Vanquish Test Drive, and...
Discussion
I just recently test drove the Vanquish. Compared to DBS, I found:
1) Standard ride to be better (less 'jiggly')
2) Steering feel/weight the same
3) Handling the same
4) Sound about the same (DBS may be better)
5) Interior not as bespoke looking, especially since the door cards seem all of one molded piece as opposed to the separate elements in the DBS
6) Absolutely hate the fact that the radio can only be played with the Nav screen in the up position (whoever made that design choice should be disemboweled)
7) Dislike the front splitter
8) Larger boot is very nice
9) Ambivalent about the integrated rear spoiler
10) The auto trans shifts wonderfully, in either auto or via the paddles, especially when in Sport mode. I could get used to that vs the manual trans (particularly the throttle ‘blipping’ on downshifts)
11) The quilting on the seats is horrendously overdone (I realize you don’t have to get it this way)
12) Very, very difficult to see the settings on the displays which are integral to the console control knobs (I thought they had been dimmed, so hard were they to see in the daylight)
As above, while aspects of the Vanquish are better than the DBS, other aspects are worse in my opinion. And that’s the rub. Whereas I liked everything about the DBS when I first saw it/drove it, that is not the case with the Vanquish. The DBS sold extremely well because almost everything about it was well liked, while the Vanquish is a hit/miss proposition…parts you like/parts you don’t.
If I could design the perfect Aston, I’d roll the Vanquish drivetrain underneath the DBS body and call it job done.
1) Standard ride to be better (less 'jiggly')
2) Steering feel/weight the same
3) Handling the same
4) Sound about the same (DBS may be better)
5) Interior not as bespoke looking, especially since the door cards seem all of one molded piece as opposed to the separate elements in the DBS
6) Absolutely hate the fact that the radio can only be played with the Nav screen in the up position (whoever made that design choice should be disemboweled)
7) Dislike the front splitter
8) Larger boot is very nice
9) Ambivalent about the integrated rear spoiler
10) The auto trans shifts wonderfully, in either auto or via the paddles, especially when in Sport mode. I could get used to that vs the manual trans (particularly the throttle ‘blipping’ on downshifts)
11) The quilting on the seats is horrendously overdone (I realize you don’t have to get it this way)
12) Very, very difficult to see the settings on the displays which are integral to the console control knobs (I thought they had been dimmed, so hard were they to see in the daylight)
As above, while aspects of the Vanquish are better than the DBS, other aspects are worse in my opinion. And that’s the rub. Whereas I liked everything about the DBS when I first saw it/drove it, that is not the case with the Vanquish. The DBS sold extremely well because almost everything about it was well liked, while the Vanquish is a hit/miss proposition…parts you like/parts you don’t.
If I could design the perfect Aston, I’d roll the Vanquish drivetrain underneath the DBS body and call it job done.
Little Donkey said:
............ And no bloody analogue clock!!!
AM may have missed a trick there to hook up with JLC.
We mentioned that on the JLC trip to the JLC marketeers... Bentleys have a clock marked Breitling, seemed silly for JLC not to do something similar. But as they said, it would need to be mechanical (Breitling do lots of quartz watches anyway), and who wants to wind their car clock weekly (apart from me!)AM may have missed a trick there to hook up with JLC.
yeti said:
We mentioned that on the JLC trip to the JLC marketeers... Bentleys have a clock marked Breitling, seemed silly for JLC not to do something similar. But as they said, it would need to be mechanical (Breitling do lots of quartz watches anyway), and who wants to wind their car clock weekly (apart from me!)
Just stick an Atoms where the sat naff hatch is...
yeti said:
Little Donkey said:
............ And no bloody analogue clock!!!
AM may have missed a trick there to hook up with JLC.
We mentioned that on the JLC trip to the JLC marketeers... Bentleys have a clock marked Breitling, seemed silly for JLC not to do something similar. But as they said, it would need to be mechanical (Breitling do lots of quartz watches anyway), and who wants to wind their car clock weekly (apart from me!)AM may have missed a trick there to hook up with JLC.
Interesting topic: Vanquish review and JLC review all in one. Talk about getting off topic for even the most basic of posts. You'd think that a discussion of the Vanquish would ensue, but one mention of no analog clock, and off we go into JLC. Seems that the trip will forever result in it being brought up in some way or fashion for just about any thread.
Oh....forgot the Vanquish. It did shift 'slow', but when in Sport mode it was transformed and seemed to be as fast as any dual clutch I've driven.
Ok, now back to the JLC discussion...
Oh....forgot the Vanquish. It did shift 'slow', but when in Sport mode it was transformed and seemed to be as fast as any dual clutch I've driven.
Ok, now back to the JLC discussion...
Even in "Sport" mode it felt sluggish (and boring) to me. Much preferred the F-type shifts.
If I were to look for a larger AM, the DB9.5 looks like a much better proposition: much much cheaper, very beautiful, same engine, clear taillights, glass buttons, less plastic, no silly waterfall with Nav system display needed for stereo operation, no over-sized carbon splitter, no flow-through wing on rear deck, elegant rear lip a la DBS, no yellow corner markers built into headlamp units (US market), no boring door panels,etc.
Additionally, every Vanq II I have seen has ugly 2-3mm gaps between the stitching over side windows for the side curtain air bags. Also, if you don't get the bubble-wrap stitching, the standard seat stitching seems very bland.
Unfortunately, both still have the stupid ECU instead of a smart key.
Still wouldn't sneeze at it if someone gave me one, though.
If I were to look for a larger AM, the DB9.5 looks like a much better proposition: much much cheaper, very beautiful, same engine, clear taillights, glass buttons, less plastic, no silly waterfall with Nav system display needed for stereo operation, no over-sized carbon splitter, no flow-through wing on rear deck, elegant rear lip a la DBS, no yellow corner markers built into headlamp units (US market), no boring door panels,etc.
Additionally, every Vanq II I have seen has ugly 2-3mm gaps between the stitching over side windows for the side curtain air bags. Also, if you don't get the bubble-wrap stitching, the standard seat stitching seems very bland.
Unfortunately, both still have the stupid ECU instead of a smart key.
Still wouldn't sneeze at it if someone gave me one, though.
cardigankid said:
OK if you buy a DBS 
can you still buy a JLC watch which acts as an opener to match?
Excellent segue to JLC...bravo! I knew it could be done. can you still buy a JLC watch which acts as an opener to match?And you can use any of the JLC transponder watches to open the DBS, DB9, Rapide, or Vanquish, regardless of which model name is emblazoned across the face of the watch.
DB9VolanteDriver said:
Excellent segue to JLC...bravo! I knew it could be done.
And you can use any of the JLC transponder watches to open the DBS, DB9, Rapide, or Vanquish, regardless of which model name is emblazoned across the face of the watch.
Speaking of which............are these wathces still for sale? I see some "2nd hand shops" sell these AMVOX DBS Transponder watches, but somes seems to be "only" AMVOX chrono watches, with NO key transponder.....And you can use any of the JLC transponder watches to open the DBS, DB9, Rapide, or Vanquish, regardless of which model name is emblazoned across the face of the watch.
BTW, +1 on the VqsII transmission: no-go when no manual, or at least decent DSG!
AWV12 said:
DB9VolanteDriver said:
Excellent segue to JLC...bravo! I knew it could be done.
And you can use any of the JLC transponder watches to open the DBS, DB9, Rapide, or Vanquish, regardless of which model name is emblazoned across the face of the watch.
Speaking of which............are these wathces still for sale? I see some "2nd hand shops" sell these AMVOX DBS Transponder watches, but somes seems to be "only" AMVOX chrono watches, with NO key transponder.....And you can use any of the JLC transponder watches to open the DBS, DB9, Rapide, or Vanquish, regardless of which model name is emblazoned across the face of the watch.
BTW, +1 on the VqsII transmission: no-go when no manual, or at least decent DSG!
I assume you can still get new ones for any model since it is only the script on the dial which needs changing. Lots of AMVOX2 watches out there for sale on the used market, but not many transponder versions.
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