the three pedals is perfect. The combination of engine, handling, gearbox and ride is almost perfect too. The car feels less like a sports car and more like a GT when cruising on the straights and sweeping curves. There were spots where I hit 110 mph without even noticing. I drove almost always in 6th gear and the car pulls like crazy from as slow as 50 mph. The rear boot swallowed my ski boots, and all my clothes, gear. The car is really flexible that way. I averaged 21 mpg on the trip.
I'm really happy I finally got to "use" the car for more than nipping around Santa Barbara. It is a pleasant surprise how comfortable and fun the car is. I understand the new Vantage has it's detractors but as a driving tool it is pretty un-paralleled.
Lucky you have those sticky tires or there would be no photos of the car. Great you are enjoying her.The car really acquitted itself well on the drive and as a road trip car really shows up my old 991.2 911S. The seating is perfect and the layout of the three pedals is perfect. The combination of engine, handling, gearbox and ride is almost perfect too. The car feels less like a sports car and more like a GT when cruising on the straights and sweeping curves. There were spots where I hit 110 mph without even noticing. I drove almost always in 6th gear and the car pulls like crazy from as slow as 50 mph. The rear boot swallowed my ski boots, and all my clothes, gear. The car is really flexible that way. I averaged 21 mpg on the trip.
I'm really happy I finally got to "use" the car for more than nipping around Santa Barbara. It is a pleasant surprise how comfortable and fun the car is. I understand the new Vantage has it's detractors but as a driving tool it is pretty un-paralleled.
Edited by Viahuerto on Monday 3rd May 00:43
LooneyTunes said:
The old one’s 300l? That’s with the with load cover removed? Based on what I’ve been able to fit/not fit in it, I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s larger than the Vanquish Volante (which the internet seems to claim is 279l).
Yes in the Coupe, and as far as I can tell with the load cover in situ. It makes very little difference removing it to be honest unless you have very long things to carry like plants or poles etc.. Capacity is however only 144l to be fair in the Roadster however, so maybe that's what you are comparing against?Here's a couple of articles that back that up.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/aston-martin/...
https://autoportal.com/newcars/astonmartin/v8-vant...
AdamV12V said:
Yes in the Coupe, and as far as I can tell with the load cover in situ. It makes very little difference removing it to be honest unless you have very long things to carry like plants or poles etc.. Capacity is however only 144l to be fair in the Roadster however, so maybe that's what you are comparing against?
Here's a couple of articles that back that up.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/aston-martin/...
https://autoportal.com/newcars/astonmartin/v8-vant...
Nope, definitely the coupe! Definitely seems smaller than the Vanq into which I’ve been able to squeeze a lot more than I’d expected. Maybe it’s just the shape playing tricks on the mind...Here's a couple of articles that back that up.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/aston-martin/...
https://autoportal.com/newcars/astonmartin/v8-vant...
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