What next for the Vantage?

[jonby]

whoami said:

Vee12V said:

whoami said:

SHIFTY said:

Adjustable dampers would be top of my list just been in an F type and it corners like its on rails and perfectly flat, AM have to change something or else existing buyers will go elsewhere.

What did you think of the interior quality in the F-type?

Interior quality isn't exactly up to current Aston levels. Many tacky materials, some gaps that I found poor (like round the cup holder arrangement between the seats). NIce car, but lacks sophistication. Especially on the inside.

I loved the car but also found the interior pretty low rent (for the lofty price).

I think it will sell well, certainly initially and potentially, bring the average age of Jag buyers down. I still remember about 3 yrs ago a good friend deciding to treat his wife for her 40th and offered to sell his car, drive the family shed and let her have a sports car. They narrowed it down to a used 996 turbo cabriolet or a used XK soft top. She went into the local Jag dealership to have a look and she walked straight out on the basis of the average age of the customers in at the time !

But I don;t quite get the F type. Lofty price tag and as you say, whilst the interior doesnt look bad, to the touch it feels cheap. The eternal Jag problem of the opposite effect to the Tardis. Way too wide and heavy for a 'new new' car (which actually is based on a cut down XK platform, hence those two issues). Full auto gearbox. Way too many misses for a new car expecting to sell tens of thousands for me

If you want a single car to drive every day and are swayed by the modernity, much better user interfaces, CO2, etc then I understand. But of course you then have to be able to cope with a boot that makes vantage roadster look positively capacious

As I say, I'm sure it will sell well and the reviews suggest it's a fun drive. But I can't help feel it's not quite a true drivers car, more in the mould of SLK than Boxter - I'll reserve definitive judgement til I've driven one of course

[jonby]

stevewushu said:

Hmmm, yeah I think I agree actually.
But the new Vanquish is kinda extreme don't you think?
It definitely seems less GT than the DBS.

Would Aston brave it and go for a twin s/c 6 cylinder? Keep the weight and size down and make it more extreme that way?

I agree that the Vanquish is a better, more extreme car than DBS. In fact on our recent Wales jaunt, a keen driver in a boxter spyder was very surprised that he couldn't lose the vanquish behind driven by an older chap with just one hand on the wheel

But it's as good and arguably a better GT than DBS. Switch to softer mode, great ride, it's very stable & composed plus has a bigger boot. It really is a great achievement, but it's still definitely a GT for me, albeit with a great sporting edge when you want to drive it that way

They need a 'mini V12VS' for me, something much more overtly aggressive that can compete more performancewise with it's peers, which of course is more important for an out & out sports car than a GT. Or achieve it as you say through weight loss & forced induction. When you look at what you can buy in a roadster for 40-60k, you realise vantage can;t sell on better materials & luxury alone. It needs to show those cars a real clean pair of heels too

[whoami]

jonby said:

whoami said:

Vee12V said:

whoami said:

SHIFTY said:

Adjustable dampers would be top of my list just been in an F type and it corners like its on rails and perfectly flat, AM have to change something or else existing buyers will go elsewhere.

What did you think of the interior quality in the F-type?

Interior quality isn't exactly up to current Aston levels. Many tacky materials, some gaps that I found poor (like round the cup holder arrangement between the seats). NIce car, but lacks sophistication. Especially on the inside.

I loved the car but also found the interior pretty low rent (for the lofty price).

I think it will sell well, certainly initially and potentially, bring the average age of Jag buyers down. I still remember about 3 yrs ago a good friend deciding to treat his wife for her 40th and offered to sell his car, drive the family shed and let her have a sports car. They narrowed it down to a used 996 turbo cabriolet or a used XK soft top. She went into the local Jag dealership to have a look and she walked straight out on the basis of the average age of the customers in at the time !

But I don;t quite get the F type. Lofty price tag and as you say, whilst the interior doesnt look bad, to the touch it feels cheap. The eternal Jag problem of the opposite effect to the Tardis. Way too wide and heavy for a 'new new' car (which actually is based on a cut down XK platform, hence those two issues). Full auto gearbox. Way too many misses for a new car expecting to sell tens of thousands for me

If you want a single car to drive every day and are swayed by the modernity, much better user interfaces, CO2, etc then I understand. But of course you then have to be able to cope with a boot that makes vantage roadster look positively capacious

As I say, I'm sure it will sell well and the reviews suggest it's a fun drive. But I can't help feel it's not quite a true drivers car, more in the mould of SLK than Boxter - I'll reserve definitive judgement til I've driven one of course

Agree with the points regarding interior and boot space. It's totally impractical from that point of view.

That said, I found it a truly thrilling drive with some very clever software disguising the fact that it's a fully automatic gearbox. Using the paddles, the gear change is very, very good. Much better than anything AM currently offer. It really does feel like the next best thing to a dual clutch system.

I really liked it but it's far too expensive for what it is.

As a 2nd hand, "fun car" buy, the inevitably savage depreciation will make this a viable purchase.

[Y100]

George29 said:

steveatesh said:

I really hope they don't just repeat the current interior and that the new Vanquish style permeates down the range.

I'm the opposite, I want to see an evolution of the current interior rather than the Vanquish style. It might not be as good to use, but the current interior looks so much better imo.

Looks wise I'd like to see a similar shape to now but evolved slightly (no spoilers or nasty splitters like the Vanquish though please).

George, I couldn't have said that better myself. I did look at a Vanquish before ordering the DB9.2,,,,the interior put me off, the waterfall way over emphasised for my liking, almost dominating the cabin space. The front splitter, although initially jaw dropping, I'm far less critical of now,,,,,each to his own though George.

[Grant3]

whoami said:

Hi Grant

I get the feeling you are being tempted by a new mistress Mr H ..... Although the DBS is a hard one to replace, what's in the firing line??

[whoami]

Grant3 said:

whoami said:

Hi Grant

I get the feeling you are being tempted by a new mistress Mr H ..... Although the DBS is a hard one to replace, what's in the firing line??

The DBS is, indeed, a hard act to follow.

To cut a long story short, I considered a DBS Volante, a 599, an F-type, a 911, and a SLS AMG.

And today I bought a new...
















V12 Vantage.

I've no imagination.

[peterr96]

jonby said:

I think they need to differentiate more between the 2+2 V12 GTs and the 2 seaters. If it's just a slightly smaller version, it won't be that much lighter, therefore won't drive that differently, therefore won't be that different. Do you know that for all they talk about V12V being the smallest car with the biggest engine, the weight difference between V12V & DBS was less than 100kg ! The main difference between the 2 (when comparing DBS manual) is the wheelbase length and passive vs active dampers

In the case of the V12VR and the DBSV that statement is true, there is little between them. That said 100kg is about 6%, a weight reduction that would be applauded if it were a new car.
With the hard top models one has a boot, the other has a hatch. The versatility of the hatch is something that I have frequently exploited (admittedly on the V8V), which has allowed me to take the vantage on a journey that I would otherwise not have been able to. Many people are staggered to see how much usable luggage space there is in a vantage.

Personally I hope they keep an evolution of the vantage in the range, with a manual gearbox (option) and a hatch. More power from revised V8, switchable suspension. It would be a fairly unique beast at that and I believe would continue to find buyers.

[PiloteAM]

Yeah, it's a bit boring, but boot space is important to me.

I wouldn't buy a GT car that couldn't (with a bit of squeezing) get two weeks worth of clothes in it. Blasting round Europe in style for a couple of weeks it's half the fun of cars like that.

[Cockernee]

whoami said:

The DBS is, indeed, a hard act to follow.

To cut a long story short, I considered a DBS Volante, a 599, an F-type, a 911, and a SLS AMG.

And today I bought a new...
















V12 Vantage.

I've no imagination.

But you have sense obviously Nicely done and welcome to the V12V club

[AMDBSNick]

Cockernee said:

But you have sense obviously Nicely done and welcome to the V12V club

Says the man who would prefer a DBS

[Cockernee]

AMDBSNick said:

Cockernee said:

But you have sense obviously Nicely done and welcome to the V12V club

Says the man who would prefer a DBS

The looks Nick, not the drive I agree the DBS has a prettier arse. The drive is not as focussed

[mikey k]

PiloteAM said:

Yeah, it's a bit boring, but boot space is important to me.

I wouldn't buy a GT car that couldn't (with a bit of squeezing) get two weeks worth of clothes in it. Blasting round Europe in style for a couple of weeks it's half the fun of cars like that.

one of the reasons I walked away from a Gallardo Spyder & 16M

[AMDBSNick]

mikey k said:

16M

[whoami]

Cockernee said:

But you have sense obviously Nicely done and welcome to the V12V club

Ta. Very much looking forward to picking it up.

I really did consider a change as this will be the 5th AM in a row for me.

However, there was nothing else (that I could afford...) that I really wanted. The 599 did come close though.

[Grant3]

whoami said:

The DBS is, indeed, a hard act to follow.
To cut a long story short, I considered a DBS Volante, a 599, an F-type, a 911, and a SLS AMG.
And today I bought a new...
V12 Vantage.
I've no imagination.

The fact that you looked at the F type takes us back to the start of this thread, A.M. Need to move the Vantage forward soon otherwise they are going to loose a slice of their (new car) market, the F type is doing the classic ... much more bang and bling for your buck thing with a higher spec and more performance for your ££..... But it was never going to win against your DBS.

Congratulations on joining the "real men's club" no girly adaptive damping or flappy paddles, just taut feel some handling, direct steering and a large phallic stick that in combination with your right foot can unleash the beast ...the V12V is like a top class minder in a savile row suit.. Sexist tongue in cheek waffle aside do tell all, colour - seats - spec etc

[whoami]

Grant3 said:

whoami said:

The DBS is, indeed, a hard act to follow.
To cut a long story short, I considered a DBS Volante, a 599, an F-type, a 911, and a SLS AMG.
And today I bought a new...
V12 Vantage.
I've no imagination.

The fact that you looked at the F type takes us back to the start of this thread, A.M. Need to move the Vantage forward soon otherwise they are going to loose a slice of their (new car) market, the F type is doing the classic ... much more bang and bling for your buck thing with a higher spec and more performance for your ££..... But it was never going to win against your DBS.

Congratulations on joining the "real men's club" no girly adaptive damping or flappy paddles, just taut feel some handling, direct steering and a large phallic stick that in combination with your right foot can unleash the beast ...the V12V is like a top class minder in a savile row suit.. Sexist tongue in cheek waffle aside do tell all, colour - seats - spec etc

The DBS has been fantastic. In fact it's the longest time, by far, that I've kept one car.

I did seriously consider the F-type as I just fancied a change. It really is a great drive and as fast as a V12V in the hands of most drivers. However, it really was missing something, it didn't feel special enough to warrant the sky-high prices coupled with certain massive depreciation during my ownership period.

The 599 came very close too although it's a bit like a bigger, faster DBS so not really the change I was looking for.

The others fell by the wayside relatively quickly.

I will miss the DBS as, arguably, it's a prettier, more elegant shape than the V12V.

Anyway, on to the new car. At this stage of the game, there's really not a lot of choice left. My primary desire of a red car came to nothing (unsurprisingly).

Anyway, it's Meteorite with the "usual" spec, 700W audio, heated seats, front parking etc. Also has garage door opener and glass buttons and liquid silver wheels. I hadn't seen these before and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw the car for the first time.

Rubbish picture from dealer's here.

[SHIFTY]

Not wanting to hijack this thread but...

Whoami said "I really did consider a change as this will be the 5th AM in a row for me."


I have not had 5 AM in a row (yet) but on my second and have the man maths itch to change it's been 3 years with the N420 roadster and loved it to bits. I cannot really see me changing to another AM that is near identical (V8S)to what I am replacing.

I prefer manuals but after a test drive in a F type the road holding, ease of changing gear and instant acceleration outperforms the Aston (IMO). The Aston needs active suspension I could take to BR for a full upgrade but why, Aston should have been keeping up with others, the V12S has active suspension I hope that in the centenary year this filters down to the V8 Vantage.

The F type is overpriced especially when you have to add the mandatory options (seats leather etc), no discounts available as Jaguar can sell all they are making (90 cars a day). Compared to the AM the Jags interior is too fussy, the paintwork full of "orange peel", the roof when opening or closing detailing all of the cables that look like Jaguar have been to Halfods to buy some bicycle cables, the boot unusable.

I am trying to find things so as not to like the F type, time is running out I now have a test drive in a Porsche 911 S (help).

[Neil1300R]

whoami said:

...liquid silver wheels. I hadn't seen these before and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw the car for the first time.

Rubbish picture from dealer's here.

Loving those wheels!

[Grant3]

Neil1300R said:

Loving those wheels!

+1 ..... the extra inner silver area makes them look larger and no worry about brake dust ...She looks lovely

[mikey k]

SHIFTY said:

Not wanting to hijack this thread but...

I have not had 5 AM in a row (yet) but on my second and have the man maths itch to change it's been 3 years with the N420 roadster and loved it to bits. I cannot really see me changing to another AM that is near identical (V8S)to what I am replacing.

The Aston needs active suspension I could take to BR for a full upgrade but why, Aston should have been keeping up with others, the V12S has active suspension I hope that in the centenary year this filters down to the V8 Vantage.

I can from a sport pack 4.7 roadster (almost identical to N420) to a S roadster - there is A LOT of difference
The V12S

The jag adpative suspension is different to the V12VS
The Jags is dynamic and will stiffen a corner as the car rolls, the Aston one (like the VAG one on my beater) is 3 stage and must be selected like the 2 stage on the DBS