Just bought 4.7 vantage,

[Ray4901]

Hi all, I am from Ireland and last thursday i picked up an 08 vantage 4.7 sportshift. Now, being from Ireland there is no oppertunity to test drive a vantage so i bought this car without ever having driven a vantage before and this car was bought without seeing it beforehand. The dealer got it inspected and serviced at aston dealership to give me some comfort that the car was ok before buying. The aston inspection noted that the clutch was “sluggish” but was only changed 8k miles ago so does not need changing. I drove the car back to ireland on thursday so had a good test drive. Im not sure if this is what i was expecting from a v8 vantage. I currently have an 07 jaguar XKR but have always loved astons and this was my dream car. The vantage is much harder and quite harsh on the road compared to the jag, and the sportshift takes some getting used to. When pulling away in first it is sluggish as noted but once moving it is fine through the gears. Reversing it is a pain and moving off from junctions isnt much better. Anyway, by the time i got home i started to think i have made a big mistake buying a vantage. It is just not as comfortable or as easy to drive as the jag. I bought the jag 2 years ago because it looked a bit like an aston martin and always thought that some day i would replace it with the real thing. Now that i have i am feeling some buyers regret.
Anyone else here take time to bond with their car and is the harsh ride and sluggish clutch typical of these cars?

[Ray4901]

I know it sounds strange to buy a car without ever test driving but these cars a very very rare in Ireland and only one for sale in belfast at the moment. The car i bought seemed like great value, 36,000 for a 2008 4.7 with full AM history and recent clutch. It is not a ss model just standard vantage I have been looking for a while and this was best value i found. It does look and sound incredible and maybe I just need to give it time to grow on me, i realy hope it does!

Edited by Ray4901 on Tuesday 20th February 00:31

[Ray4901]

thanks everyone for your comments, so I am not the only one to buy unseen! I just need to live with the car for a while and get used to it. it really does handle very well and steering is very direct, the xkr can be vague and jittery but that is the result of softer suspension i suppose.
the car has sportpack wheels but is standard suspension. again, thanks for your comments and feedback, it helps to know that others have experienced similar characteristics and it is not just my car. i do not have any other cars to compare against and can only go by what I read on this forum for info. Ray

[Ray4901]

Hi Phib, getting to grips with the car at this stage. Initally i thought the ride was quite harsh, checked tyre pressure and all 4 wheels were at over 40psi. Set pressure back to normal and now ride is way better. Overall happy and looking foreward to using it over the summer.

[Ray4901]

Tyres are oem bridgestones. All 4 were over 40 psi when stone cold so would have been higher when warmed up. Set them to 34 front 36 back and it made a noticeable difference to the way the car drove.