RE: Driven: Aston Martin Vantage N420

[Carl_Docklands]

Nice car, dodgy wheels and dodgy colour on this one though.

Any 0-100 times?

[mikey k]

pd86 said:

will aston develop, from start, their own engines for the next gen of models? as if i'm right the 4.7 is derived from a jaguar lump and the 6.0 from 2 ford v6s??

hopefully they'll keep the noise but have better figures to rival those from italy and germany

No mention of that at Gaydon last week.
However several people did say at different points that they "pride themselves on working with the best in their fields to custom design elements for their specific needs" Ie Recaro, Brembo etc

There is very little the make from scratch it is all built to their designs.

They also said they will never produce the volume of cars that makes manufucturing key elements viable for them.

SO I'd presume they will continue to buy in engines built to their spec from an engine that already exisits.

I can't see them doing what TVR did with the straight six.

[britsportscars]

Beautiful motor... I've just read the driving review of the 911 GT3 http://pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=22394

If I had the choice between the two I think I'd go for the Aston, although I think the GT3 would be a slightly better drive. Tough decision! Not that I have the funds to make this choice though!

[DMC2]

Completely different cars. The GT3 can be hammered on track and driven home. The Aston could be hammered on track but you'd be going home on the back of an AA truck.

[ewenm]

louismchuge said:

ewenm said:

Because that extra £8k of spend makes all the difference...

Can't see it personally. How much is the sports suspension as an optional extra? Asuming it's less you get the same car withouth the halfords chav tat styling

I'm suggesting that a price difference of £8k doesn't make the difference between a savvy purchase and "more money than sense" as you appear to suggest.

Edited by ewenm on Friday 27th August 13:52

[Dagnut]

its pretty much exactly like a GT3...apart from it hasn't had any engine tuning....hasn't been lightened...hasn't had the brakes upgraded...but yeah I can see the comparisons.

[Gridl0k]

"The N420 hasn't got any extra power over the standard model, except that it has a different exhaust which gives it more power"

[cathalm]

pd86 said:

will aston develop, from start, their own engines for the next gen of models? as if i'm right the 4.7 is derived from a jaguar lump and the 6.0 from 2 ford v6s??

hopefully they'll keep the noise but have better figures to rival those from italy and germany

Not sure the V8 hasn't always been broadly in the same ball park in output to the 911 equivalent models of the time. As for the V12, I think it was Dave Richards who recently said they believe there is another generation in the engine. Considering there s 750 bhp version in the one-77 I wouldn't worry. I'm also confident that the V8 can be further enhanced. For performance figures Aston are on the right track in that a weight loss program would yield benefits.

Mind you if the customer is worrying solely about bhp figures and 0-60 times they're probably either a 5 year old boy racer or not exactly Aston Martin material:0) The complete experience is something else.

[Kazlet]

stew-S160 said:

ewenm said:

Oddball RS said:

VERY very nice, but a GT3 it aint.

Absolutely, much rarer

Agreed, This over the Pork any day!

+1

Although the chavvy white paint ruins a good car.

[Janosh]

An extra 8k... which brings it relatively close to the V12?! And I understand that the V12 comes with the carbon seats, etc as standard anyway

If I was spending 100k, I'd stretch it to the V12, might I add as my mate has just done. Lucky b@#$ard.

Although I haven't heard the N420, the V12 sounds amazing

[Rawwr]

Zod said:

Rawwr said:

How frightfully chavesque.

If you could reach the grapes, you'd find they're actually sweet.

I was very close to buying some grapes but I sampled a couple and found the taste wasn't quite what I was led to believe.

Fine whine, though.

[lady topaz]

I too am fortunate to own a 4.7. I drove the N420 and the V12V on Tuesday at Gaydon.

I seem to be in a minority that just doesn't like the sportshift. Whilst the N420 was ok, there were no massive differences from my car that I could notice on a short run.

The V12V however was incredible. Throttle response and manual gear change so superior to mine. It left me drooling and searching the classifieds.

For anyone contemplating a V8V for the 1st time, I can see the attraction of a limited edition N420, but not as an upgrade as far as I am concerned.

Di

[RichB]

DMC2 said:

Completely different cars. The GT3 can be hammered on track and driven home. The Aston could be hammered on track but you'd be going home on the back of an AA truck.

Is that a fact...

[Adam2S]

I agree with lady topaz - the N420 is a nice option if you are looking to buy a new V8 vantage but it isnt anything that different. That said the £8k isnt as silly as people are thinking as the N420 includes more than £8k of options as standard for free! So if you were going to spec these options on your new V8 anyway (as everything but the specific colours and badges are available on a normal V8) then you would actually be better off buying a N420 and it becomes good value. This article fails to connect the "extra equipment" with the £8k price premium which is necessary to make sense of the good value of a N420. At the end of the day the N420 is just a special edition not an improved V8 vantage and the equipment certainly doesnt make it a GT3 contender.

The V12 Vantage however a different beast all together and truly takes the Vantage performance to levels the car always deserved and as a result it is much more comparable to a GT3 than a V8 or a N420.

Drive them both and you will see the difference. The V8 / N420 is a damn good car, but the V12 is epic!

[timmybob]

Janosh said:

An extra 8k... which brings it relatively close to the V12?! And I understand that the V12 comes with the carbon seats, etc as standard anyway

If I was spending 100k, I'd stretch it to the V12, might I add as my mate has just done. Lucky b@#$ard.

But it's a big stretch to the V12 - aren't these somewhere north of 100k?

[Adam2S]

timmybob said:

But it's a big stretch to the V12 - aren't these somewhere north of 100k?

Yes but a N420 would be around the £100k mark anyway. The step up isnt as much as you think - I know as I bought a V12V last week!

[lady topaz]

timmybob said:

Janosh said:

An extra 8k... which brings it relatively close to the V12?! And I understand that the V12 comes with the carbon seats, etc as standard anyway

If I was spending 100k, I'd stretch it to the V12, might I add as my mate has just done. Lucky b@#$ard.

But it's a big stretch to the V12 - aren't these somewhere north of 100k?

A fully loaded V12V is going to be in the £145,000 region new.

Low mileage ex dem/second owner around the £110,000 which is where I'm at.

Edited by lady topaz on Friday 27th August 17:26

[hornetrider]

Nice car adorned with very chavvy wheels.

[dinkel]

Ran into one the other day: sounded like a bag of nails.

[Murph7355]

Dagnut said:

its pretty much exactly like a GT3...apart from it hasn't had any engine tuning....hasn't been lightened...hasn't had the brakes upgraded...but yeah I can see the comparisons.

It's not meant to be a GT3 as I understood it. Poor journalism that one, as it'll inevitably draw these sort of comments.