Aston Martin V8 Vantage Reviews & Pics (Update - ROADSTER UNVEILED) p. 4
05-19-06, 06:52 AM
#19
Super Moderator
by Nick Hall
Photos by Lyndon McNeil
05-19-2006
When Aston Martin announced it would enter the mainstream sportscar market, the legendary marque promised the James Bond myth for Porsche 911 money. But it delivered so much more, the V8 Vantage is the best car ever to bear those famous wings.
Despite the relative affordability, this is the real driver’s car in the line-up, the Jewel in the Crown. It’s a new path altogether for the Ford-owned brand and one it hopes will force them through the 3000 cars a year mark. That would be mass production by their standards, and the baby Aston has more than enough customers to make the dream into concrete reality.
The V8 looks like the DB9 has shrunk in the wash, but while they look similar, the two cars couldn’t be more different. This machine has a wholly different character and sounds as good as any in this world thanks to a hefty level of development on the Jaguar-sourced 4.3-litre V8.
Here it’s good for 380bhp, enough to propel the Vantage to 100kph in 5 seconds flat and all the way up to 280kph. And the pulsating soundtrack that accompanies a firm stab on the throttle make the Vantage an addictive driving experience.
Of course the Aston is quiet and refined, relatively speaking, at low revs, but when the needle flies past 4000rpm valves open, the exhaust gets its full head and a rasping scream haunts the cockpit and draws the attention of everyone within a five-mile vicinity. The plucky young upstart consistently invited a quick downshift and burst on the throttle to drink in that seductive V8 growl.
Few tune exhaust notes quite as well as Aston Martin and the boys at Gaydon have done it again with this Smash Hit soundtrack. A great deal is piped in deliberately, in fact the entire car is an anachronism, much of the raw-edged driver appeal has been dialled in.
The manual six-speed gearbox is deliberately notchy and takes a heavyweight shove from the shoulder to drive home, while the brakes took serious force to shed serious speed. The steering wheel, light and playful at low speeds, weights up to race car stiffness at more interesting velocities to provide that all important feedback and the suspension will clear any doubts – this is a hairy-chested sportscar.
While the DB9, and all previous Aston Martins, glide over bumps, this little terrier skips and shuffles over even minor imperfections in the surface. And the weight of the 1570kg car is always apparent, it won’t dive into apexes quite as willingly as the Porsche 911 or the slightly used Ferrari available for the same money, but once hunkered into the bend the Vantage will take phenomenal speed through the corner with confidence.
And should the back end step out of line, when the traction control is off or the road is wet, there’s a Limited Slip Differential to help catch the slide before it becomes a crisis. It rarely would, as this machine has supreme natural balance and with the electronic aids turned off it can provide more controlled slides than Disneyworld. Nobody would drive a DB9 this way, but the taut, aggressive AMV8 is made for it.
The V8 can’t quite hold it together at speed and would lose out to the Porsche on a triple-figure dash round a rough mountain road, but that doesn’t happen very often. The Aston is rewarding at lower speeds, an involving drive that takes real effort but is full of character.
Aimed at a younger, more sporting crowd, this two-seater is a more focused sports car and heads into the shark-infested waters inhabited by the ubiquitous 911 and the BMW M6. That’s a tough market, but the British marque already has a waiting list bursting through the two-year mark and demand will outstrip supply for several years to come.
Many of those orders were placed before the Vantage even turned a wheel in public and it wins the emotional fight in advance with jaw-dropping looks, perfect proportions and elegant detailing. That squat, curvaceous, powerful rear end hints at things to come yet the AMV8 has a natural poise that marks it apart. From every angle the Aston is taut, aggressive and ready to tear down the road at an obscene rate of knots.
The interior is sparsely populated, but always luxurious and the seats are more comfortable than a Mediterranean beach and provide that invaluable support on a long trek.
Electronics are limited to a few sturdy buttons, a mighty stereo system and the Sat-Nav that folds flat to the dash, and a rather over the top welcome message on start-up that extols the Aston virtues of: “Power, Beauty, Soul”.
The rest is clutter free, bar stylish detailing like the traditional clock, even the hydraulic handbrake is tucked away by the driver’s door. Rear seats have no place here either, there’s just a small parcel shelf for belongings. Of course you can tart up your V8 up with cream leather and bamboo dashboard if you wish, but we couldn’t recommend venturing outside the classic woods or more purposeful aluminium.
And underneath the elegant lines and well-spoken exterior beats the heart of a thug. The AMV8 is reminiscent of an old school muscle car, the kind Ford has been making for decades, infused with the sporting credibility, heritage, prestige and opulence of an Aston Martin.
It’s an ingenious idea, a guaranteed success and one of the sexiest cars on the road. James Bond hasn’t seen anything yet.
source : worldcarfans
05-19-06, 08:02 AM
#22
EV ftw!!!
I want one!!!!! 
05-19-06, 09:41 AM
#25
Super Moderator
Originally Posted by bruce van
That's one good lookin' car. Damn.
It looks great in the silver, but doesn't seem quite right in the red. Somehow
it doesn't look....British in that color.
It looks great in the silver, but doesn't seem quite right in the red. Somehow
it doesn't look....British in that color.
I like it in a darker metallic grey than just plain silver.
05-30-06, 09:04 PM
#27
Super Moderator
First Drive: 2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage
May 30, 2006
2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Review and photos by Laurance Yap
The man who runs Aston Martin, Dr. Ulrich Bez, might be described as a bit of a fanatic. He's hop-scotched all over the auto industry, and has held positions at BMW, Porsche, and Daewoo, among other companies. Rumour has it that his house in Germany - he also has a home in England - has a BMW Z1 and Porsche 911 parked in the middle of the living room. Bez, after all, was the man who was largely behind the engineering of both these vehicles.
You can sense, then, that the new V8 Vantage is the car Bez has been waiting to build since he started running Aston a few years ago. The company makes no pretence of suggesting that it's anything but a direct competitor to the 911. In terms of price - its $135,000 Canadian list is just a few thousand more than a Porsche Carrera S, but with more standard equipment and packaging - it's right in the same ballpark. The Vantage is actually a few centimetres shorter than the Porsche, but has a wider stance; its tightly-wrapped body is pulled over a longer wheelbase but it only has two seats.
For roughly the same price as the Porsche, the Aston certainly feels a lot more special. The interior is just magnificent. Aston offers a huge range of colour and trim options, and my tester was done up in a super-tasty combination of black and saddle-coloured leather accented with red stitching. Almost every surface you touch is covered in leather or bamboo or raw aluminum. The gauges are beautifully lit at night and the speedometer and tachometer rotate toward each other as you accelerate (the "Power Beauty and Soul" message you get on startup in the DB9 is gone, however). The console is a waterfall of aluminum with tiny black-on white displays, and the seats - well, they may just be the best-looking seats ever.
Unlike the Porsche, you don't need to pay extra for the leather dash or the excellent stereo (try cranking up the subwoofer when you're in traffic) or power seats with the Aston. But the company's vast range of personalization options - the matching of colours to samples you provide; custom-fitted luggage; or whatever else you please - gives you ample opportunity to inflate the base price.
If the Aston's cabin is sexier than a 911's, it's about equally roomy, but there are parts of it that don't work quite as well as they should. The stereo and navigation controls look great, but they're tiny and hard to use while driving; the navigation system, derived from the one Volvo uses, is reasonably easy to use, but you can't adjust the angle of the screen. The seats are not actually that comfortable over long drives, though they have excellent bolstering for corners. And the controls for the trip computer are scattered between the column stalks and the console. The handbrake is a fly-away type, located between the driver's seat and the door; the seat controls are located on the side of the console.
For sporty driving, though, the Vantage's biggest issue is its sightlines: this is a difficult car to see out of. The roof is low, the windshield is aggressively raked, and the pillars are very thick. Seeing around corners often requires you to crane your neck, there are big blind spots, and the mirrors are tiny. Despite being about the same size, a 911's upright greenhouse and thin pillars make it feel like a significantly smaller car on a winding road, and its peaky fenders make it easier to place the front wheels accurately.
You do, of course, get used to it. And the compensation for the poor sightlines is a simply gorgeous body. Even though my tester was done up in pretty innocuous black, it drew stares like few other cars I've ever driven. Whether it's the clean, taut lines, the simply-executed but beautiful wheels, the neat details like the air vents that form "spines" along each side of the car, the boomerang tail lamps, the side-view mirrors that almost float on metal spars, or the real-aluminum grille, there's just so much more to drink in here than just the shape. Check out the exhaust pipes, flanking a mesh-covered diffuser with integrated reversing sensors; the little eyebrows where the headlamp washers hide; the tiny door handles that spring open with a touch of your finger.
Given all of the stares, it's tough not to be a little self-conscious driving this car. Find a deserted stretch of road away from the adoring public and you discover that the Aston is way more than just a great car to pose in. Its super-stiff aluminum structure has allowed the company's engineers to tune the suspension for excellent cornering grip and stability while maintaining fine ride quality. There's more body roll than you might expect in corners, but once it takes a set, the Vantage feels really stuck in, like nothing's going to make it deviate from its path. Partly, that's because the steering and chassis are so communicative: you really get a sense of what's going on at the road surface, and thus are aware just how much more the car has left to give. Even on wet roads, it's confidence-inspiring and easy to drive fast.
More importantly, it sounds fast. While the Vantage's 4.3-litre V8 is plenty powerful for its weight - 380 horses motivate 1,570 kg - its 302 lb-ft of torque live mostly up high in the rev range, and its six gears are fairly long. The dash from 0-100 km/h takes 5 seconds flat, a few ticks off the Porsche, but the noises coming from the twin tailpipes make the Aston sound easily twice as fast as it is. While the V8 is actually fairly muted while cruising (windows up and in the super-tall sixth gear, this is an easy and comfortable highway mile-eater), even gentle pressure on the gas pedal unleashes an aural assault the likes of which it must be heard to be believed. At full throttle, the Vantage sounds like it has a barely-restrained stock car engine under the hood, and no mufflers at all; it's one of the sexiest noises in the world if you like cars.
Despite some shortcomings - in addition to the ergonomic glitches I've noted above, my tester's electric fuel filler release didn't work and its stability-control system decided not to activate on startup a couple of times - there's no way this car isn't going to be a major success for Aston. It may not be quite as focused a driving tool as a 911, but its newness and rarity are going to be a huge attraction for people who already own a - or have already owned more than one - Porsche or Corvette or Mercedes coupe. Hell, given the reaction it got, the thing will sell on looks alone, never mind the fine dynamics or the standard feature content or hatchback practicality.
There's one other, and very important, thing worth mentioning. Everyone who yelled at me from their passing cars, from bus shelters, or in parking lots with the inevitable "what is it/how fast/how much" was shocked at the car's price. They all figured it would be twice as expensive as it actually is.
"Heck," said one guy at McDonalds. "That's less than my condo cost; what a deal!"
source : canadiandriver
2006 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Review and photos by Laurance Yap
The man who runs Aston Martin, Dr. Ulrich Bez, might be described as a bit of a fanatic. He's hop-scotched all over the auto industry, and has held positions at BMW, Porsche, and Daewoo, among other companies. Rumour has it that his house in Germany - he also has a home in England - has a BMW Z1 and Porsche 911 parked in the middle of the living room. Bez, after all, was the man who was largely behind the engineering of both these vehicles.
You can sense, then, that the new V8 Vantage is the car Bez has been waiting to build since he started running Aston a few years ago. The company makes no pretence of suggesting that it's anything but a direct competitor to the 911. In terms of price - its $135,000 Canadian list is just a few thousand more than a Porsche Carrera S, but with more standard equipment and packaging - it's right in the same ballpark. The Vantage is actually a few centimetres shorter than the Porsche, but has a wider stance; its tightly-wrapped body is pulled over a longer wheelbase but it only has two seats.
For roughly the same price as the Porsche, the Aston certainly feels a lot more special. The interior is just magnificent. Aston offers a huge range of colour and trim options, and my tester was done up in a super-tasty combination of black and saddle-coloured leather accented with red stitching. Almost every surface you touch is covered in leather or bamboo or raw aluminum. The gauges are beautifully lit at night and the speedometer and tachometer rotate toward each other as you accelerate (the "Power Beauty and Soul" message you get on startup in the DB9 is gone, however). The console is a waterfall of aluminum with tiny black-on white displays, and the seats - well, they may just be the best-looking seats ever.
Unlike the Porsche, you don't need to pay extra for the leather dash or the excellent stereo (try cranking up the subwoofer when you're in traffic) or power seats with the Aston. But the company's vast range of personalization options - the matching of colours to samples you provide; custom-fitted luggage; or whatever else you please - gives you ample opportunity to inflate the base price.
If the Aston's cabin is sexier than a 911's, it's about equally roomy, but there are parts of it that don't work quite as well as they should. The stereo and navigation controls look great, but they're tiny and hard to use while driving; the navigation system, derived from the one Volvo uses, is reasonably easy to use, but you can't adjust the angle of the screen. The seats are not actually that comfortable over long drives, though they have excellent bolstering for corners. And the controls for the trip computer are scattered between the column stalks and the console. The handbrake is a fly-away type, located between the driver's seat and the door; the seat controls are located on the side of the console.
For sporty driving, though, the Vantage's biggest issue is its sightlines: this is a difficult car to see out of. The roof is low, the windshield is aggressively raked, and the pillars are very thick. Seeing around corners often requires you to crane your neck, there are big blind spots, and the mirrors are tiny. Despite being about the same size, a 911's upright greenhouse and thin pillars make it feel like a significantly smaller car on a winding road, and its peaky fenders make it easier to place the front wheels accurately.
You do, of course, get used to it. And the compensation for the poor sightlines is a simply gorgeous body. Even though my tester was done up in pretty innocuous black, it drew stares like few other cars I've ever driven. Whether it's the clean, taut lines, the simply-executed but beautiful wheels, the neat details like the air vents that form "spines" along each side of the car, the boomerang tail lamps, the side-view mirrors that almost float on metal spars, or the real-aluminum grille, there's just so much more to drink in here than just the shape. Check out the exhaust pipes, flanking a mesh-covered diffuser with integrated reversing sensors; the little eyebrows where the headlamp washers hide; the tiny door handles that spring open with a touch of your finger.
Given all of the stares, it's tough not to be a little self-conscious driving this car. Find a deserted stretch of road away from the adoring public and you discover that the Aston is way more than just a great car to pose in. Its super-stiff aluminum structure has allowed the company's engineers to tune the suspension for excellent cornering grip and stability while maintaining fine ride quality. There's more body roll than you might expect in corners, but once it takes a set, the Vantage feels really stuck in, like nothing's going to make it deviate from its path. Partly, that's because the steering and chassis are so communicative: you really get a sense of what's going on at the road surface, and thus are aware just how much more the car has left to give. Even on wet roads, it's confidence-inspiring and easy to drive fast.
More importantly, it sounds fast. While the Vantage's 4.3-litre V8 is plenty powerful for its weight - 380 horses motivate 1,570 kg - its 302 lb-ft of torque live mostly up high in the rev range, and its six gears are fairly long. The dash from 0-100 km/h takes 5 seconds flat, a few ticks off the Porsche, but the noises coming from the twin tailpipes make the Aston sound easily twice as fast as it is. While the V8 is actually fairly muted while cruising (windows up and in the super-tall sixth gear, this is an easy and comfortable highway mile-eater), even gentle pressure on the gas pedal unleashes an aural assault the likes of which it must be heard to be believed. At full throttle, the Vantage sounds like it has a barely-restrained stock car engine under the hood, and no mufflers at all; it's one of the sexiest noises in the world if you like cars.
Despite some shortcomings - in addition to the ergonomic glitches I've noted above, my tester's electric fuel filler release didn't work and its stability-control system decided not to activate on startup a couple of times - there's no way this car isn't going to be a major success for Aston. It may not be quite as focused a driving tool as a 911, but its newness and rarity are going to be a huge attraction for people who already own a - or have already owned more than one - Porsche or Corvette or Mercedes coupe. Hell, given the reaction it got, the thing will sell on looks alone, never mind the fine dynamics or the standard feature content or hatchback practicality.
There's one other, and very important, thing worth mentioning. Everyone who yelled at me from their passing cars, from bus shelters, or in parking lots with the inevitable "what is it/how fast/how much" was shocked at the car's price. They all figured it would be twice as expensive as it actually is.
"Heck," said one guy at McDonalds. "That's less than my condo cost; what a deal!"
source : canadiandriver
09-22-06, 07:21 AM
#30
Super Moderator
Aston takes paddle
Bosses at Aston Martin will be taking a paddle at the Paris Motor Show - but they won't be getting their feet wet!
21st September 2006
Auto Express can exclusively reveal the British brand is set to unveil a sporty new transmission for the V8 Vantage in the French capital.
It will take the wraps off an automated manual box at the expo, and the set-up is expected to boast steering wheel paddles, as seen on the larger Vanquish. The clutchless shifter is based on a manual transmission for ultra-fast changes, but will also fea*ture a fully automatic mode.
Meanwhile, to complement the sporting new gearbox, seat maker Recaro will furnish the V8 Vantage and DB9 with upgraded chairs. These will have heavier bolsters, feature a memory function and offer a greater range of adjustability. If you're still not com*fortable, then Aston's Works Service department can always tailor something exactly to your needs.
21st September 2006
Auto Express can exclusively reveal the British brand is set to unveil a sporty new transmission for the V8 Vantage in the French capital.
It will take the wraps off an automated manual box at the expo, and the set-up is expected to boast steering wheel paddles, as seen on the larger Vanquish. The clutchless shifter is based on a manual transmission for ultra-fast changes, but will also fea*ture a fully automatic mode.
Meanwhile, to complement the sporting new gearbox, seat maker Recaro will furnish the V8 Vantage and DB9 with upgraded chairs. These will have heavier bolsters, feature a memory function and offer a greater range of adjustability. If you're still not com*fortable, then Aston's Works Service department can always tailor something exactly to your needs.
Cabin of V8 Vantage (above) loses gearlever in favour of steering wheel-mounted paddleshifters