After owning a 2015 Vantage GT and a 2017 V12S edition, I am finally back in another Vantage. I will admit that when the new car came out I was not that excited.
After a few years went by, I started to take notice and decided to take a closer look. Test driving any car only tells you so much. You really don’t get a true feel for its personality and driving dynamics. I thought I would share my experience and thoughts during my shopping and after actually purchasing one.
After test driving a few ,here were my initial take aways.

1. Build quality felt good. I did not notice any rattles or bugs in any of the cars I tested.
2. The motor is a torque monster and just pulls and pulls from any point in the rpm range. I really liked the way it felt to short shift it and just let that meaty torque pull you forward. The AMG power plant is sublime. These cars build speed in a very deceptive way. The Auto tranny is just fine. It’s not a PDK but it is good.
3. Steering. It felt a bit quick on the first few cars I drove. It felt good, just quicker than what I expected.
4. Braking felt good. I wanted Ceramics, but until I found the AMR edition, I did not see or drive any with Ceramic brakes.
5. Noise level of the interior felt good on all of the cars I drove. Road noise seemed less than what I recall on my last Vantage?
6. Visibility. Possibly goes to the previous generation ? It’s been a few years, so hard to say.
7. Styling.. I know, we all have mixed emotions about this. I told myself to remember back when Porsche changed from the old style to the new water cooled 996 generation. Everyone was up in arms. But it grew on all of us and we moved on with the new program. To me, seeing these cars up close is much better than in a picture. When I start to look at every detail and from every angle, I started to really like the new style body.

So, after driving a handful, I got a call from my local dealer on an AMR edition that came in. After seeing this car, that was it. I was all in. I really liked the color in contrast to the all the carbon exterior bits and also loved the interior with just a splash of color and lots of carbon.
After picking up the car I did a bit of highway time to get out to my favorite back roads. The first thing I thought was that this car is indeed a nice GT car and it might even be a car my wife would take a trip in. It was quiet, smooth and just a joy to leisurely drive down the open highway.
It took a bit to re train my brain to the dogleg 7 speed manual tranny. After a bit, I realized this box shifts really well and first gear is really not needed at all. I never felt the need to grab 7 ? Maybe out in the middle of West TX this might be something to exercise.
When I got to some of my familiar roads I then got to see what these new cars are all about. The turn in felt just right when pushing hard into corners. This is also when I started to realize the brilliance of the AMG motor. I was driving some small roads where the fun factor is in the 30 to 80 mph range and I pretty much only used two gears. I probably could have just left her in third gear the entire time. It pulls so well from down low and pulls hard all the way to redline.
The Ceramic brakes and pedal feel are spot on. Good job to Aston on the brakes. These brakes felt great, good pedal and feel and really strong bite when needed to scrub speed. Also very quiet. To me, they felt on par with the Porsche ceramics as far as pedal feel.
Spent the spirited part of the drive in track mode on the power and plus mode on the suspension and it was really impressive. Not as fast and frantic as my GT3 RS or Mclaren, but smooth , relaxed and controlled for a first real drive.
I would urge anyone to revisit this car as they are the used car bargain of the year in my opinion right now. If the next gen car goes up in price, ( which it might )

then I would say now is the time to grab one. Even if the new car has more HP, I say it does not matter, this car is fast enough in the real world of spirited driving on the street. For me, I don’t see this car doing any track days. I have other cars for that.
I am going to get a long road trip on schedule asap and enjoy the new Aston for what it is.. All new and amazingly effective as a GT/Sports car..

 

Congrats, a manual AMR is a great pick up!

 

Congrats, what a nice color combo plus manual icing on the cake. I have a 2020 but automatic. I drive in sport plus with the suspension on track. I think it's perfect for the street. These cars are a bargain now for the price point you can get them.

The power train is solid in these. Only thing that has come up on mine is random codes that flash but they go away. Just more annoying than anything. I think the AMR will be collectible in the future.

 

Beautiful car. I would hang on to that one, rare manual transmission, cc brakes, they won't be building them again.

 

Absolutely beautiful! Congrats!

 

I'm not an expert, but for those random codes, I suggest you change your 12V battery (easy DIY) and they should vanish, I had a similar problem with my 2019, changed my 12V last winter (guessing about a 3 yo battery) and all the error codes vanished - By all accounts, your car is about a year newer than mine and I replaced my 12V a little over a year ago--

Congrats to the OP, beautiful car! KH

 

I certainly missed it OP, but what exact AS model/extras does your car come with/ ? Great precise but not catching the details WRT model.....Thanks!