On the same day Aston announced their 50,000 pound liquor Road & Track panned the new Vantage:

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...antage-review/

Not sure if the $64,000 (USD) bottle was a left over from Andy Palmer days or the new founders are concentrating on stuff to be pissed away (literally) instead of fixing their car products, but I hope this was just something from the old 'Aston Martin' and not the new leadership.

 

Where was this test drive at in the middle of summer with 40* temps and winter tires? At least my stock is up this week regardless of this review. Top Gear will be testing one, wondering what they have to say in comparison.

 

For Bowmore I can see why. It's still a relatively small distillery. More boutique. Its Black Bowmore Last Cask 50 year old went for $25k retail in 2017 and now worth well over $50k. I could be wrong but Brandy Library in NY has that for about $3000 for a neat pour.

Though for a 31 year old whiskey maybe a tad bit expensive. But you have to factor in Glasstorm's work. They are that bespoke. Not like you can get even a glass in your local Saks, Neiman or Barneys (are they still around?). And of course the usual AM markup. I really doubt anyone buys this to drink. More as an investment/display piece and bragging rights along with a DB5. I can see why Stroll will have no problem with this collab.

re: R&T article, bit unfair to compare to AMG GT since we all know than the older tech got trickled down to AM as well and AM is not allowed to use dual clutch etc. Technically only AMG GT 4-door shares the same engine (M177). All other GT 2-door variants use M178. Vantage, though more nimble, is still more tame IMO.

 

Here’s a more positive one! https://www.automobilemag.com/news/2...ge-test-drive/

 

The up and down of the stock one can make money just buying and selling through out the month! A buddy of mine bought 40K shares and doesn't own an Aston. If it gets to $10 and he will & buy me a nice watch for the stock tip lol.

 

Who is this journalist, lots of suspect statements here including the classic transmission bash and dual clutch comparison.... Becoming standard tag line, however if you have any significant seat time in a dual clutch car you know it has its own flaws.

I have put more then 50k miles on PDK cars. Crisp feeling shifts no doubt but the latest variants hunt for gears and I can’t stand the way they are being programmed, you need to be in manual mode else car is constantly shifting up or down. By 15 mph the computer has already shifted to 7th gear and if you want to get in the power band you need to downshift 4 gears.

The trans in the latest Vantage is great, gives the car character and shifts plenty fast. The new 911 is great but they are starting to loose their sports car character and appeal shifter to more of a luxury car persona with all the latest tech.

When I had my 991.2 and Vantage in the garage and wanted to just go for a drive, I grabbed for the Vantage keys every time.

 

Hmmm... sounds suspiciously like the behaviour of most torque converter automatics these days, too, when left in default or economy mode.

I'm no particular fan of DCT either, but I don't think a torque converter automatic has any particular advantage in the scenario you put forward. With either of these trans, if you want to make decent forward progress in a predictable manner ie. revving and shifting how and when you want, you must take manual control. In that situation, DCT has a slight edge IMO, although the best ZF 8 speed shift times come pretty close nowadays. On the other hand, if just cruising around, the torque converter autos do indeed drive better than DCT, mainly because they are smoother and slur the shifts more.

 

the newer automatics are awful... needed for the CAFE ratings, especially in US. in my BMW I flashed a more updated EU software and shift points were better...

In my MB GLE, AMG transmission is 9 speed and left in its native state (default every time you start it) it's in 5th or 6th at 25 miles per hour...

using sport+ or manual lets the gearbox hold shift points... still need a throttle lag gizmo...I suspect the new Vantage/ AMG drivetrain has similar issues... hoping to drive the new Vantage later this month... hadn't had a chance yet...

 

A daily driver luxury car is one scenario where I get economy and keeping the car at low revs. A sports cars default mode should not be this way. I never find myself in no mans land quite like the 911 when letting the car do the shifting. I am very impressed with the ZF in these cars regardless of the type of driving and even coming from PDK cars I don’t consider it less superior.

The weak point of these cars is the suspension setup from the factory and the stock cushy Pzeros. A little negative camber adjustment and Michelin 4S tires transform the car.

 

Do you mind sharing final negative spec. And are you on stock springs?