RE: Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT8: Review

[Dan Trent]

Guvernator said:

Oh and Dan you can keep your "race car" semi-auto, I'm not a racing driver so I'll stick with the slower but infinitely more tactile manual thanks. ??

Best thing is we at least have the choice so, whatever your preference, it's not dictated one way or the other. Unlike others we might mention!

I think I've nailed 'my' spec to two options though - manual with lightweight flywheel, all the weight saving bits and no aero so more or less equivalent to 911 R. Or Sportshift with all of the above + the wings and garnish so on a par with a GT3 RS. Decisions, decisions! But I'd say a win whichever ended up on the driveway! I do rather like this colour scheme too.

Dan

[belleair302]

Soundtrack for a British Cannonball Run film. An amazing drive I am sure but is it a decent ownership proposal or a one trick pony?

[Guvernator]

Dan Trent said:

I do rather like this colour scheme too.

Dan

[castex]

That's a bit garish for an Aston.

[drpep]

That sounds fking awesome. Fact.

[FD3Si]

CupMeister said:

I think the single mass flywheel is actually an option available to any V8 Vantage customers Dan, as it's a dealer fit option (which is a bit weird with the GT8 why can't they factory fit it?) from what I've been told when speaking to the engineers when we were shown the car it's a very worthwhile upgrade and a good tip for anyone looking to sharpen up their Vantage, especially since it's a retro fit from your dealership...

Yup, it's available for 'normal' models. It's a very light fly and very much changes the character of the car.
It just makes the v8 a bit more responsive and tactile.

[WojaWabbit]

article said:

... a centre-exit titanium exhaust system. This, and further lightweight bits like the magnesium centre-lock wheels, carbon roof and polycarbonate rear windows, are optional. So-equipped your GT8 would cost you (apparently) £200K and weigh about 100kg less than a regular Vantage S. Without them it's a still respectable 80kg saving and a burly £165,000.

£35k for 20kg. Wow.

Edited by WojaWabbit on Sunday 19th June 09:22

[FFM]

Dan Trent said:

Best thing is we at least have the choice so, whatever your preference, it's not dictated one way or the other. Unlike others we might mention!

I think I've nailed 'my' spec to two options though - manual with lightweight flywheel, all the weight saving bits and no aero so more or less equivalent to 911 R. Or Sportshift with all of the above + the wings and garnish so on a par with a GT3 RS. Decisions, decisions! But I'd say a win whichever ended up on the driveway! I do rather like this colour scheme too.

Dan

Dan, before seeing the GT8 at the factory I thought the Aero-pack would have not been a necessary option to tick ("look at 911R", I said to myself)...I soon realised I was wrong.

Once I spoke with the guys at the factory, I finally understood how AM envisioned the GT8 and what this car truly represented. It was clear to me the Aero pack had to be fitted to this car. Actually, they SHOULD have offered it as standard with a delete-option, in my opinion.

First reason for ticking the Aero option is because, as you mentioned, the GT8 takes inspiration from the Vantage GTE car, racing successfully in the FIA WEC. You see that racing-design replicated in the front-wheel arches, the wider Carbon-fibre body etc.
Secondly, the Aero-pack makes the GT8 stand-out relative to "standard" Vantages, on a visual-basis.

Apparently, 95% of the perspective owners have chosen the Aero pack.


A GT8 WITHOUT a wing loses its focus/identity as it would a 911R WITH a wing.

[FFM]

CupMeister said:

I've got one of these coming Dan and I disagree with you on the aerokit, it's one of the features that sets the GT8 apart from lesser Vantages. I'm a little conflicted about the gearbox as like you said the sportshift suits the flavour of this car but ultimately I prefer a manual and in the future I think this car will be celebrated for being so analogue and the manual will only add to that...Besides, I've optioned the single mass flywheel which should sharpen the delivery and response from the motor, and reduce a bit of that flywheel effect when swapping cogs. The car is full tilt lightweight spec too, so it has the magnesium centre lock wheels saving 4kgs of unsprung mass per corner. I noticed the car you drove had the forged centre lockers, so I wonder if they'll let you journo's loose in a car with the full lightweight configuration. Now all that's left is to agonise over the colour, I'm loving China Grey, but like the Lime of the Sterling Green Halo scheme....what to do....

Hi CupMeister, if you are looking for inspiration re. colors, options to tick, before finalising your spec, I'd suggest you have a look at this discussion http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

There are several perspective owners sharing insights and at some point we'll plan to organise some meetings/events etc ..I bet there will be others interested to hear your point of views on the flywheel!

See you there,
F

[OwenK]

Max_Torque said:

What annoys me about this car?

The fact that i build pretty much EXACTLY this car as a demonstrator for AML whilst working at Prodrive/AMR way back in 2006! We hung some ex-race car wings and spoilers on it, with a nice set of EX-TC height adjustable dampers and a set of sticky tyres on some wider wheels.

At the time we were told "no way would we ever make a car looking like this", which i always thought was a bit odd considering the sell-out (sic) nature of certain German products with a G, a T, and a 3 in their title.


So AML, welcome to 2006, again........ ;-)

Well that was the height of the Bez era and they had a suite of still fresh new and exciting products and a brand image firstly as a gentleman's sports car. Now a decade later and under new management, with a more brutish sports car image having been built up with the V12 Vantages and so forth, new directions have to be explored, and I'm glad Palmer is greenlighting projects like this. They're great revenue for the company and relatively low investment while still giving the buyers a very special car out of it. Plus... finally Astons that look different! In the Bez era there seemed to be some reluctance to explore any different looks even when tools were being remade anyway or whathaveyou.

[Evocator]

I'd have to say the Vantage is the prettiest car produced in a long, long time, I can only think of a couple of others in the same league and they are true icons.

I would say that for £160K to £200K and given the current crop of very fast cars available, i would be looking for more power and I'd expect to have carbon brakes, but the sound of it is epic.

It's a shame they didn't include the twin spotlights in the front grill, when I see them at Le Mans, they look fantastic and would have provided a design cue unique to Aston Martin.

I almost pulled the trigger on the V12VS, but the more I thought about it, the more I worried it wouldn't be sharp enough. They didn't offer the manual gearbox as an option when I was looking and I finally gave up on the three peddle option. This would have needed more power to empty me though...