yes - angle from top photo is beautiful

 

Interesting how people think differently. Those of you who have a New Vantage and love it, I'm truly happy for you. I've had my '09 V8V (manual Sports Pack Coupe) from new. I wanted to like the new one. I really did. It didn't happen. To be clear, I think it's a truly excellent modern sports car. IMO, however, the previous car -- the VH Vantage -- is a vastly better Aston Martin.

Some say the “handshake with AMG saved AM.” IMO, that utterly destroys AM. For me, an Aston Martinmust have an Aston Martin engine.That the AMG engine is a great engine is entirely beside the point. It belongs in an AMG car. Someone else’s engine doesn’t belong under the hood of an Aston Martin. It’s an absolute, non-negotiable deal-breaker. Would a Ferrari be a Ferrari with an AMG engine?Of course not. It’s no different with Aston Martin.

Regarding how good to drive the cars are, as I said, I think the new Vantage is an excellent modern sports car. Yet for me, the old car is a far better drive. That it isn’t as fast is a given, but IMO it’s plenty fast enough (how often can you really use all of its performance on the road), so even faster doesn’t matter as much to me as other things. IMO, the VH Vantage is so much more tactile, so much more involving. The difference in steering feel, for example, is massive – there is much more information coming through the wheel of the old car with its superb hydraulically-assisted steering. I also prefer the sound of the NA V8 in the old car – by a huge margin.

Looks are entirely subjective. But there’s a reason the VH Vantage is on basically every list of the world’s best-looking cars. The new car isn’t…

To each his own, as always.

 

2 thumbs up. totally. my car, my choice. I'll keep mine for long time. being in car industry for last 30+ years, drove so many, but my aston still makes me turn my head when I park, still want to look at it again & again. really don't care how fast or how it turns the corners,........................... if I want to go faster or tighter corner I'll jump in to my other cars...
other side of the coin.. whatever makes you happy, go with that... absolutely.

 

Same as you guys, my 09 Vantage coupe manual was my dream car and let me tell you it doesn't disappoint as most dream car posters. It's a keeper for sure

 

Some would argue the The AM V8 is a fancied up AJV8.

 

I agree with a lot of this although I am less of a purist than you and would be OK with a borrowed engine if it was the only way for AM to survive. However, I (subjectively) prefer the looks of the previous gen, also don't particularly care about numbers performance (I have faster cars in the garage for that) and care a lot more about subjective aspects of the experience (steering feel, manual transmission feel, handling balance, quality of materials, etc...). That said, the one thing on engine that is a deal breaker for me is farts and pops in the exhaust. I HATE that recent trend (which I think AMG had a lot to do with popularizing) and can't stand it. I much prefer my older cars before this became a thing and have gone to great lengths and expense to minimize it in my one modern turbo sports car (992 Carrera S) that sadly has suffered from this awful fad. I have had a lot of custom software development to try to eradicate the farts and crackles and they are almost fully gone but I can still hear them a little some times and it drives me nuts. I'll probably end up selling that car for that reason but wish I could replace it with something new and fun that doesn't have this issue but it seems to have fully contaminated all manufacturers these days.

That all said, I'm really glad that there are big fans of the current lineup because I am rooting for Aston's success as much as possible!

 

I think that the new astons don't have the classic aston look any more, and to be honest I was a bit sad about that. Feels way more mainstream now, too aggressive, too lamborghini.

I consider an aston to be a gentlemans car, not a 30-something year old trustfund kid car. Now I'm afraid that it's going to be like Audi. You always know there is a ******** behind the wheel on those. But we'll see how it plays out.

However. There is no doubt that aston really needed an upgrade in many ways. To the ill-informed buyer, aston had really nothing going for it beside the looks. It was not the fastest or even close, it was not the best handling car, not the most practical, not the most comfortable, not the most reliable etc etc etc.. Many people I know never even considered an aston when they went car shopping.
And that's no way to get customers.

Going with AMG was probably the right call, but a piece of the aston soul was lost in the process.

But that's just my feelings. I'm a slow driver and rarely push my Vantage, if I did I might have a different opinion. If I want to go fast through corners I take my Husqvarna instead.

 

I would've much rather have seen a Cosworth tweaked Ford Coyote V8 instead. We all know that Mercedes will eventually buyout AML once they are profitable or pass the accounting muster to buy. Mercedes doesn't own a luxury marque (not counting Maybach) that BMW and VW already have them in their portfolios. This future goal of Mercedes is I bet the genesis of going with AMG.

AM could've expanded manufacture of engines in Ford plant like they are doing now with V12's to a new gen V8.

 

Some would. I wouldn't, unsurprisingly. Aston's V8 has its own unique block, crank, conrods, bearings, pistons, rings, heads, cams, valves, cam drive, dry sump, intake, exhaust, etc. -- essentially everything is bespoke to the Aston engine. That makes it an Aston Martin engine to me. See how reasonable I am

 

I agree it's likely that Mercedes will buy Aston. That will be THE END of Aston Martin in any meaningful way. Mercedes has ZERO appreciation or understanding of what makes an Aston Martin an Aston Martin. Look at their history of dealing with other marques. Look at what they did to Maybach. First they "revived" it with a glorified and gaudy-fied S-Class. Now it's merely a trim level. "Astons" will become shared-platform/engined badge-engineered Benzes. That would be an automotive tragedy.

 

What other marques beyond Maybach did they do this to?

 

The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren wasn't a bad car, but it wasn't much of a McLaren. By most accounts, McLaren was not happy with how that "collaboration" went. The whole Chrysler "merger of equals" thing was a complete mess. Remember the Dodge "Mercedes" Sprinter vans? That Mercedes put its own name and 3-pointed star on Dodge Sprinters, not to mention the barely believable plummeting of Mercedes' own quality standards, shows how little respect they had for their own name. I shudder to think what they'd do with Aston Martin.

 

Is that why more women bought the Vanquish and DB9 than Vantage? Sounds like a sexist assertion to me. Are there sales figure to support this?

 

I know woman who has a Vantage S sports shift, DB11 & DB9, but likes the Vantage S the most. Go figure.

 

There's the old 6speed that I used to love . . .
I was glad to see someone post about being happy with their new car, but also knew that it wouldn't take long for folks to "yuck his yum" . . . Truthfully, it took longer than I expected
Carry on-- KH