Recently i've been trying to decide between a V8 Vantage and a 997 GT3. With the former being an extravagance of beauty and class, but lacking in the performance department, and the latter-not quite as pretty, but the bench mark for today's performance standards, I'm struggling to find my Goldilocks. Today however, i had the great pleasure of taking an amazing test drive (45 minutes with a combination of freeway, business/residential, and back road twists) in an 07 Vantage. If anyone is looking to get a great deal on an Aston, contact Debbie Johnson at Cole European Motors in Walnut Creek. She was nothing but the best! Extremely patient, helpful, informative, and best of all, lenient.

Anyways, here are my thoughts... (please keep in mind that this is all just my opinion)

First the good...

Exterior
-Aesthetically, nothing compares. Enough said, you just have to see one in person to understand.

Interior
- Love the big crystal "START" button. The gauge cluster is gorgeous! The rev counter going the opposite way takes a little getting used to, but is beautiful nonetheless. The seats are extremely comfortable, with a thousand adjustments so you can get your seating position just right. The telescoping steering wheel, small and thick, is perfect.
-The sound system is amazing.

Performance
-The steering is beautiful, light, and extremely responsive. It gives great feedback as to exactly what the car is doing.
-The turn in is great, sharp as you'd expect. You turn and the car goes, simple as that. And for such a heavy car (3500 lbs) body roll is still kept to a minimum, even in the tightest of left to rights.
-The exhaust note is to die for! Unfortunately it only gets good after 4500 rpm, although this can easily be changed by removing fuse 22 which is the exhaust silencer.
-Brakes are great! Excellent initial bite with great modulation. I didnt get to push it hard enough for long enough to experience weather fade was a problem or not.
-Power is extremely predictable and very controllable.

Now the bad...

Exterior
-The door handles are a bit tricky at first, but otherwise, no complaints, its perfect.

Interior
-Way to busy for my tastes. Thousands of buttons and switches for music, climate control, navigation, seating position, etc...
-The seats, while extremely comfy, like most, dont have enough lateral support. In corners I (5'11'', 170lbs) found myself fighting to hold myself in place. I had to grip the steering wheel tightly instead of letting the seat do the work.
-The E-brake in this car is ridiculous. Unlike conventional E-brakes, this one doesnt lock in place. You pull it up and a light lets you know weather its on or off, then it goes right back down.

Performance
-You can really feel the car's weight, not so much through the corner, but exiting it. 380 hp was definitely not enough for this car. And for normal cruising, if you're outside the power band (below 3k), for get it, down low, this car struggles.
-The clutch release point is extremely high, and the gear box IMO, is terrible--clunky, imprecise, and gated way to close--it almost feels cheap. And while its not as heavy as i expected (with all the early criticism), there is much to be improved on.
-The throttle is extremely unresponsive (and i thought the Turbo was bad). And while the pedals are close, allowing for easier heel toe downshifts, you've really got to roll your heel to rev match well.

All in all this is a great car-uncompromised beauty matched with all the performance you'd expect out of a GT car, this Aston (while in need of a better gear box and more power) is beautiful. Performance wise however, Porsche (the Turbo and GT3 at least) is in a different league and i'd take either any day of the week!

Now if only i could get into a 7 GT3. Anyone in the Bay Area wanna help me out?

 

so no vantage for you then eh?

 

Nope, after the test drive i got back into my Turbo, and after about a minute of driving said to myself, "Wow i love my car!" If i'm going to spend that much money on a car i need something that's going to make me really think twice about my Turbo.

With that said however, the look and exhaust note of that Aston make is something truly special!

 

I dislike the Vantage, I think it's an overpriced turd. The same goes for the DB9. I sat in a 2005 and also was a passenger in a 2006 most recently. The 2005 has 6800 miles and it felt like the door was gong to fall off when I closed it. The leather quality was no where near what one would expect from a $240,000 car. It was unrefined. The exterior looks great, the gauge cluster looked great, but it's not well built - and certainty doesn't feel like a $240,000 car. The exhaust note was great and it had plenty good grunt down low.

The vantage, that's another story. I agree with all the points above. My biggest gripe is the cramped and squished look of the car, specifically the rear, and the hideous little antenna above the rear window. The cars just do not feel special, especially considering what the marquee used to be. Years of Ford involvement seem to have taken their toll, hopefully TaTa does a better job, but I doubt it.

I have yet to see a DBS in person yet, in pictures, it looks amazing. By Amazing, it's on my top 5 list in terms of looks and exotic mystique. Hopefully my opinion will change. I'm going to stop by Lake Forest Sports Cars up in Chicago to take a look at a 08 DB9 with Sport Pack. Maybe the ones I had the displeasure of being in and driven in were just lemons or mistreated AM's.

 

How I felt about giving my 2 up to just about everything I drove, Stradale? Thats a different story, but only because I was caught up in the love potion it gave off LOL..

Vantage V8 is sick, Love to look at it, not a bad driving car either but not for me.. Colby man, the GT3 is stunning, sound is to die for, the high rev's, telepathic steering response, broad power and everything about it screams you, do it!

 

I could not agee more. GT3 FTW, they're very different cars though. Same goes for the Turbo vs the DB9, or Turbo vs Stradale. I would agee though. GT3 > Vantage.

 

I know whatcha mean Martin.

Man you have no idea how badly i want one! Actually... You probably do.

 

I do man, I do So do I, but already in the GT game, and it's hard giving mine up...

One day i'll have my Strad and GT3, only other car's I want besides for CGT

 

Still thinking about giving up your 2 for a 997 3 or Strad? I was pretty set on going back to N/A but after driving that Vantage back to back with my Turbo i dunno anymore. I think the new battle is now between a 7 Turbo and a 7 GT3.

 

I just took my GT2 out, and even had an offer to sell it on the table. After last sunday out in it all day, the car is breath taking in every way, I just couldn't do it and am now tracking/enjoying the HELL OUT OF IT!

I still want a 997 GT3, but again can't come to giving mine up :/ it's a keeper until I can add the GT3 or strad!

 

Ah "ADD" being the key word. Dang it! I think the dilema has just widen to a 6 GT2, 7 Turbo, and 7 GT3. Crap...

 

Ah "ADD" being the key word. Dang it! I think the dilema has just widen to a 6 GT2, 7 Turbo, and 7 GT3. Crap...

 

Not a bad write up, but for my .02 a bit rude. Why would you come to the AM site to **** on the car?
Personally, I have driven the 7TT and find it w/o soul and very sterile. I would not go the TT site and boast about it though, as my dear Mom always said, 'if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all"!
I am an owner and though I liked the car from the beginning, in over 2k miles and one very satisfying track day, it has continuously grown on me. Sure its not the fastest car in a straight line but, and in fairness, as you pointed out very engaging, super brakes and very fun to drive. The sound is awesome and its the best looking car on the road, or at least one of them. Certainly stirs my soul in the looks department. I do agree it could use more power but there are few cars that don't. Ask me about what doesn't............

 

I don't think it's rude at all. We say what we want cause we can. Why not **** on another car because you thought it sucked. We all have our opinion, if we all held them back their wouldn't be a reason to read this forum.

BTW, Gorgeous CS - I happen to be a huge CS fan!

 

TaTa doesn't own AM nor did they ever (they are bidding for jag/landrover), prodrive and a consortium of other Middle eastern investors owns Aston now.

The early models had deficiencies, but they have been sorted, build quality has improved in spades over the last 3 years.

After years of racing porsches and instructing for the motorsport division, it became abundantly clear that the company is going down in terms of exclusivity and also their true sporting intent is disappearing.

997 GT3 is targetted straight at poseurs. The RS is the proper model, but unfortunately most have found their way into wealthier/better-connected-at-the-dealer poseurs.

Porsche has become a bastion for the unimaginative who are a bit afraid to venture out of a marque that they've been stuck in, stuck in an upgrade cycle from a lower model to a more prestigious one. All while the romance, sporting intent, and authenticity of the brand is drained out from under their feet by overzealous marketing and a rapacious attitude towards exploiting the history for sales.