RE: Spotted: 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Discussion
Our R&D director has just traded his 997 Carrera Cab in for a 2nd hand Vantage. Dynamically, I've been told the Porky is better but those Astons are not just one of the best looking cars available now, they're one of the best looking cars full stop for me. I've heard they don't feel 'that' fast but I'm sure they're fast enough not to dissapoint too much.
The Porsche used to be parked up in the company car park every Friday but the Aston turned up only once. Apparently, there were so many complaints from the shop floor staff, he was asked to leave it at home. They are on low pay and saw this car and thought that was where all their missing pay rises went! Iinterestingly, they never said that about the Porsche. They give the illusion of great wealth as they are an 'Aston'.
The Porsche used to be parked up in the company car park every Friday but the Aston turned up only once. Apparently, there were so many complaints from the shop floor staff, he was asked to leave it at home. They are on low pay and saw this car and thought that was where all their missing pay rises went! Iinterestingly, they never said that about the Porsche. They give the illusion of great wealth as they are an 'Aston'.
snaelro said:
"The interior has a (dare I say it...) rather Porsche-esque feel in terms of how well it's been nailed-together;"
joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
Thought it was a pattern on the seat back at first, but not replicated on the passenger side seat.joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
Looks like a heater element.
What a tempter, especially as the nearest Aston Martin dealer is only 8.5 miles away. No that's too near,
er well not really, bang goes that excuse then. I reckon the 12 months wait advice is spot on though so it's a long serious hunt for me. I don't understand the v GTR, it's too slow argument, it's a much more bespoke car than the Nissan and although I haven't seen one in Sussex for ages unlike Aston Martin V8's,
surely over the longer term well much longer the Aston Martin is more likely to be a classic than anything else on pure numbers manufactured alone. Why not keep it for life and suffer NO depreciation.
Good thought provoking article PistonHeads well done again.
er well not really, bang goes that excuse then. I reckon the 12 months wait advice is spot on though so it's a long serious hunt for me. I don't understand the v GTR, it's too slow argument, it's a much more bespoke car than the Nissan and although I haven't seen one in Sussex for ages unlike Aston Martin V8's,
surely over the longer term well much longer the Aston Martin is more likely to be a classic than anything else on pure numbers manufactured alone. Why not keep it for life and suffer NO depreciation.
Good thought provoking article PistonHeads well done again.
snaelro said:
"The interior has a (dare I say it...) rather Porsche-esque feel in terms of how well it's been nailed-together;"
joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
Looking at you past forum comments you really do seem to have it in for anything British made. Why don't you move, grow up or just be bit a bit more positive and stop moaning.joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
StottyZr said:
I really really wanted one of these. Until recently when I realised I could buy a Nissan GTR for similar money.
It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
If you want to go round the ring as fast as possible then great but I'd have the Aston over it any day. A mate of mine has a V8 Vantage and one thing I don't get is the 'it feels slow' comments. I think it probably does compared to a V12 Vantage but when compared to 99% of the other cars on the road it's damn fast.It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
B10 said:
snaelro said:
"The interior has a (dare I say it...) rather Porsche-esque feel in terms of how well it's been nailed-together;"
joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
Looking at you past forum comments you really do seem to have it in for anything British made. Why don't you move, grow up or just be bit a bit more positive and stop moaning.joking right?
most 15 year old porsche interior age better than this. is it the seat frame that we see on the driver's backrest?
StottyZr said:
I really really wanted one of these. Until recently when I realised I could buy a Nissan GTR for similar money.
It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The thing is, Aston ownership isn't about how fast it goes. If you're seriously worried about that, then its probably not the sort of car for you. It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The real "competition" will be in a bentley I'll wager.
Edited by M@H on Friday 25th November 13:42
St John Smythe said:
Yet another poster with no car history in his profile!
We've spoken about this before haven't we?Car history is not relevant to peoples opinions as in most cases it is dictated by circumstances rather than desire.
Basically, a t
t is a tt no matter what car he drives. 
M@H said:
StottyZr said:
I really really wanted one of these. Until recently when I realised I could buy a Nissan GTR for similar money.
It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The thing is, Aston ownership isn't about how fast it goes. If you're seriously worried about that, then its probably not the sort of car for you. It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The real "competition" will be in a bentley I'll wager.
Edited by M@H on Friday 25th November 13:42
As the V8 is more of a sports coupe I would say the R8/911 are it's real competition and maybe the GTR as well.
SWoll said:
IMO they just don't have the same 'feel' to them as an AM (I'm assuming you mean the CGT), and are more of a competitor for the DB9 anyway.
As the V8 is more of a sports coupe I would say the R8/911 are it's real competition and maybe the GTR as well.
What I was trying to say (clearly quite badly) is that the sort of chap who drives an Aston about is not really too bothered about what trawls up beside him at the traffic lights. If you've spent £100k+ on your daily driver then your life "competition" (professionally, socialy etc) are probably tooling about in similar machinery. I'd love a Bentley and I have the same knowledge of its performance figures as I do of the fuel consumption figures of our AM - that would be "no idea" As the V8 is more of a sports coupe I would say the R8/911 are it's real competition and maybe the GTR as well.
welcome M@H said:
StottyZr said:
I really really wanted one of these. Until recently when I realised I could buy a Nissan GTR for similar money.
It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The thing is, Aston ownership isn't about how fast it goes. If you're seriously worried about that, then its probably not the sort of car for you. It is beautiful, but it can't keep up with the competition!
The real "competition" will be in a bentley I'll wager.
Edited by M@H on Friday 25th November 13:42
CooperS said:
Isnt it a totally different car to the GTR?
The GTR is HUGE in comparison and really speed wise up in F430 teritory.
There's one near me and tbh it seems like the next step after my Z4M Coupe, looks refined, has a purr that the M doesnt make and isnt much bigger and looks like on a commute and thrash in the highlands a great car.
Speed isnt everything, there is only so fast you can go along a UK road so for me styling, sound and the interior are key (when considering high powered cars, unlike my old Elise where feel and control made up for the 190 bhp)
The GTR is HUGE in comparison and really speed wise up in F430 teritory.
There's one near me and tbh it seems like the next step after my Z4M Coupe, looks refined, has a purr that the M doesnt make and isnt much bigger and looks like on a commute and thrash in the highlands a great car.
Speed isnt everything, there is only so fast you can go along a UK road so for me styling, sound and the interior are key (when considering high powered cars, unlike my old Elise where feel and control made up for the 190 bhp)
St John Smythe said:
If you want to go round the ring as fast as possible then great but I'd have the Aston over it any day. A mate of mine has a V8 Vantage and one thing I don't get is the 'it feels slow' comments. I think it probably does compared to a V12 Vantage but when compared to 99% of the other cars on the road it's damn fast.
All very good points. The AM as I see it, is a gentlemans car. It promotes a positive image and generally makes everybody smile. Its a beautiful machine.In comparison the GTR looks like a bit of a gimmick! But the performance difference is HUGE, and for a similar price I think I'd be getting a lot more car with a GTR. Unfortunatly, this is enough to sway me towards the GTR
M@H said:
What I was trying to say (clearly quite badly) is that the sort of chap who drives an Aston about is not really too bothered about what trawls up beside him at the traffic lights. If you've spent £100k+ on your daily driver then your life "competition" (professionally, socialy etc) are probably tooling about in similar machinery. I'd love a Bentley and I have the same knowledge of its performance figures as I do of the fuel consumption figures of our AM - that would be "no idea"
DB7/9 and above I would agree with you. I do think that the V8 has opened AM ownership up to a different type of driver these days though personally.Stunning car and although servicing would be expensive i think the lack of depreciation compared to say a new Golf GTI etc would make it reasonably affordable motoring
I keep hearing people talk about them being too slow but i'm sure it would be fast enough for me and anyone who can't have fun in something like this is either a lunatic and shouldn't be on the roads or is one of those that decides how good a car is by how fast it will go in a straight line when they're trying to massage their ego by racing everyone in site on the motorway
still just out of my price range, but it's an Aston and for regular blokes like me i guess that's the part of the appeal
I keep hearing people talk about them being too slow but i'm sure it would be fast enough for me and anyone who can't have fun in something like this is either a lunatic and shouldn't be on the roads or is one of those that decides how good a car is by how fast it will go in a straight line when they're trying to massage their ego by racing everyone in site on the motorway
still just out of my price range, but it's an Aston and for regular blokes like me i guess that's the part of the appeal
StottyZr said:
All very good points. The AM as I see it, is a gentlemans car. It promotes a positive image and generally makes everybody smile. Its a beautiful machine.
In comparison the GTR looks like a bit of a gimmick! But the performance difference is HUGE, and for a similar price I think I'd be getting a lot more car with a GTR. Unfortunatly, this is enough to sway me towards the GTR
My question is though, unless you are thinking of tracking it in which case you wouldn't consider the V8 anyway, when are you going to use even 50% of what the GTR can do. Is it not likely to become an ultimately frustrating experience that unlike the V8 doesn't have the fallback position of being beautiful, classy and comfortable?In comparison the GTR looks like a bit of a gimmick! But the performance difference is HUGE, and for a similar price I think I'd be getting a lot more car with a GTR. Unfortunatly, this is enough to sway me towards the GTR
Just my thoughts.
St John Smythe said:
If you want to go round the ring as fast as possible then great but I'd have the Aston over it any day. A mate of mine has a V8 Vantage and one thing I don't get is the 'it feels slow' comments. I think it probably does compared to a V12 Vantage but when compared to 99% of the other cars on the road it's damn fast.
I've owned both.A well driven V8 Vantage is not far off the pace of a V12 in most conditions.
The V8 Vantage is a thing of beauty. In performance terms it's comparable to a 997.1 C2S (I had one of those too).
If you have £30k you are buying something that cannot fail to put a smile on the face of a petrolhead with a heart. Just hear yourself saying "I'm just taking the Aston Martin out for a drive".
Buy it - you know you want to....
If anyone is thinking about this car - pop a post onto the Aston Martin forum - they folks are generally very friendly and helpful...
Much was made in the article about servicing costs, but not much was mentioned about service intervals. I was recently in the fortunate position to be considering a Vantage V8, but in the end my £40k went into a 997 as when the cost of a service is coupled to the regularity at which a service would be required, the vantage would have been 4 times the cost of a 997! Every conceiveable service item is at least twice the price of the equivalent 997 price, and the service intervals for the Aston are every 12 months as opposed to 24 for the Porker.
I simply couldn't get past that element of urine extraction.
I simply couldn't get past that element of urine extraction.
D.no said:
Every conceiveable service item is at least twice the price of the equivalent 997 price, and the service intervals for the Aston are every 12 months as opposed to 24 for the Porker.
I simply couldn't get past that element of urine extraction.
12 months - luxury! ..its 6 months with a DB7 V12.I simply couldn't get past that element of urine extraction.
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