Carbon bucket seats in DB12

[christof]

Does anybody own a DB12 with the beautiful carbon bucket seats?

They are stunning, and I was wondering how it can be lived with on a daily basis.
I find them surprisingly comfortable but getting in and out is not as easy in the Vantage because of the DB12's wider and deeper side sills.
I'm also wondering if they suit the character of the DB12?

Thoughts?

[AlexT]

I've ordered my Vantage specifically without them Christof. The reasons are twofold: a) although surprisingly not uncomfortable, I was seeking maximum comfort plus the CF seats are a bit of a pain to get in and out of and b) I feel they suit the character of a Mclaren or Lambo better. Both manufacturers which I considered over the years in my hunt for a new built-to-order car but ultimately could not offer what I was after.

AM seem to be really pushing the racy, track-orientated character to their base (as opposed to special editions) cars of late. Perhaps leveraging from F1 representation (you can see this by the way they really promote their green paintwork on demos and in their magazine etc). Personally, if I wanted a track-focused car then AM wouldn't be first on my list.

But it is YOUR car and the beauty with AM is the number of options available to customise your car to your personal desires.

The carbon fibre seats do represent reasonable value given the equivalent aftermarket options I've seen and as you mention they are beautiful.

[atrossity]

I spec’d carbon seats in my DB12, which I've had for 10 months and ~3500 miles now. I love them.

Good points:

• They look great.
• They are definitely comfortable enough for long-distance GT driving.
• They have all the adjustability I need. Back/forward is manually adjusted (fine by me!). Up/down and back tilt is electric.
• They are heated (seat and back). Nice and toasty.
• They definitely wrap your body in them and keep you centred around fast corners.
• They are lightweight. I have carbon roof and ceramic brakes as well – dropping those kgs.
• Being thinner, they give a bit more space to occupants in the back than other seat options (I've had a trip with two men in front two wives in back – they were fine.)

Could-be-better points:

• I've found a way to get in and out without hamstring discomfort. I kind of put my leg foot down next to car with my foot pointing directly away from car, then sit back and twist into the seat, leaning my shoulder against the door pillar to some degree. Awkward, but it works.
• You can't rest your arms against the outer sides of the seats due to the hardness. Usually not that big a deal, but sometimes I've found that's the way my body wants to be for a while, and I can't do it.
• They do not support cooling like the comfort seats (oh well).
• You may get the odd comment from some authoritarian purist telling you that carbon in a DB/GT is wrong and you "shouldn't" do it. But if you're anything like me, your reaction would be to say "just you watch me" :-P

[Jon39]

atrossity said:

Sorry about my cheap joke, but couldn't resist.

I notice that your wife/lady friend, is holding her back.
Is she saying, "Oh, what a pleasure to stand up. Those carbon seats give me back ache"?

[atrossity]

Jon39 said:

Sorry about my cheap joke, but couldn't resist.

I notice that your wife/lady friend, is holding her back.
Is she saying, "Oh, what a pleasure to stand up. Those carbon seats give me back ache"?

Ha! It was quite a long drive up to that point. I think sitting down for a long while in mostly any car makes you want to stretch out when you finally stand up. If the seats were specifically hurting her back, believe me she would let me know!

She is definitely not a fan of the "getting in and out" issue with the carbon seats, making sure to declare "ow!" every time : )

[christof]

These carbon bucket seats (and your car) are looking absolutely stunning.

Alex,
AM got me with the Podium Green spec on their demo Vantages.
If I‘m ordering the Vantage, it will be in Podium Green, carbon roof, lime green livery (my own design, as the Q pricing is insane) and carbon bucket seats. It also will get a V5 KW suspension to sort out the ride and handling issues. It will be a more track focused car.

Apparently the Podium Green Vantages selling very well in the second hand market. I‘ve seen 3 so far and they all have been sold within 1-2 weeks with around 8-10% depreciation, while all other Vantages haven‘t been sold so far.

DB12 sales on the second hand market are pretty slow over here in Germany, 50(!!!) are listed since weeks with 1 have been sold recently.

So far I prefer the DB12 by looks and road presence and loved the carbon bucket seats in the Vantage I‘ve tested.
Therefore my idea to combine these together.

Not sure if the carbon buckets in a DB12 will help the resale value.

My heart says go for the Aluminte Silver DB12 with carbon buckets, but my brain says get the Podium Green Vantage for the driving dynamics and the resale value.

And if this isn‘t driving my crazy enough, Ferrari will launch the Roma successor in a few weeks.

All first world problems, life isn‘t easy at the moment ;-)

Let‘s wait for NVIDIA earnings this week, these might pay for my depreciation concerns :-)

Edited by christof on Tuesday 19th November 11:38

[atrossity]

Tough choices.

My dealer has a podium green Vantage that I was looking at last week - it's a striking colour on that car for sure. It has a great interior as well – so much better than the previous Vantage.

My hunch reason for the slow DB12 second-hand market is the large range of low-mileage DBSS and DB11 options available for half the price or less, including V12 versions. If you're getting second-hand, a DB12 may be hard to justify. Things could be different in a year or two when the DB12 drops more.

While the Vantage is more track-focused, I wouldn't say it has a huge margin over the DB12. They have the same engine after all, with the DB12 getting more HP out of it. In Sport+, the DB12 is an absolute beast, but you also get the 2+2 GT if you want. But I know what you mean – the Vantage is built to be thrown around a track, the DB12 is not. Get one of each!

If I could change one thing about my DB12, it would be to the make the exhaust sound better. All modern cars suffer from that due to regulation. I saw recently that Quicksilver has a new DB12 exhaust...