More evidence of the Vantages lack of popularity

[RobDown]

Ferrari just announced a sharp slowdown in Q2 sales (just 8% growth down from 23% in 19Q1, pretty similar to AML)

“Damn you Gaydon and your front grill design, if it weren’t for the Vantage we’d be doing brilliantly” said absolutely nobody in Maranello

(Sorry just kidding, come on it’s Friday, no this won’t make any sense to you unless you’ve read the appropriate threads on here!)

Have a good weekend everyone!

[oilit]

If the % drop is similar as you say then that ironically is good news - means it's not an AML unique problem - The post here somewhere with the grey Vantage does make me think it's getting wider acceptance.

[Jon39]

I don't follow Ferrari NV, but a quick look at their H1 2019 figures, shows growth in most of the 'numbers'.
Sorry the images are too small to see the figures clearly, but try a click and then a second click to fully enlarge.

Edited by Jon39 on Friday 2nd August 14:31

[RL17]

6% down in Americas for Ferrari in Q2 in the Italian attachment

[ituned]

I may be a bit biased as this is my car, but I think the new Vantage is stunning from every angle. I’ve had so much positive feedback from enthusiasts and others who aren’t, about the looks.

I do feel that the car is very colour sensitive, and I certainly prefer it without the rear painted diffuser. I’m new to the Brand but lovely every mile in the new Vantage.

[ituned]

Here’s another from the rear

[Venturist]

I have flip flopped on the new Vantage to both extremes, and personally I’d rather have had something with a traditional Aston face, but your China grey example looks flipping mean.

[anonymous-user]

Maybe the thread could be changed from ‘lack of popularity’ to ‘exclusivity’?

[Crazy_Sean]

It's a tough one. I've driven the new Vantage along with the DB11 and they feel fantastic!! Such a different feel from the first edition Gaydon cars.

However, I'm not sure of the looks. I had hoped that it might grow on me. But it hasn't yet. I was thinking that it might be a case of...

'There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion'. - Francis Bacon.

But I've not sure if the proportion is strange or ugly.

It looks reasonably OK from the rear I guess...... but what is with those tiny exhausts?

[RobDown]

Please guys - it was meant to be a joke post - don’t take it seriously!

[Calculator]

ituned said:

I may be a bit biased as this is my car, but I think the new Vantage is stunning from every angle. I’ve had so much positive feedback from enthusiasts and others who aren’t, about the looks.

I do feel that the car is very colour sensitive, and I certainly prefer it without the rear painted diffuser. I’m new to the Brand but lovely every mile in the new Vantage.

That’s a great combination! What’s the colour called?

Also holds it own next to the Huracan in the next picture.

[ituned]

It’s China Grey. It’s fitted with a black pack and the forged alloys as well.

[avinalarf]

China grey is a very seductive colour.
I remember seeing the previous generation Vantage in that colour with black alloys and it looked stunning.
It also works well with cars such as Lambos which are let's say "adventurous" in style when one wants to tone it down a bit, it gives them a more "classy" appearance.

[Jon39]

RobDown said:

Please guys - it was meant to be a joke post - don’t take it seriously!

Thought one of my neighbours had bought a new Vantage, when I heard the sound of a car starting this morning.

Very disappointed as I looked out to see .........

Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG Convertible.

I suppose what this might demonstrate though, is the scale of production theory, because those cars appear to retail at under £60,000.

Might that be £100,000 less than a Vantage Roadster, when introduced!
A staggering gap, but if you look at a video of a Mercedes assembly line, robots do a considerable amount of the assembly work, without a human in sight. Frightening.

Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 3rd August 11:54

[AWV12]

You know the C43 has not a V8 but a V6..........a C63(S) indeed has the same engine and sound as a V8V

BTW, was willing to spend lots of money on a new DBS, but the interior, tech and transmission prevent me from doing it. Other cars in the same price range offer much more..........pity, because exterior is top imho!

Edited by AWV12 on Saturday 3rd August 13:06

[cayman-black]

AWV12 said:

You know the C43 has not a V8 but a V6..........a C63(S) indeed has the same engine and sound as a V8V

BTW, was willing to spend lots of money on a new DBS, but the interior, tech and transmission prevent me from doing it. Other cars in the same price range offer much more..........pity, because exterior is top imho!

Edited by AWV12 on Saturday 3rd August 13:06

What are you looking at that's comparable to the DBS then? What's wrong with the transmission? I think most of the interior is lovely just not keen on the stuck-on satnav. Tech not to bothered really.

[Jon39]

AWV12 said:

You know the C43 has not a V8 but a V6..........a C63(S) indeed has the same engine and sound as a V8V

Thank you. No, I did not know that.

Even though I own a Mercedes, their range has expanded so enormously in recent years, I can no longer keep up with their models.
Most of them look very similar (front view) and to understand their naming convention probably requires going on a course.

All very confusing, eg. the C63 no longer has a 6·3 litre V8 engine, although still being called the C63, but with a 4·0 litre V8.

[AWV12]

Jon39 said:

Thank you. No, I did not know that.

Even though I own a Mercedes, their range has expanded so enormously in recent years, I can no longer keep up with their models.
Most of them look very similar (front view) and to understand their naming convention probably requires going on a course.

All very confusing, eg. the C63 no longer has a 6·3 litre V8 engine, although still being called the C63, but with a 4·0 litre V8.

The name "63" is currently only used as a marketing label for the high power V8 AMG models, like C63, E63(S), S63, GLC63, G63, GT63(S). They currently all have the 4.0 V8 twin turbo engine, with the 2 turbo's mounted in the V (called Hot-V), resulting in faster gas response (almost no turbo lag) and dynamic ride. They range in horsepower from around 450 to 640. This engine comes into two versions M177 and M178 (both from Affalterbach, there is also a non-AMG version, M176). The M178 (dry-sump) is used in the AMG GT Coupe and Roadsters, the M177 (wet-sump) in the "63" cars as well as in the V8 Vantage and the DB11 V8.

These engines are more agile/responsive (less turbo lag) than the previous 5,5 V8 twin turbo (M157) and also sound somewhat better (but not as good as the N/A 6,2 V8 in earlier cars - M156).

Since I drove a S63 convertible with the M157 engine for several years as a daily driver, and now replaced it with a new S63 with the same (M177) engine as in the DB11 and V8 Vantage (but with 612 bhp and 900 Nm of torque!) I can tell the difference........both in driving and in sound this new M177 sounds top!

And indeed.......the sound of the new Aston V8s and the latest S63 engines are similar (not exactly the same, due to the tune and exhaust setup). That is not a bad thing, since there are few turbo V8 engines that sound better (for instance the McLaren's V8 sound dull, lack emotion).

Of course the N/A V12 from the previous DBS sounds the best........but for me this is not the main reason to stick to my current DBS and refrain from buying a new one (see next post).....

Edited by AWV12 on Sunday 4th August 20:54

[AWV12]

cayman-black said:

What are you looking at that's comparable to the DBS then? What's wrong with the transmission? I think most of the interior is lovely just not keen on the stuck-on satnav. Tech not to bothered really.

Of course it is a beautiful car, no discussion there, but for Euro 400K (retail price here includes CO2 tax and just a few basic options) you can demand (almost) the best...........or more imho!

For a car in this league, with 720 bhp and 900 Nm of torque, you want not only smooth driving/gear switcing (which does the ZF-8 box good), but also fast up and down shifting when driving a little more sporty. And there the ZF-8 auto box fails imho............especially with down shifting there is too much delay (also in S+ mode) to be in the champions league. Test drove it myself, but interestingly enough other critical test drivers noticed the same.

It is certainly fun driving, but if I compare it with the DSG-9 (double clutch) box in the new Bentley Continental, that is how it should be: fast, quick, no noticable delays between switching gears. Also my current daily driver, a MY19 S63 with MCT-9 multi clutch box, switches much faster, without delay AND can be driven relaxed across town.

Then the interior: also that is nice, but almost the same as in a DB11, and if you compare it for instance to the Bentley and the S63......they both are in a different (much higher) league in built quality, materials as well as in the offered technology (the DBS uses a Mercedes system from more than 2 generations ago, even my previous 2016 S63 was more high tech!).

For me 2 major deal breakers when buying a car for this kind of money. Will now either go for a GTC W12 or even a V8 (that probably sounds and drives better than the W12) or Aston must announce some major changes for MY20/21 (a manual gearbox in the DBSS would be the real convincing argument, but a DSG or MCT box, that they can source from Mercedes, will already make a huge difference!).

Edited by AWV12 on Monday 5th August 19:08

[dbs2000]

ituned said:

I may be a bit biased as this is my car, but I think the new Vantage is stunning from every angle. I’ve had so much positive feedback from enthusiasts and others who aren’t, about the looks.

I do feel that the car is very colour sensitive, and I certainly prefer it without the rear painted diffuser. I’m new to the Brand but lovely every mile in the new Vantage.

Have to agree, the more I see the better it looks (and I liked it from day 1). Yours is a stunner.