Stay Tuned!!! we just dyno'd our power kit for the Vantage and netted very impressive results.. car now makes 996TT HP.. I am posting a release along wiht dyno figures tomorrow... Our Vantage is now a tire smoking Performance car

 

This thread is getting better and better,..please keep them coming as I am seriously considering a Vantage.

 

I sold it because I'd had my fun and needed to get something with a back seat so I could at least drop off one of my kids to school. It lacked power, but that didn't bother me too much. HZ's power kit would do the trick. It handled very well, and kept up fine with Modenas and 997s in the twisties. Again, no problems. I would consider one again in the future, although my heart is set on a GT3....

 

A little warning:

The 10k service is $1000 and the 20k service is $2000+.

They don't do jack squat during the 10k service- basically, it's just a big check up and expensive oil change. "Check lights, mirrors, windows"- give me a break.

 

So then you dont need to do a 10K service at the dealer

 

As I recall sevice intervals for P-cars were in that range too (like 15 & 30k mi. intervals?). Both are totally cheap compaired to F or G cars !!!

 

Wow, this thread is awesome. I've also been considering an AM for it's price point as well as it's refinement and appeal. I've eyed the GT-R, but I think the AM would represent me better... Thanks for all the input, current owners.

Are there any recalls, other common items/annoyances?

Also, is this the best place to find info on AM's? I don't see any other place besides Ebay and Autotrader that sells these vehicles, which are pretty much dealer ads. I've been looking for private sellers, but no luck as of yet. I was hoping to reach a good deal through networking...

 

I own an '08 Sportshift with around 6k miles. It is my true daily driver and it has been dead reliable. Had the belt squeak issue and also the horn pad rattle. Both known issues and were taken care of by the dealer.

I've had other smaller problems, mainly rattles. This seems to be highly variable. Some cars are quiet, while others have a lot of rattles. My flip up satnav screen rattles a looooot (especially when closed). I've taken it to the dealer for this with no solution as of yet. Every single surface is covered in leather inside so when the panels move a bit and rub there is a bit of a squeaky leather sound. Smells great though!

Steering wheel and seating position is excellent. Steering feel is unnecessarily heavy, especially given that it doesn't communicate as much as, say a P-Car, Evo, or S2000. It seems like they decided that since it doesn't communicate as much, well lets just make it heavy to give that illusion.

Throttle response is somewhat lazy. First third of travel of throttle pedal will not elecit revs from the engine while idling. When you're at speed it sharpens quite a bit.

Front and rear overhangs are very short so it makes a great daily driver to get over speed bumps, driving onto steep inclines, etc. Rear window is narrow so there is a sizable blind spot at C pillar. Just something to keep in mind.

Sportshift is, how shall I put it, a work in progress. Its excellent if you're at higher speeds on a twisty mountain road. But if you're in gridlocked, stop and go traffic (which is like 80% of the time for me), its not very good at all. I'm in manual mode 95% of the time because the auto mode is horrendous. I don't even understand the inclusion of the comfort button on the dash, which slows the shifts down at slower speeds, making hesitation between shifts even greater. Its been compared to gen1 BMW SMG. On the other hand, the manual tranny is very rubbery, clunky, with an unnecessarily stiff clutch actuation (stiffer than my GT3RS). If the car had like a million hp and had a stiff clutch, then I get it; but it doesn't. This is part of the reason I went with the Sportshift to begin with. Although I've read the manual trannys break in with use and get better, and supposedly the 09s have addressed these issues.

Since the car is somewhat overinsulated, you literally can't feel the engine revs through the chassis, so I find myself constantly looking at the tachometer to figure out when to shift. Yes after 4k you can certainly hear the engine more, but you still can't feel it. Not a lot to do about that other than getting an aftermarket exhaust or pull fuse 22. Ah, there is also no proper redline on the tach, so its a hit or miss whether you're going to hit the rev limiter when accelerating fast and power shifting.

Car is a bit underpowered, but its not that bad. You have to rev it past 4k to feel like its going anywhere. For example, if you're cruising at 70mph on the highway (you will be in 6th gear) and want to pass someone, you will have to drop down 2 gears instead of 1 to have enough power to overtake.

Premium audio system sounds excellent and the ipod integration and bluetooth is also very good.

The car seems at odds a little bit. On paper, it has all the ingredients for a sharp, high revving, good handling sports car (S2000 immediately comes to mind). Thing is that it doesn't really rev high; it just needs to be revved to move out of its own way. Its definitely well balanced and nice handling, but the control inputs and feedback (steering, throttle) is vague and overinsulated. Its a tad too heavy (but the way modern cars are going, its a lightweight). So it has all the ingredients, but somehow doesn't really deliver at this point. Though it wouldn't take much for it to. A little less DB9 GT cruiser and more communicative sports car (its got the chassis and ingredients!)

Dealer experiences have been good and not so good. I bought the car at The Collection in Miami. They were excellent, especially the service department. Very accommodating and made you feel like they cared about your ownership experience. Give you a loaner, everything, the whole kit and caboodle. What you would expect when owning an Aston. Here in LA, eeeh, not so much.

Pros: Best looking car on the road today, bar none (yes, better looking than the DB9). Best looking interior, bar none. Very well balanced and nice handling chassis. Dead reliable (no problems whatsoever at least for me). Has a lot of presence. Makes you feel very special. Excellent audio system, bluetooth, Ipod. Great seating and steering wheel position. Great daily driver.

Cons: Can be a bit on the rattly side depending on the car. Control input points are a bit heavy feeling (heavy steering, lazy throttle). Overinsulated. Sportshift needs a lot of work. Manual tranny is a bit rubbery and vague.

 

^^^ So after that very thorough rundown, you were not happy with either of the transmissions. Well, let's say that you were not impressed by either. What are would you, and the other owners, prefer to have in order to get that power from the flywheel to the back tires?

 

Thanks, I needed to get some of that stuff off my chest! At least for me, it was definitely picking the lesser of two evils. I chose while having only test driven both cars for max 10 min. This is going to sound silly, but in the end, I chose the sportshift because I thought it might be more comfortable in stop-n-go, especially when compared to the stiff clutch of the manual; but also because I liked the clean center console design of the sportshift. The manual's shift boot, ****, surround, etc. is not the best looking imo.

I think all manufacturer's sequential trannys biggest stumbling block (at least at this point of their developments) is the 1st/2nd gear stop-n-go, parking, traffic situation. It is the future of trannys and they're only going to get better. Unfortunately, I can't give an informed comparison as I haven't tried out the other manufacturer's sequentials. I have read that Audi's DSG, Ferrari F1, Porsche PDK, BMW M DCT are excellent. Aston's is way behind in terms of refinement. Might be a cost thing, as I don't understand why they didn't jump in from the "get go" with a more advanced system from their supplier.

As far as the manual, it just feels a bit agricultural; without that "meticulously engineered" feel. BMW manuals also feel kind of rubbery to me. The best feeling and shifting manual I've driven has been a Mitsu Evo, followed closely by the S2000. My GT3RS's manual is also excellent. The Evo's shifting is like a mixture of the harder GT3RS but with the smoothness of the S2000. The Aston is way behind in terms of feel (including the DBS). However, the DBS does have a noticeably lighter clutch feel. If the 09 Vantage has this same feel, it is definitely daily drivable.

I'm going to drive an '09 to see how much better they are (both sportshift and manual). I would consider trading in for an 09, but I know I'll take a bath with the depreciation of my car. This was my first sequential, and it just hasn't blown me away.

 

Thank you for the info! I have been looking at the Vantage, and am trying to figure out what the heck to do about the tranny. It seems like every other review or opinion tells the opposite story from the last. I have been looking at the '07 and '08's. I am interested to see what happens to the prices after the release of the '09. Bigger, better, badder, should make the prices go down a little, but you never know.

I have gotten to drive the DB9 with the sportshift, but I was a little awestruck by the car in the first place to really pay too much attention to the feel of it. It was like meeting your hero for the first time, you know.

 

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. Happened to me when I drove the Vantage. It becomes hard to make an informed decision when you're peering out through that sexy thin greenhouse and being struck with the beautiful scent of all that leather!

BTW, I believe the DB9s have a true automatic with torque converter, not sportshift.

 

Interesting... My ignorance starts to shine through.

I did notice that the shifts were a little slower than I would have expected. It was also the first flappy paddle gearbox that I had driven. I was able to snag a ride in an M5 last year, and after I sat co-pilot for about 45 minutes with the manual in my lap we figured out how to get the M-Drive set up properly to see what the car actually had, I thought those shifts would have been faster too. I just took both transmissions with a grain of salt, and figured that there is a little truth that founded Mr. Jeremy Clarkson's disdain for the flappy paddle gear boxes.

Another funny story, that I hate to admit... I figure that I am pretty in tune with technology and can figure most things out, but between the two of us, we could not find the door lock button in the stupid M5. I had to get the manual out yet again. HAHA! The both of us figured that the average "older man" who would be in the position to buy the car would possibly NEVER get all of the beans out of the M5 without a week training first. Not to say that you guys are "the average older man" in the least. But we were uncertain that we even had everything set up properly, and we were both pretty computer and car savvy. I guess I just have a hard time finding buttons like that. It took me about 5 minutes to find the fuel filler door release on the DB9 too.

 

Yeah, the DB9 has an automatic that mimics a manual (with the flappy paddles)...like the Porsche Tiptronic, so it makes sense that it would be slower than a real sequential. With that said, it gets rave reviews for its ease of use and comfort. I believe even Clarkson raves about it as its not really a sequential, but an automatic, which suits the DB9 perfectly. It also shouldn't have any traces of the stop-n-go problems associated with a sequential I mentioned above.


The M5 has BMW SMG III. Although it is sequential in terms of pattern of shifting, it is still not considered a harcore sequential as it just uses separate electronically controlled actuators to shift. The real bees knees is in the new dual clutch sequential systems like in the Nissan GTR and BMW's own new M DCT (found on the new M3) which is supposedly light years ahead of the SMG. Think of DB9 as Tiptronic, SMG as sort of in between, while the full monty is the dual clutch sequential. For reference, the Aston Sportshift is compared to SMG gen I

I understand completely. I really despise this new direction of computer controlled everything on cars. I considered a new M3 at one point and would have ordered it without the I-drive (at least you can order the car without it....for now). I don't need to access my email while I'm driving and have it come up on some screen, not while I'm driving a sports car! I don't need the choice of whether I want the car lights to remain on for 10 seconds vs 15 seconds after I lock the doors! How about just lock the freaking door! With all these superfluous options etc, the system to make them accesable becomes more and more complicated, hence I-Drive. Maybe I'm just getting old...

 

Thanks for all the info Mdiez1, your input is greatly appreciated...