Hi Denver V8V, Thanks for the post, I am still on the hunt for the right car for me and it has certainly taken some turns. Due to the frustration I have had with the auto I had considered switching to a manual. I drove Avery nice early one the other day but it just isn't for me. Fortunately the 2012 MY13 (just a bit too expensive for my taste) I drove has restored my faith but finding one that I can justify the price on has been hardwork. I am looking real hard at a 2011 Vantage S at the moment and I am hoping it drives in auto as well as the MY13 with Sportshift II 7 Spd? The drag is I drove a 2014 S and it was as bad as the 09's & 10's I'd driven - that is in just boring drive mode! Curiously when I used the paddles it was awesome with non of the rubbish of having to back off the throttle with each change - just snappy and fast. 90+% of the time I am going to just want the cruise along in traffic and I don't want to be annoyed by slow drunk gear changes and the rest of the time I expect it to light up when you want it to drive like a true $100K+ Exotic sportscar. I understand your comments on the crawl mode and for me the hill hold on the later Sportshift II 7 Spd appeals to me. In part that is because I live in a reasonably hilly area and it makes sense to me with the odd handbrake. As I had mentioned in past posts I am fine with manuals but have 2 manual Sportscars and want the Vantage to be a prestige car first and a sport car car second. I would certainly welcome any thought you have as I think you have to have a passion for the Aston Martin badge to work through the quirks. There is a lot to love about them.

Regards Cobra66

 

@Denver V8V: Congrats on your purchase! I am still scouting around for the right car but haven't put much time in to my search recently due to other priorities.

I assume you got your car from an out of state dealer. Having a the full documented history is a big advantage so it's great yours had that. Again - congrats on your new ride!

 

I agree that passion is important for any exotic because they're all quirky in their own way and you have to compromise. If my budget would have allowed I would have seriously considered the 2011 V8V S as it was a nice car and the 7 speed sport shift was easy to use. However the colors on mine are way nicer than the silver and black of the 2011. Until my current V8V I've only driven standard manual shift sports cars and the advantage is clutch life. We'll see how it goes with mine as I try to be cognizant of my acceleration and shifting.
What I can tell you for sure is that I'm having a blast driving this car and it doesn't disappoint when you want to hit the gas and go. I need more experience with it to shift better and smoother, but my goodness, it goes.
Good luck and go with your heart, so far no regrets on my decision

 

Thank you. I found it in San Jose area of California. I was considering cars from all over, FL, TX, CO, OK, NC. This one showed up late on my radar and turned out to be the one. I was getting very close to making an offer on one in Houston when this one came up. Glad it did. Good luck as you'll find the right one

 

Hi Denver V8V, I might be able to call myself Aussie V8VS from this Friday. I am picking up a 2011 V8 Vantage S in Sydney. It is Meteorite Silver and in excellent condition with full service history and new clutch and brakes. Has 43,000ks or about 26,000 miles. It has been a long search and I did not have an S on the radar mainly due to the extra cash but one came up in the right zone and I guess it is always best to buy the best you can afford. The sills were a must and the carbon front spoiler and rear spliter make for a more modern styling. The extra few ponys aren't a huge deal but can't hurt. Even though I am unlikely to need the big brakes the 15" front rotors and 6 pot callipers are cool. About the only negative is don't really think the suspension needs to be any lower or stiffer. Tungsten Silver was my no1 pick but obviously Meteorite is growing on me. Conservative but elegant. I am looking forward to meeting the owner in person. I had a good friend and expert evaluate the car for me and I will be seeing for the first time on Friday and driving it back home over the weekend, calling in on some friends along the way - they will be getting a big surprise. To say I am looking forward to it is an understatement. It's about a 600 mile drive so I will be able to really get to get a relaxing feel for the car. I'll let you know how the drive goes!

Regards Cobra66

 

Congratulations and no question you will enjoy the ride. Early in my search I did test drive a 2011 S and liked it very much but it was above the budget I set. The right car eventually comes around and looks like you found it. I look forward to your photos of it and the description of your drive.
Have fun

 

Awesome, when I bought my car I drove it 450 miles home that night!

 

Hi again Denver V8V,

The trip home with the new hotrod is done and dusted. The highways in Australia are perpetually under roadworks because we never get them right in the first place but there are some good stretches that are a pleasure in between.

Picked up the car and all went ok, a bit of stress driving the new ride through heavy traffic out Sydney ahead of hitting the open road. About 200K's down the road hit the first problem with an engine light and Emission Control System Service required. Panic! But called the dealer and they said I could either turn around or continue, could be spark plugs, coils or O2 sponsors and it may clear itself as they are a bit temperamental???? The said the worst issue may be poor fuel economy but the car was running smoothly so I decided to continue. Not a great start!

Made my way to a friends place I had prearranged to stay with and we had a big night with many friends calling in to see the hotrod. Next morning hit the road and another 200k down the highway had a break and topped up the tank and hey presto the light disappeared!!! (Going back a step when I picked up the car the rear tailights had condensation in them-they reckoned it would be ok-facts very different). At the gas station a curious guy came up to admire the car and mentioned one of the tail lights was playing up and after a check also turned out the rear left brake light was dead. 1 up 1 down. This forum is full of the tail light condensation headaches.

Fortunately that's the end of the sorrows. Apart from the screwed taillight the rest of the drive home was great. It takes a while to learn the quirks of the car as you know. The main reason I even joined in the forum was my ongoing query on the sportshift and now I have an extended first hand view. The 7spd Sportshift II is considerably better than the 6 Spd and way ahead of the pre-4.7 2009's. From the cars I had driven I knew what to expect and from experience every car is different. My new S isn't the best I've driven, the MY13 non-S I had a test drive in was awesome but apart from the first change from 1st to 2nd which is a tad slow and happens very quickly in passive driving it is very close. Every other shift is great and the down shifts are actually clever. Paddle shifts are very good and even though I have not really let it off the chain that much it does not require letting off the throttle to gradbthe next gear (early one do), just gets it done and the harder you are going the better it is. While some of this might be more a PM kind of message hopefully anyone else having the same really big queries as I did about the Sportshift might find it useful.

The upside of the S is the handling, steering, extra trick interior and carbon fibre extras are great and those ridiculously huge front discs. Downside is on a long drive eventually the hard seats and suspension can begin to be a test on your butt. With a break every couple of hours it helps. I am not likely to do a trip that long in the next 12 months and probably only 1 really long trip in its life so no issue there really.

So is looking like new tai lights are my first pain but I am still pretty stoked with the car. I am sure that won't be the last.

Regards


Cobra66

 

Congrats. What a nice ride home even with the inconveniences. The emissions warning seems to be a universal issue as I had it too then went away after a couple of weeks of driving. I've posted my experience with this issue on this forum under the emissions warning light topic.

I agree that these cars are not great in traffic and meant for the road. Periodically as I drive here and there for fun I get stuck in Denver traffic and I'm sure the clutch is just wearing away ahead of itself.

So far we've had one decent drive of about 300 miles (480 KM) and have a much longer trip of about 500 + miles planned for early September. I've already put on over 1000 miles. This vehicle is way to much fun to just have it parked.

Enjoy your toy and fun drives.

Denver V8V