V8V - Newbie - 4 weeks in - comments and quetions

[AndyV8V]

Hi guys

08MY V8V Sportshift (my first AM), 4 weeks in and my experience so far, with some rookie / entry level questions.

- Fuse22 gone.
- Still trying to get used of the size of the car, especially front passenger wheel arch. Extra cautious due to a tiny single garage.
- I seem to spend a lot of my free time with a coffee and a cigarette in hand admiring the car
- Drive, suspension feel, interior and cabin comfort simply amazing
- I am not going to say WOW performance, because as like everybody else, we want more.
- Sportshift 1 'Crawl' mode, sorry but they might as well call it 'Retarted' mode. Especially when cold.
- Reverse seems to work fine either with pedal either floored down or none at all. Slight bit of pressure and it gets jumpy

A few questions:
1. Sportshift. On standstill / red lights, do you always put your car in N or wait in 1st with breaks on?? Clutch wear question really. just want to know the habbits of other users
2. Sportshift. I try to always manually downshift for all gears, but leave the car to decide when downshifting to 1st. Does anyone downshift manualy to 1st??
3. Sportshift. Lift throttle or not when upchanging?? i've had mixed instructions from 2 seperate dealerships when i was shopping. The manual says keep even pressure, but i find i get a smoother drive when lifting. Sorry, too many sportshift questions, First ever "automatic"

4. oh, any suggestions on a light polish for black paint. I've got a black Tcut but dont want to butcher the car. This is for general marks (wouldn't call them scratches) around door handles and bootlid button

Thanks

[simonpa]

T-cut is quite harsh - Meguiars and others do 'paint cleaners' which are similar, but not so abrasive.

With all of these, it will polish out minor scratches and swirls, but will also remove any wax surface.
You should apply a polish and/or wax on top.

For final wax, Collinite do some great carnuba-based wax finishing coats, that last for months and aren't stupidly priced.

[Jockman]

Nice one, Andy.

Sorry, no idea what a clutch is.

Make sure you don't smoke in the car - it could knock serious money off its value !!

(8 years since my last ciggy)

[C997]

AndyV8V said:

Hi guys


A few questions:
1. Sportshift. On standstill / red lights, do you always put your car in N or wait in 1st with breaks on?? Clutch wear question really. just want to know the habbits of other users


Thanks

You might know this already, if so, apologies - but you know you can just pull back both paddles to knock it into neutral as you coast up to the lights. No need to push the button every time.

[steviebee155]

AndyV8V said:

Hi guys

A few questions:
1. Sportshift. On standstill / red lights, do you always put your car in N or wait in 1st with breaks on?? Clutch wear question really. just want to know the habbits of other users
2. Sportshift. I try to always manually downshift for all gears, but leave the car to decide when downshifting to 1st. Does anyone downshift manualy to 1st??
3. Sportshift. Lift throttle or not when upchanging?? i've had mixed instructions from 2 separate dealerships when i was shopping. The manual says keep even pressure, but i find i get a smoother drive when lifting. Sorry, too many sportshift questions, First ever "automatic"

Hi,
Similar ownership time span to me.
FWIW,
1) Neutral with foot on brake (not a fan of creep mode).
2) Only by accident, never again.
3) Whatever works best for you. I find lifting a little makes for a smoother change, just like those old manuals.

[Diablos-666]

Hi Andy,

I'm a recent V8V owner too (3 or 4 weeks now). I have a manual but did look into getting a sportshift, I think the general consensus was to drive it like a manual. So when stationary you should put it in neutral. I would also lift off when changing gear, just like you would in a manual, surely this is easier on the drivetrain?

I agree with your comments regarding the size and power delivery. The car does feel huge, especially going through width restrictions. I also expected a bit more punch when hard on the throttle, I find myself waiting for the surge in power but then finding I need to change up.

I suppose I’m comparing it to my old TVR T350 which had brutal acceleration, I know the Aston is far heavier but I did expect it feel a bit quicker.

[AndyV8V]

Thanks for the advice guys ... especially the smoking part

C997, yes i pull both paddles for N, but was wondering what is easier on the clutch, especially on waiting on red lights, or slow moving stop / go traffic.
I've read somehwere ( i could be wrong) that when in 1st and brakes on, gear is disengaged anyway.

[bogie]

Congrats on the new car, nothing to say on the sportshift, I drive a manual

the power delivery is very linear on the V8, theres no variable timing or hot cams to give you a surge of power before you bounce off the rev limiter...but driven properly its not a slow car

Some times I do wonder if Aston ought to have mapped in a step change, knocked off 10bhp and give you it back at 5k revs or something ....im sure thats what some manufacturers do to increase the illusion of the power delivery

[Jonsv8]

AndyV8V said:

1. Sportshift. On standstill / red lights, do you always put your car in N or wait in 1st with breaks on?? Clutch wear question really. just want to know the habbits of other users
2. Sportshift. I try to always manually downshift for all gears, but leave the car to decide when downshifting to 1st. Does anyone downshift manualy to 1st??
3. Sportshift. Lift throttle or not when upchanging?? i've had mixed instructions from 2 seperate dealerships when i was shopping. The manual says keep even pressure, but i find i get a smoother drive when lifting. Sorry, too many sportshift questions, First ever "automatic"
4. oh, any suggestions on a light polish for black paint. I've got a black Tcut but dont want to butcher the car. This is for general marks (wouldn't call them scratches) around door handles and bootlid button

1: I've got ASM2 but I use neutral a lot including crawling traffic. Not sure if the original car does this but pulling both paddles drops it into Neutral so when rolling up behind traffic I put it into Neutral at the point where in a manual car you might put your foot on the clutch

2: I manually downshift to 1 - sometimes on mine it can feel a bit reluctant to go into 1st causing a dodgy pull away in second if you don't come to a complete stop say at a side junction. Could be a ASM2 trait as its 7 gears.

3: I do both depending. When not going for it I lift and change and pick up the the throttle gently like a lzy slow manual change. When being more spirited I might keep my foot in. The gear change speed depends on a number of factors including throttle position so lift too much and it can revert to a slower change which is then counter productive. Again apologies if this is an ASM2 feature but worth a try.

4: Poorboys black hole glaze topped with a decent wax like collinite. But a good wash is needed first to get as much muck, tar, etc off and maybe even a clay bar to get the paint smooth. The better the prep before adding stuff the better.

[B4rnst4ble]

Jockman said:

Nice one, Andy.

Sorry, no idea what a clutch is.

Make sure you don't smoke in the car - it could knock serious money off its value !!

(8 years since my last ciggy)

Is that what stunted your growth Phil

[B4rnst4ble]

Jockman said:

Nice one, Andy.

Sorry, no idea what a clutch is.

Make sure you don't smoke in the car - it could knock serious money off its value !!

(8 years since my last ciggy)

Is that what stunted your growth Phil

[Jockman]

B4rnst4ble said:

Is that what stunted your growth Phil

Mike.....you're on 'ignore' again

[AMDBSNick]

B4rnst4ble said:

Is that what stunted your growth Phil