Don't apologize for the long write up -- we all want to hear as much as possible! And, after driving my V8 for a while, the "problem" of breaking traction during acceleration sounds like a good problem to have.

 

I jumped in the car after work for about an hour. I got out on 3 lane highway and spent quite a bit of time in the low 100's. The gear changes are very smooth. The 2-3-4 transition is very close in terms of throw distance. You have to be a little careful but I got the hang of it today. There is amazing response in just about any gear. You can travel on the highway in gears 3-5 and have immediate response. There is a huge difference between a V8 with SS and a V12 with a manual. You really have to let your mind go and start over in terms of gearing and revs. I found myself going back to the time on the track at Pocono. The car wants to fly even around turns. I will say that downshifting to second gear coming out of a turn gave me a little traction issue as I pushed down on the gas. I tried it again and managed a nice power drift with all of the traction control engaged. Again this seems to be as much me getting to know the car as anything else. The handling is quite neutral unless you get on the throttle at the wrong part of the turn. You get a little oversteer but it can be fun if you're ready for it. It kind of reminds me of my 93 Mazda RX7 in that the power is so capable, it requires a different mentality in low gears on the windy roads. The car does seem to be up for anything though. I'm looking forward to having a whole day with out work to explore some other possibilities and situations. Here a couple more pics.

 

Great writeup! Sounds as if you are having a blast! Enjoy in good health!

 

Great to see you finally have delivery ... enjoy those back roads !!!

 

Hey the car looks spectacular. I think I saw you btw, I was travelling south on 476 near exit 5 on 12/5/10 at 3:30PM. Was that your Aston? A silver one was travelling north, wasnt 100% sure if it was the V12, either way it looks like a million bucks! congrats!

 

That was me. I love that road. I lost my license on it 20 years ago. I got the first V12V from Kerbeck so if you see a silver AM with Carbon vents in the hood in the Philadelphia suburban area it's me.

 

Looking good there buddy!!!

Where's are family photo?

 

Thats Great!!!! The car looks amazing man, congrats again. IMO the best looking car on the road. I would love to own one but I'm more in the price range for an 08 Vantage or 997tt . I got to drive an 07 at FC Kerbeck, the salesmen (I forget his name) but was a great guy.

476 is quite fun, especially when you get north of Allentown . PS I live in Manayunk right off 338 on 76, if you're around I would love to take a look and hear that epic AM exhaust.

 

I drove the V12 all day today. Still amazed at the balance. Not to be repetitive, but it is just such a different car you really have to throw out expectations. You are in different gears at different times. Today I played with the sport button. I have an M button on the X6M and I had sport chrono on my 997S. Neither of these affects the power as much as this car. In sport mode, the car jumps out of up shifts and you can feel the rear end of the car compressing down and the nose shooting upwards in hard acceleration. I had the opportunity to drive along the Schulkill River today with no one around. The road is windy and you can get to 50-60 no problem. The car was pulling into each turn. I found myself shifting up and creating speed as I entered the turn with a little wiggle. This is one of those moments where learning a new trick comes in handy. Instead of upshifting, I kept the throttle and left the car revving. There is a ton of grip and the rear end stayed right on the line. Then on the throttle, up shift through the strait and watch the speedo jump by 5 and 10. I know this is race track 101 but I hardly ever feel confident driving this way on the highway. Anyway, lots of heads turn on bikes and joggers. I'm not sure if it's the looks or the engine note. I got attention with the V8 but the meteorite was a little more subtle than lightning with gigantic CF vents in the hood. Also, with the sport button, the baffles open sooner in the rev cycle, so the car is throaty even at 2K RPMs. It's going to rain all freaken day tomorrow and go down to 20 on Monday so I had to get it in. For S#!+S and giggles, I took some picks of the engine bay with the iphone. There is not a lot of space in there. I mean you couldn't fit a Q-tip anywhere. It looks like the Alien from the first movie sucked on to someones face.

 

How are you liking the cold weather? It has been unusually cold here (30s and 40s), and the car is just brutally fast but now I'm breaking loose at the top of 2nd gear. I can't wait to see what this thing can do with better traction. That said, the car is incredibly stable, even when losing traction!

 

Now that I know to give the car 10-15 mins to let the tires warm it's better but It's 20 and snowing right now so the garage it is for now. I drove all day on Saturday, mostly on windy roads and it was awesome. The only problem was stop signs and red lights. By the way, what kind of tires do you have on your car Tahoe? The P0's on mine were made specifically to be "sticky" under the right conditions. I wonder if there are options that are ready to go at cooler temps. This is the first time that I have traction issues in a car. then again I have never owned a car like this before.

 

Beautiful color combo! Enjoy it and may it be a good one. I am aiming to buy a slightly used V8 in the next year or so. These have to be the best looking cars on the road and you don't see many of them. Where I live, I see more Lambo's and Ferarri's than I do Aston's.

 

You going to put a Quicksilver exhaust on? I hear they slice 30 lbs from the car. I run a Larani I'm my V8 Vantage.

 

jaymoney - you should send your pics into the AMOC (Vantage Point - North American) club mag. They could use some articles and pics - yours are great!

 

Congrats - hot car !!