http://reviews.cnet.com/convertible/...wBody;paginate

In summary, poor shifting from the auto and poorly designed (and buggy) user interface on the electronics. I have no idea why CNET reviews car, except for the fact that it's fun and free for them, but this review seems accurate to me.

 

lol why buy a Vantage when you can buy all 3 of their "best alternatives" and still have $36k left over?! Seems like a no-brainer!

 

A Honda Civic is one of the "best alternatives" to the Vantage?! Now I know that it's not always easy to identify Aston's competitors, but I think it's pretty safe to say that someone considering an Aston would not consider a Civic a good alternative!

 

That review of laughable. The guy is focused almost 100% on the electronics which sure aren't the best but you don't buy an Aston Martin for high tech gadgetry. If you did, sorry.

I agree with him that the Sport Shift has a slight lurch but it's not a double clutch so there has to be some lurch since it's basically an automated manual. Also, I don't get how having the auto over manual would lead to a world of frustration. If you modulate the throttle with the shift the car shifts perfect just like shifting a manual. I actually enjoyed it because it didn't feel like an automatic which most double clutches feel like now. I'd be curious to see his Gallardo review because the clutch is almost the exact same.

Last, he brought up gas mileage. If you are paying over 100k for a car I don't think gas mileage is part of the decision. I have a daily driver for that.

 

I think I will pop by the Honda dealer on the way home today and just see what kind of trade-in I can work on my Vantage for a new Civic. Who knows, I might even be able to get an Accord thrown in the deal too.

 

Anyone know how quickly the new Vantage gearbox shifts? I haven't driven the sportshift, but I have driven the 430 F1. The shifts in that car take 150 ms, which is lightning quick. No delay at all. The shifts on the 360 I drove recently, however, seemed a bit lazy by comparison and it was a bit frustrating to drive. I would be fine with an automated manual as long as it shifts crisply.

 

I have wanted a Vantage for years but have been put off by things I hear like this. One dealer took me for a ride in a sportshift and it was very smooth, although the ride was harsh. (perhaps flat spotted tires?) But I was suspicious as he used the paddles and kept the revs low. I was offered a drive in a new 2012 sportshift on Monday. In the auto mode it was horrible. The shifts were very very slow. If you drive a manual and you have ever noticed your passenger moving forward when you let off the gas and press the clutch, this is what happens to you, the driver. Except that you do not know that it's coming, so it's a surprise. The reviewer said his head shifted forward, my shoulders would come off the seat it was such a drop in power. Plus it took soooo long for the shift to happen. Pressing the sport button did not seem to make it better, and using the paddles myself just let me know the shift was coming, it did not make it faster. This really settled the issue for me, a 6 speed is the only way to go.

On the electronics issue, it is important that things work. I did not buy an S5 3 years ago , one of the reasons was that they said bring it in and we'll program your radio stations for you. Really? I just bought a 2012 Audi TT-RS in January. I still don't have any radio stations programmed. The Audi dealer gave me a loaner recently, and the radio worked differently. So basically something that has worked with no thought in every car I've driven (a lot of rentals) they have "made better" so that it basically doesn't work. Unless your parked, and in the shade so you can see the screen prompts. So yes, it's important that the cabin controls work and are easy to use.

I have not had enough experience with Aston to know, but let me adjust the radio and climate controls in a simple matter without frustration. Now on the GPS, the guy said there was no way to zoom in and out the map, basically the only thing I do with the GPS, although it's also nice to scroll the map.

The one thing in the review that worried me was that several things only worked intermittently, the most important thing being the parking brake. That's pretty key to function properly every single time. Plus there were some noises that shouldn't have been coming from the car. Same as the car I drove on Monday. So as much as I want one, just not sure I wouldn't be driven crazy by the car.

 

This reviewer is such a dou che. I'm going to nominate him for biggest dou che in the universe award.

 

Something tells me that CNet will never get another Aston to review thanks to this dou che. He obviously doesn't get what exotic car ownership is all about. He didn't drive the new SSII 7-speed gearbox so I can understand a few of his gripes, but his attitude seemed to be resentful of those who can actually afford to buy this kind of car. His tone is insulting as if to say that the people who buy this car have more money than sense. I guess he would be better off driving the same car as the rest of the sheep do.

 

Your comments are salient and in that I have a 6 speed and would not consider a e-trans (just my personal preference) I can not speak to the shift speeds of the auto. Your description would be a deal breaker for me, but then I wouldn't consider the e-trans to begin with. I can say that my wife's Audi with a DSG tranny drives me crazy however, and that I don't care to have another.

I find the electronics intuitive, and easy to operate, my nav system will certainly zoom +/-, so perhaps the author didn't really understand the system, or perhaps didn't have enough time with the car to run it through its electronic paces.

I think the derision that folks here have for the review is more the suggested "better" alternates. A Honda Civic. Really? A Civic? Someone in the market for a Vantage is better advised to buy a Civic? Huh?

That just calls the whole validity of the "review" into question. CNET needs to stick to its reviews of electronics equipment (which I find very helpful) and leave the auto reviews to those that can make complete and relevant comparisons.

 

First of all CNet is a tech website and that's why their auto reviews focus so much on cabin tech/electronics. I pretty much hate their reviews and I find the guy, Brian Cooley who does the video reviews so annoying that I can't even watch them. See for yourself: http://cnettv.cnet.com/james-bond-wo...nt;contentBody

(he is such a tool)

That said, I have to agree with a number of their observations about the tech.

The good:

The stereo's sound is outstanding, the best stock system I have had in a car.
The nav (I have the old style) is clunky to operate but it works fine to get me where I need to be.

The bad:
They are right about the park lever. I often have to release it twice because it doesn't fully release. Not a big deal, a bit annoying.

I love the sound of my stereo but I'm not as positive about its operation. I wish I had bluetooth streaming, the USB port is very finicky about what type of drive you use and you can't use it with lossless files, and I would also like to be able to use the preset buttons for either sat or fm radio (vs. having to be in one mode or another). Also, like most convertibles, the digital display is completely unusable in direct sunlight (not that big a deal, I kind of expect that at this point).

I hate that the nav screen is not angled towards the driver and how much it looks like a last minute 'oops, we forget to engineer a nav system' add on.

The position of the control **** on a 6MT is problematic because there is very little clearance to get your hand between the shifter and the dash to manipulate the ****.

The rearview mirror has an auto-dim feature but the side mirrors don't. Seriously? Every car I have had in the past 15 years has had this feature, it's bizarre that the Aston does not.

No DRLs? I like having DRLs on my car and I wish the LEDs served this purpose. I think that it would look great and I happen to subscribe to the belief that DRLs are a safety enhancement. I assume this will trickle down from the virage at some point.

No bi-xenon option. As a review I read in C&D or MT a while back, "this car comes with halogens?" Seriously?

No auto sensor for the windshield wipers. I almost exclusively use my car during sunny days, but I have been caught in a few showers when passing from the south bay through San Fran en-route to other destinations. The lack of an auto-function is not that big a deal but still seems like an odd omission at this level.

Lots of minor things that I probably would not even think about them on a lesser vehicle . . . but it's hard to swallow lots of little compromises on a $160k car.

Yes, yes, I know that Aston is a boutique mfg and that is part of why I decided to join the family. But, the same can be said of Mclaren (admittedly a higher price point than the Vantage) and they seem to be able to do a much better job of keeping up with tech developments - heck, their dash even copies Aston's waterfall design and still manages to be loaded with modern tech.

Stunning good looks , great automotive engineering, and modern electronics; I don't think that's too much to ask at this price point.

 

The parking brake does not release, or the light just stays on after you release the brake? If the latter, it's just a false positive from the sensor. It can be fixed by driving slowly like 30 yards while pulling gently up on the hand brake while holding the button. This seems to shave off a bit of the surface causing the false positive.

 

I've never had an issue with the parking brake. Regarding the Sportshift shifting time, it's just like the 360/Gallardo and not like the F1 or the Scud. There is a little bit of delay and it's faster than you shift manual but it's not 458, M3 fast. You do lurch a little if you just hold the throttle steady through the shifts but if you modulate the throttle like you would with a manual, the shift is just as smooth if not smoother than a manual. It could definitely be better.
The electronics work fine. They aren't intuitive at first because it's different. Is it different in a bad way? I'd say no because I got everything setup fine. It's not BMW easy at first but once you get a feel for things it's fine. The GPS is just GPS with no bells and whistles. I personally don't care about zooming and all that other stuff because once I have it setup I rarely if ever touch it outside of putting in a destination and occasionally marking off a detour. It works, gets me from A to B.

In the end, I didn't buy an Aston Martin for the tech package. I bought it for the fit and finish, sound, subtle looks, and the perfect marriage (IMO) between performance and comfort. I can drive it 6 hours to a track, do a track weekend and drive home without needing an extra car, sweating to death because the A/C sucks, or wonder if I will ever get the feeling back in my rear because of the ride. The nav gets me there and brings me home and my wife even drives passenger without complaining. I couldn't ask for better.

 

Hmm, I hope the DBS replacement shifts faster, especially if there is no manual option.

 

Good question, it does not feel like it is physically engaged (i.e. I don't feel drag). So perhaps it is just an issue that the signal to tell the light to turn off is not being received.

I'm more deliberate when I release the brake now so this issue does not come up that often any more.