Hi all,

Im taking delivery of an 06' V8V, Tungsten, 6MT with 40K miles on Sunday. I feel truly blessed. This has been my dream car since it was introduced. I literally can't wait. Ive owned a Dodge Viper, Cadillac XLR, BMW 545 and none of them had me this exited. Im honored to be a part of this exclusive club.

That being said, Im thinking of having the car wrapped in 3M Black Matte, Ive seen a couple photos online and it looks just unreal. I also love the original look of the tungsten silver though. Does anyone here have any pics that might help me with my decision? Also, is it easy to maintain, wash etc.?

Thank you,

 

AK,

Welcome! Reading your post makes me giddy all over again. I will likely wrap my vehicle (because I was too dumb to get a clear bra and I use it as a daily driver) and I'm not ready to pay for a real paint job. Still deciding on color, but not matte.
Everyone is going to have their opinions....mine is that I don't care for matte on this car. I think the Vantage looks good in dark colors, white, and yellow. I also think the matte smooths away the curves of your car....and these curves are what make it look so great. On a SUV matte it's no big deal, but on an AM, it's downplaying the sexiest parts IMO.
I live in SoCal, and I see a lot of mid-range racers (VW, 3-series, subaru & even hummer) matte black wrapped so I think of it as not as bad as the stick-on side vents and spinning rims, but a higher class version of that. How's that for snobbish!
That being said, there is a video of a matte DB9 with silver lipstick that looks pretty damn tough. Sorry I don't have the link, but it's somewhere on this forum.
If you do go matte black, I hope it turns out to look great & please post pics.
Congrats again....enjoy!

 

I would agree with MFrankel.

Whatever film you decide on, you should give the guys at Premier in Fremont a call. They did a nice job wrapping my entire car. If you want to take a look a their work n person, send me a PM.

And congrats on your soon to be amazing ride!

 

Thanks Macsamus, I think Ill take you up on that offer. What color did they wrap your car? Do you have any pics?

 

Mine was wrapped in a clear bra. But to really appreciate the work you need to see it in person. The key is to avoid/minimize the number of seams. They did a great job using single pieces on almost every panel. They had to use 2 pieces for the trunk lid, but the way that hid that seam is pretty amazing.

PM me your email and I'll send pics.

 

I wouldn't do matte black. It's been so overdone that it's cliche. Also, as was mentioned above, it's often done on cheaper cars and it will only cheapen the look of your Aston. A different color may work in a matte, but just keep in mind that most are pretty conservative in their color choices for Astons and some will not react well if you go with a color that is too far off the beaten path.

 

I would avoid matte black. Its played out and the car gets hot as hell inside. What would look good and would protect the paint better would be to wrap it in matte paint protection film. It would give it a satin finish but the tungsten would still show through. I think it would be a very classy look for that car.

 

Keep in mind whenever you go the color change route, it will be vinyl. Vinyl does not hold up very well in the sun and over time (12-18 months), you will begin to see it fade. In addition, depending on how particular you are about your car, with colored vinyl, you will notice excessive orange peel texture....in other words, it will not look like paint up close. With these issues, this is why we do not install vinyl.

Also approach vinyl with care and pick out the company with the most experience. Otherwise, you face the real risk of razor cuts on your paint.

 

Matte does not do it for me. except perhaps a set of decals with a purpose.

 

Thanks guys for all the advice, I think Im going to take it and leave it the way it is for now. I did however decide on a local 06 V8V Black on Black instead of the silver. The only changes Im making is black grill and tint all around. Ill post pics soon as I take delivery tomorrow.

I did test drive it today and I can definitely understand why some complain about it missing some power. I can see that Im going to be doing some performance mods soon. 420-450BHP is where this car seems to belong.

 

^^^You can't put a stripe on an Aston, especially not a matte one!

 

Curious. I've been meaning to ask what has been the general reaction to your car since you got the stripes. I know you said you might only keep them on for a while and wondered if you'd get a lot of attention from boy racers.

 

Yeah, I've been meaning to post an update. I haven't had any problems like that. No one has pulled up next to me trying to race, etc. In fact, I really haven't noticed much of a difference in people's reactions to the car. The car still gets looks like it did before and people still come up to me to talk about the car as before, but it doesn't seem like this happens more often. So, happy to report that having a stripe hasn't ruined the owner experience.

 

Does that mean you're going to keep it for a while? What's the maintenance like?

 

I was tempted with a matte white wrap but decided on pearl white in the end.

Matt wraps have to carefully washed. More so then usual wraps.