Here's mine at Laguna Seca:
Stock suspension and wheels.
Not-so-stock engine.
Great fun around corners. Flatter than the Jag Type-R behind me...
Not sure you can find a better all around car.

 

Depending on what you're looking for. Aston Martin is an exotic car company, they design and build cars for clients who are looking for something special in both character and finish. Little details matter. They sacrifice aspects of driving for style and content. It's a sports car, and I really like driving mine aggressively, but it's not optimized for that job.

Lotus builds sports cars. They're focused on function over form. They are focused on driver interaction and vehicle dynamics. The view from the driver's seat, the location, weight and feedback from the controls, the behavior of the chassis. This is why they focus so heavily on weight (mine is less than 2000 pounds). They provide amenities because they want to sell enough cars to stay afloat, but it's clear when you drive one that these are cars from people who just want to build interactive sports cars.

Aston sells to clients, Lotus sells to customers

I ran across this cool article after posting

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/opi...you-other-cars

 

I have been thinking more about the prospect of a 3rd car - a 2 door sports car that is exciting. It needs to raise the bar when it will share garage space with CTT and PGTS. Given it's purely for leisure, it needs to have strong emotional appeal. I have few topics where I would love to hear feedback

1. Exhaust note - I think (hopefully this is the majority opinion as well) that exhaust note adds so much to sports car experience. It is an important ingredient of emotional appeal. Then,
a. 911 is considered to be quintessential sports car. Why couldn't Porsche make their exhaust something to be proud about? Infact my PGTS scores higher in this regard than 911 4S, Turbo
b. AMG is known for their exhaust. I test drove AMG GT. While it is loud, it's not very exciting. Furthermore, the car feels fast in a straight line like a muscle car. In some aspect, the thrill of sports car experience is lacking
c. What do Ferraris, Astons do to make their exhaust a thing of beauty? Sounds like this is both art and science.

2. Maintenance - I understand Astons have $1500/year annual maintenance. And clutch replacement of $6000 every 15K miles. Plus oil, fluids, brakes, tyres replacement depending on use. Is this accurate? I saw some Youtube videos about similar maintenance overhead of Ferrari F430, 458, California

3. V12 Vantage vs Ferrari 458 - let's say you can buy either. But you are extremely picky about maintenance costs because they take the fun away, cause pain. And makes you wonder whether your love of sports car is so much to bear pain of dealer visits, long repair times, unpredictability of repairs. Would the maintenance costs be the same? Would you rather have 458?

4. Same topic as #3. Would you rather buy a 2013+ California (important refreshes happened here and still NA V8), or F430?

5. Future is electric - The auto market would transition to electric. The change is inevitable. What would be the definition of electric sports car in the absence of sounds? It's like a movie with no soundtrack. Can such movies be enjoyable? Surely as a family sedan/SUV, they make a lot of sense. However, the market needs to develop more with enough products to choose from.

 

Smart EV companies will use sound, like the new electric Harley - just a very different sound. I had a 2009 CTS-V which seemed far slower than my 2007 V8 Vantage yet we all know it was quicker - why? No noise. When I traded it in, the dealer taking it on trade was impressed, but said it felt like a very quick 'couch'. I think Aston is smart with support of the electric Lagonda - hopefully they don't allow the DB11 and Vantage designers to have any input and give it an exciting sound.

 

1) Natural aspiration definitely helps exhausts sound better, other than that... don't know
2) you don't need to change your clutch every 15k miles assuming you aren't an idiot and know how to drive a manual transmission... some folks here have had their last 90k miles... there can be issues sometimes with the automanual though, and i know reversing up hill can burn it out due to the long nature of reverse gears pre 2012 i think... the $1500 annual maintenance would cover your oil and most fluids, just not tires, obviously
3) I would love a 458 but realize that maintenance is probably going to be far more expensive than even a v12 vantage. The v12 vantage is likely going to be more reliable as well
4) F430 over california for sure...
5) I don't care about electric cars for being sporty, i'll use them as commuter cars and keep my gassers around for fun

 

Well what did you end up getting? I'm looking at the same cars (Vantage V12/V8), AMG GTS, Evora 400. Trying to predict what prices will do in next six months but who know.