Clarkson on the new V8 Vantage.

Review

 

It was pretty cool how the first half of the review talked about something totally different, with a very tenuous tie between that and the car.

Still, good review. My wife wants one bad.

 

I went to an introductory event last week at the Behring auto museum. They had 3 of them inside, and a couple more in the courtyard. I liked what I saw, but I wonder if it won't have the same HP issue that Porsche has with the Cayman. 380 hp from a 4.3L V8 is not very aggressive, but I am sure they don't want it canabalizing the DB 9 sales. They say they are targeting Porsche buyers, but at 3650 pounds, it certainly isn't going to leave a Carrera in the dust, much less the TT that you could buy for the same money.

They promised to let me drive one in January-should be interesting!

 

Aston styling has been second to none with thier latest generation of cars beginning with the Vanquish

 

They're crappy!!! Astons look really nice and classy on the outisde, but they aren't really worth the money! I was about to buy a Vanquish S (which my cousin eventually bought), but I sure was glad I didnt buy it. It has the crappiest gearbox of any sports car I've driven, with extremely long lags in between gear shifts. Leather is nice & soft, luxurios, but after 2,000 km, it looks like its been driven for 100,000km. Now that my cousin installed the 20" Kahn Limited Edition wheels on it, it sure does look nice, but again, electronics, engine, and finishing is Ford quality. AC failed just after 1,000km.

The DB9 has a better, improved gear box with reduced lag in between shifts, but its still not too exciting. It is sort of an advanced version of the Vanquish, but for its price I can get a either a brand new 430, a 997TT with some money left over for toys, or BCGT Mulliner edition.

And by the way, the Vantage is already priced here in Kuwait supposedly around KD 37,000 ($125,000). Talk about markups, I thought the Vantage was supposed to be in the 997S range.