Aston is a wonderful car... Get the v8v even the 4.3 not as fast as ur 911tt but offers beauty and soul... Style, understated super car, pure elegance...

 

I am in the same boat...I have an 08 N400 hp and it just lacks power.
I am thinking of trading it for an F car.

 

No hard feelings to any AM owners. Just sharing my personal opinion.

 

If I may, what car did you get to replace your 2008 V8V?

 

Believe it or not, I'm going back to corvette. I almost bought an Audi R8 but then I drove one and felt uninspired as well. For the money, you simply can't beat corvette. The C6 is actually a nice looking design and it has loads of low end torque which results in a car that is:

1. Pretty
2. Relatively inexpensive
3. Lots of power (fun factor)
4. Dealerships on every corner for parts and service
5. Easily modified if desired with loads of aftermarket stuff

Check out this video. Clarkson is actually right!

 

If your car will be a daily driver, the Vantage will be a little harder to get used to than the Porsche. The Vantage generates many more smiles however. I drive mine daily, have a 2007 with sportshift and convertible. I'm 55 and past the racer phase. The 4.3 is adequate for me. My last Porsche was a 996 and decided I wanted something different.

 

I was thinking of an Audi S5, but then saw a few astons on the road while I was in Florida..looks so much better then a S5... will have to drive one to see if its too slow for me

 

Not sure about #1. It all comes down to priorities. If power and price are priorities, as opposed to uniqueness, beauty, and sophistication, the Corvette makes sense. For me, #4 (Corvettes everywhere you turn) knocks the Corvette off my list. (Okay, it still wouldn't be on the list, but you get my point.)

 

Sorry....JC is quite wrong. I traded an R8 5.2 for the V12V. Not because it was "joyless", just always wanted to own an AM, and the opportunity arose.

Kudos to the Corvette's engine, but that's it. Nothing else about it is interesting.

 

Believe me guys, I'm not a performance junkie at all. I'm a 48 yr old who could care less about 1/4 mile times, 0-60, top speed and all that other macho foolishness. I'm simply referring to the "fun" factor of a car. Maybe I would have liked the Aston better if it were a manual. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't. I also learned that I don't really care for the whole high revving exotic thing. I drive relatively leisurely but when I step on the gas, I want the car to accelerate and quickly. I'm not trying to slam the vantage, I'm just informing those considering one that it behaves like a two stroke engine. It really needs high revs to feel strong and I just don't drive my cars like that. Anyone considering an exotic of any brand whether it be Ferrari, Lambo or whatever, should really consider their driving style before stepping into an exotic.

CPB, I agree with you. Put an ordinary LS3 engine in a manual vantage and I'd be telling a different story here. NO DOUBT.

 

This thread turned all kinds of different directions...

Drive the Vantage and figure it out yourself... we can't tell you if you are going to like it or not. Automobile ownership is at the very least...subjective.

My experience... 5 Porsche's over the years and I would not take one of them back for my Vantage...

There's no accounting for taste in women or cars.....

 

I agree that the Vette is great and actually better as a daily driver than the Vantage. If the Vantage didn't exist I would probably sill have my Vette. However, there are some advantages to the Astons. Ideally, I'd like to have a DBS Volante and a ZR1, that way I could just choose the appropriate one for the day. Unfortunately, I'd have to trade my house in for that, leaving neither with a garage, so I settle for just the V8 Vantage Coupe. Tough to complain, though.

 

ptaylor clearly likes low-end torque. That's what a Corvette has a huge amount of, and what his V8V, being a 4.3, doesn't have. A 4.3 is plenty quick, but it needs to be revved, which he said is not his style. Fair enough, but it doesn't make it a bad car in any way. The 4.7, on the other hand, is quite torquey. Not Corvette-torquey, but it does NOT lack torque. The 4.7 is seriously, genuinely fast. Obviously there are faster cars, but there always are.

I'd venture that a 4.7 V8V would run pretty close to a stock 996TT -- IIRC, a stock 996TT has 415 hp, a 4.7 V8V has 420. The V8V weighs just under 3600 lbs, the 996TT just over 3400-ish. Obviously, the V8V doesn't have the torque of a Turbo, but it would give it a good run.

 

The above echoes my thoughts exactly. I think there are few things more subjective than cars for enthusiasts such as this.

I've had two quick test drives of a 2011 6MT coupe and I'm going for a very long set of drives of S and non-S variants this weekend. I'll report back to how the car compares to my 997.2 C4 cabriolet. I suspect that it will be comparably fast BUT only if I have it above 4000 rpm, which I did not do during my previous tests.

 

Although not blistering fast, my S is more than adequate in lower revs. Use sport and paddle shift mode when test driving the S.