Dragon 88 Editions

[AMDBSNick]

peterr96 said:

Uh? For legroom or headroom?
According to this extensive and reliable study:-

http://www.interbasket.net/news/4385/2009/09/avera...

UK is on average just under 3" taller than China.
That should mean there's a heap of room in the back of a DB9 let alone a Rapide

Is it not the case that they still prefer acres of space in the rear.

[George H]

AMDBSNick said:

Is it not the case that they still prefer acres of space in the rear.

It is indeed - hence Audi and BMW creating LWB versions of saloons. Some sort of status symbol I'd guess. Like how DB9s are so superior to V8Vs

[Vantagefan]

George H said:

It is indeed - hence Audi and BMW creating LWB versions of saloons. Some sort of status symbol I'd guess. Like how DB9s are so superior to V8Vs

So why haven't Aston followed and produced a Rapide LWB? You'd think it would be a shoe-in without diluting the brand (in fact it would probably extend it..)

[George H]

Vantagefan said:

So why haven't Aston followed and produced a Rapide LWB? You'd think it would be a shoe-in without diluting the brand (in fact it would probably extend it..)

No idea, it would be the logical thing to do. Perhaps it's because it would mess up the shape? There's no LWB Porsche Panemera that I'm aware of, so is it really necessary in the sporty 4 door cars?

[peterr96]

George H said:

No idea, it would be the logical thing to do. Perhaps it's because it would mess up the shape? There's no LWB Porsche Panemera that I'm aware of, so is it really necessary in the sporty 4 door cars?

But that would be minging. Oh hang on a minute, the Panamera already is!

[AMDBSNick]

George H said:

No idea, it would be the logical thing to do. Perhaps it's because it would mess up the shape? There's no LWB Porsche Panemera that I'm aware of, so is it really necessary in the sporty 4 door cars?

If you want to sell them to China - my original point

[Jockman]

Georgeous - what are the 3 special colours ???

I don't normal like the burgundy interiors but that does compliment the 'blood' red exterior quite well

[George H]

Jockman said:

Georgeous - what are the 3 special colours ???

I don't normal like the burgundy interiors but that does compliment the 'blood' red exterior quite well

Not sure. The only thing I can find out from the press release is " The cars are also finished in one of three special colours selected to chime with traditional Chinese art and imagery." I'd like to find out what they're called though.

Also noticed that Aston Martin will open 13 new dealerships in China this year.

[Jockman]

Unlikely they would do one in MF or any of it's derivatives.

Pretty sure the last time I was in HK a funeral passed by and people were dressed in white as a sign of respect for the dead.

Unless of course they were to call it Mourning Frost

[George H]

Jockman said:

Unlikely they would do one in MF or any of it's derivatives.

Pretty sure the last time I was in HK a funeral passed by and people were dressed in white as a sign of respect for the dead.

Unless of course they were to call it Mourning Frost

Ba Dum Tssh

[GTDB7]

Sorry to drag this up from the depth of page 70

I actually got to sit in a Dragon 88 at AM HQ earlier this year.

I do have to admit, it had one of the best interiors I've seen to date!

The wood finish was awesome and the leather seemed to be just ever so slightly better than normal.

The only thing I pointed out to the design guy were those horrible Ford plastic switch gear for wipers and indicators.

I didn't mince my words and told hi on such a high end car why not have some custom items made rather than fit tacky day-to-day plastic.. he didn't really have a response!!

Perhaps he was unaccustomed to having his work truly scrutinised.

[yeti]

GTDB7 said:

The only thing I pointed out to the design guy were those horrible Ford plastic switch gear for wipers and indicators.

I didn't mince my words and told hi on such a high end car why not have some custom items made rather than fit tacky day-to-day plastic.. he didn't really have a response!!

Perhaps he was unaccustomed to having his work truly scrutinised.

Of all the things people complain about, this is probably the most common and you'd think easy to solve!

If they made them silver coloured it'd be something

What did Ferrari/Lambo use before steering wheel buttons did it all? Fiat/Audi I assume? Maybe it's hard to replicate the functions for a limited run. My TVR had bespoke ally controls but they were simple switches, no buttons or rotating parts.

[jonby]

yeti said:

GTDB7 said:

The only thing I pointed out to the design guy were those horrible Ford plastic switch gear for wipers and indicators.

I didn't mince my words and told hi on such a high end car why not have some custom items made rather than fit tacky day-to-day plastic.. he didn't really have a response!!

Perhaps he was unaccustomed to having his work truly scrutinised.

Of all the things people complain about, this is probably the most common and you'd think easy to solve!

If they made them silver coloured it'd be something

What did Ferrari/Lambo use before steering wheel buttons did it all? Fiat/Audi I assume? Maybe it's hard to replicate the functions for a limited run. My TVR had bespoke ally controls but they were simple switches, no buttons or rotating parts.

Lexus made some stunning ones for the LFA in solid steel or some alloy IIRC. You'd think, when it's such a commonly known issue and is one of the very few pieces of visible plastic in the car, that they would get on with sorting it and then they could put them in every single car - even buyers of the ONE77 have to put up with them !

Incidentally I have had my request for silver seat switches in my V12VR refused by Q on the basis it's a different wiring loom. The standard switches look very cheap and are glaringly obvious due to their positioning which is visible as soon as you open the door - they could at least hide them within the base of the seat !

I have agreed to pay a loony sum, from memory about £500, to do what should be done in the first place on all cars with CF door pulls, which is have piano black handles set within them instead of the cheap plastic ones they normally fit in the CF pulls. Piano black pulls have piano black handles so the part already exists. It will complement the centre of the car which is also mixed CF & piano black. But is shouldn't require me to finish off what they should be doing already as standard.................you wonder who makes these decisions !

Those are the 3 areas that look cheap and of those, I guess seat switches are solved soon as vantage is the only car left with them (including Zag !)which one assumes will be resolved when a replacement vantage comes out

Edited by jonby on Friday 23 November 10:53

Edited by jonby on Friday 23 November 10:53

[v8woollie]

jonby said:

Incidentally I have had my request for silver seat switches in my V12VR refused by Q on the basis it's a different wiring loom.

The buttons on the electric memory seats, whether silver as on the Virage or black plastic as on the Vantage, are the same so what does the loom matter as long as the connectors and button functions are the same?

[jonby]

v8woollie said:

jonby said:

Incidentally I have had my request for silver seat switches in my V12VR refused by Q on the basis it's a different wiring loom.

The buttons on the electric memory seats, whether silver as on the Virage or black plastic as on the Vantage, are the same so what does the loom matter as long as the connectors and button functions are the same?

I don't know, I agree, but I got to the stage with Q where enough is enough and that was their answer - some things were agreed quickly & easily and some just dragged on for so long or came back with such loony responses, I finally drew a line under it. They do themselves no favours, even with pricing, which ranged from incredibly good value to absurd - there was no logic and they just stick their finger in the air - I reckon the margin on the pricing of my oddball options range from many 1,000s of % to just a few %age points

The other big refusal was to embroider a 'Hamsa'. Now I appreciate that it will seem daft to many, but my car, my choice. I wanted to have one embroidered in a very discrete part of the car interior that no-one would know about except me. It's a simple hand, originally seen by jews & muslims of middle eastern origin as being a good luck charm to ward off evil spirits, which has been adopted on a wider scale in recent years. If you don't know what it is and anyone is interested, google image it - you'll see how big, widespread and mainstream it is. After months of chasing, Gaydon finally came back and told me it was refused on religious grounds. So they can do entire runs of ltd ed. cars in china based on their good luck symbology but not mine......................

[Neil1300R]

jonby said:

The other big refusal was to embroider a 'Hamsa'. ...... google image it .

[jonby]

Neil1300R said:

jonby said:

The other big refusal was to embroider a 'Hamsa'. ...... google image it .

wrong spelling (z not s) but funny nevertheless :-)

[GTDB7]

I agree Yeti, TVR do make some fabulous custom controls.

Right down to the button under the mirror for door release. simple things that change an entire outlook on a car.