New AM Vantage Test Drive - in case anyone is interested

[Jon39]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

So, the heart of the beast does seem to matter, doesn't it.
Where's Speed when we need him?

I have not read anything from him for a while.
Perhaps it follows me telling him, that the very first Aston-Martin prototype (note the hyphen), did not have an Aston Martin engine.

You don't think he is snooping around a Porsche dealer do you ?

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 30th April 21:24

[Jon39]

David W. said:

Primarily ride, lack of compliance/comfort. Being jolted up and down and jiggled around in the seat on our less than good country roads gets tiring very quickly and isn’t what people expect of a prestige car, even a sports one.
DW.

It has been said that the roads could all be fixed, by spending £10 billion.
Unfortunately, that money goes on the national debt interest, every 3 months.
Debt still rising, but some say that is good.

This is a motoring forum not an economics one, but I cannot remember such awful road surfaces, as we have now in the UK.
Glad I do not have Sportspack.

[David W.]

Jon39 said:

It has been said that the roads could all be fixed, by spending £10 billion.
Unfortunately, that money goes on the national debt interest, every 3 months.
Debt still rising, but some say that is good.

This is a motoring forum not an economics one, but I cannot remember such awful road surfaces, as we have now in the UK.
Glad I do not have Sportspack.

I’m looking forward to some French roads this weekend.

[Mr.Tremlini]

Jon39 said:

David W. said:

Primarily ride, lack of compliance/comfort. Being jolted up and down and jiggled around in the seat on our less than good country roads gets tiring very quickly and isn’t what people expect of a prestige car, even a sports one.
DW.

It has been said that the roads could all be fixed, by spending £10 billion.
Unfortunately, that money goes on the national debt interest, every 3 months.
Debt still rising, but some say that is good.

This is a motoring forum not an economics one, but I cannot remember such awful road surfaces, as we have now in the UK.
Glad I do not have Sportspack.

Having only driven rental cars in the UK I didn`t realise how atrocious the roads are until I first drove my Vantage up in 2016, and I have the more compliant suspension. I imagine you`d lose a few fillings, and have a hard time drinking your latte with the sports pack!

Back to the OP though, a very nicely written and objective look at the new, alongside the old. Good work.

[gibbon]

David W. said:

Primarily ride, lack of compliance/comfort. Being jolted up and down and jiggled around in the seat on our less than good country roads gets tiring very quickly and isn’t what people expect of a prestige car, even a sports one.
DW.

What suspension do you have?

I find the late vantage on non sports pack to be a perfect setup for uk roads.

[cayman-black]

David W. said:

I’m looking forward to some French roads this weekend.

Enjoy, fabulous roads.

[tuffer]

I was starting to doubt myself regarding my order, this has got me all excited again, roll on August.

[Flugplatz]

997 Turbo . 6 months
430 Scuderia 8 months
991 GT3 . 9 months

V12VSR SS 31 Months and feels like i bought it last week,
No intention to change for anything else and i have now been free of PH classifieds visits for the same
amount of time.

Depreciation is running at £21 per day.

Edited by Flugplatz on Tuesday 1st May 16:27

[AdamV12V]

Had my test drive today in the new Vantage today...

Fabulous car but I couldn't help feeling it was more like a 911 now than it was ever before. It's very competent and super fast, great slick gearbox but the engine whilst sounding good felt distant and not as raw as either the old V8V or V12V. The pops and overcrackles felt faked, which I am sure they are but it certainly sounded good with the window down, probably as good as any other car currently on the market, old n/a Astons aside. Seems a shame they haven't got a button to pipe the sound back into the car in the way the Porsche Sound Symposium (or whatever its called) does, but I'd say it still sounds at least as good if not better than any Porsche this side of a GT3.

For sure the car has moved on somewhat but also it felt more comfy and less sports car, yet at the same time I have no doubt that its far faster and has better road holding than the car it replaced too.

So would I buy one - yes I would, but I equally I still feel that I wont be selling the V12VSM anytime soon either. The V12VSM just has oodles more charm and engagement and leaves me prickling more than the new Vantage did. For me to be ready to buy one they will have to fit a manual gearbox and I will probably wait until the development cycle has announced the higher output "S" model (not because it needs it, just because I don't want to end up with a beefier version begin available afterwards ) - both of which will come I am sure. A that point I will consider adding one to the stable, probably also in Kermit Green to sit side by side!

[Bincenzo]

Adam, appears that the car was dynamically impressive but didn’t necessarily float your boat. I think comparing the Vantage to the 911 has been forced upon us by the journos as it’s such a good benchmark. It seems like new Vantage is operating at a performance level that is comparable, which for those that want that is of course a good thing.

OP - please don’t make this your last post. A wonderfully refreshing, dispassionate and open review. Thank you.

[Speedraser]

Jon39 said:

DB9VolanteDriver said:

So, the heart of the beast does seem to matter, doesn't it.
Where's Speed when we need him?

I have not read anything from him for a while.
Perhaps it follows me telling him, that the very first Aston-Martin prototype (note the hyphen), did not have an Aston Martin engine.

You don't think he is snooping around a Porsche dealer do you ?

Still around, just been crazy busy. We're not alone, not at all -- the heart of the beast matters, as the OP mentioned. Jon, no, the first car Bamford & Martin built had nothing to do with my recent absence I knew that and, of course, engine building soon commenced...

I'm very glad the New Vantage is very good to drive. I spent an evening recently at an event at my dealer -- another "debut" of the new car, so I've seen it several times now (haven't driven it yet). I feel exactly as I always have -- the Benz engine beating under the nose comprehensively defeats the purpose. For me, an Aston Martin MUST have an Aston Martin engine. I spoke to a lot of people at the event. Some liked the car, some didn't, but without my mentioning it, many said the Benz engine was a deal-breaker.

Edited by Jon39 on Monday 30th April 21:24

[AstonV]

Speedraser said:

many said the Benz engine was a deal-breaker.

Maybe if it sounded like an Aston Martin.

[CSK1]

Entirely agree with Speedraser. He's not alone! Desmond J Snail compared putting a Benz engine in an Aston to putting a Messerschmitt engine in a Spitfire!
The new one is probably a great car like a 911 or an AMG GT are no doubt, but they leave me cold. Not for me but I wish Aston a lot of success nevertheless.

[IanV12VR]

Oh dear. We are not going back to that argument are we. It was pretty repetitive the first time round and I can’t see that any new issue will come out. This was a pretty decent thread until the last few posts. Shame to spoil it with old arguments

[DB9VolanteDriver]

IanV12VR said:

Oh dear. We are not going back to that argument are we. It was pretty repetitive the first time round and I can’t see that any new issue will come out. This was a pretty decent thread until the last few posts. Shame to spoil it with old arguments

Except for the fact that it was the OP who brought up the dissonance of a Benz motor in an Aston. Some of us agree with his particular viewpoint.

[tuffer]

Oh well, at least they stayed true to their heritage and continued to build the engine in Germany.... AJ-V8 "The engine is assembled by hand at the AM facility in Cologne, Germany, which also builds the V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish."

[IanV12VR]

DB9VolanteDriver said:

Except for the fact that it was the OP who brought up the dissonance of a Benz motor in an Aston. Some of us agree with his particular viewpoint.

Yes you do and I really understand why you don’t like having an AMG engine in the car. Given a perfect world I would have wanted them to use an engine developed in house but they reached the decision that resources were used better elsewhere. I just get fed up reading about it again and again. That’s the engine in the car, it isn’t going to change however much the naysayers go on about it. Perhaps when the next Vantage arrives it will be different but you have 6/7 years to wait for that. All IMHO.

[AstonV]

tuffer said:

Oh well, at least they stayed true to their heritage and continued to build the engine in Germany.... AJ-V8 "The engine is assembled by hand at the AM facility in Cologne, Germany, which also builds the V12 for the DB9 and Vanquish."

So the AMG engine used in the Vantage is assembled at the AM facility? I thought they were shipped complete from Mercedes?

[CMYK]

IanV12VR said:

Yes you do and I really understand why you don’t like having an AMG engine in the car. Given a perfect world I would have wanted them to use an engine developed in house but they reached the decision that resources were used better elsewhere. I just get fed up reading about it again and again. That’s the engine in the car, it isn’t going to change however much the naysayers go on about it. Perhaps when the next Vantage arrives it will be different but you have 6/7 years to wait for that. All IMHO.

Hear, hear. It’s done. Get over it and open your eyes to the future of Aston Martin - wish it well and look after your present AM models. PLEASE.

[Speedraser]

IanV12VR said:

DB9VolanteDriver said:

Except for the fact that it was the OP who brought up the dissonance of a Benz motor in an Aston. Some of us agree with his particular viewpoint.

Yes you do and I really understand why you don’t like having an AMG engine in the car. Given a perfect world I would have wanted them to use an engine developed in house but they reached the decision that resources were used better elsewhere. I just get fed up reading about it again and again. That’s the engine in the car, it isn’t going to change however much the naysayers go on about it. Perhaps when the next Vantage arrives it will be different but you have 6/7 years to wait for that. All IMHO.

Ian, why do you get fed up reading about it? As was pointed out, it was one of the things noted by the OP. This is a discussion forum. It's a controversial issue and one of significant importance to many of us. It will remain controversial for 6/7 years or however many years the cars use someone else's engine. It is likely that it will continue to be discussed for all those years, in part because it will be a factor, sometimes the determining factor, with respect to whether or not one buys the car. Just because the decision was made to use those resources elsewhere (F1 maybe ) doesn't mean we have to "accept it" or that it can't be discussed. I think AM (no G) may want to know that this matters to some of us, including current owners -- who might otherwise be buying one. Do you really think it shouldn't be discussed?