AM V8 on Top Gear tonight - 8pm BBC2!
Discussion
So what do you reckon the outcome will be ? I mean, what will JC choose ?
The cars are an odd mix, i.e a Carrera S & an M6, as I suspect the AMV, whilst it will take orders from both camps, is not really the same kind of car as either.
Surely the Porsche will be a better 'sports' car, and the M6 a better 'GT' car, but as an overall package, hmmm.
My money says JC & the gang say they'll have the Aston, but not because it is better at either of the above things, but purely because its an Aston.
Which ain't a bad thing, don't get me wrong.
The cars are an odd mix, i.e a Carrera S & an M6, as I suspect the AMV, whilst it will take orders from both camps, is not really the same kind of car as either.
Surely the Porsche will be a better 'sports' car, and the M6 a better 'GT' car, but as an overall package, hmmm.
My money says JC & the gang say they'll have the Aston, but not because it is better at either of the above things, but purely because its an Aston.
Which ain't a bad thing, don't get me wrong.
stanwan said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
:J: said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
I can kind of see what they are getting at.
They said pretty much what I thought they would, i.e the Aston ain't as good a sports car as the Porsche, and it ain't as good a GT car as the BMW.
This did however seem rather 'too' letdown by it though, which would be a worry for prospective owners, especially as they said, at 80k its considerably more expensive than the 997.
Overall, I don't think it will make a huge amount of difference, as there are two types of people in this world. People who aspire to own a Porsche & those who despise them. The later is the people Aston will obviously get, and I suspect, will be quite happy doing so.
They said pretty much what I thought they would, i.e the Aston ain't as good a sports car as the Porsche, and it ain't as good a GT car as the BMW.
This did however seem rather 'too' letdown by it though, which would be a worry for prospective owners, especially as they said, at 80k its considerably more expensive than the 997.
Overall, I don't think it will make a huge amount of difference, as there are two types of people in this world. People who aspire to own a Porsche & those who despise them. The later is the people Aston will obviously get, and I suspect, will be quite happy doing so.
shadytree said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
Good point !!
shadytree said:Bad eggs or what??
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
Sorry chaps, the (albeit prettier) Aston lost.
GregE240 said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
Sorry chaps, the (albeit prettier) Aston lost.
Just making an observation Greg
. I would have put money on the Porsche being the quickest and better handling. Still sounds better , ner ner na ner na
!!!shadytree said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
excuses,excuses,excuses, look the Aston is a good car but it was built to take on the 911 and its come up short, and when you think that the carrera s costing 20k less beats it then the similarly priced 997 TURBO with 500 bhp will blow its doors off, I know you will say that the Aston is more exclusive than a carrera s and i would agree but Porsche will only sell 3-4k Turbos world wide per year with only about 1000 coming to the uk per year, so your more likely to see an AMV8 than you will a Turbo.
I'm sure the Aston is a fabulous ownership proposition but the DB9 remains the best route, imho: it has real balls, sounds equally sonorous and suits Aston's GT mantle better.
The phrase badge engineering was mentioned and this is becoming increasingly apparent from the burgeoning road tests and reviews generally.
£80k is simply taking the p1ss and you know what? I'd genuinely prefer a new Marcos, top line Noble or Sagaris for that exclusive, British hit.
(Indeed, if you catch JC's new vid, the Sagaris looks to be nothing short of staggering and frankly, I want one.)
The phrase badge engineering was mentioned and this is becoming increasingly apparent from the burgeoning road tests and reviews generally.
£80k is simply taking the p1ss and you know what? I'd genuinely prefer a new Marcos, top line Noble or Sagaris for that exclusive, British hit.
(Indeed, if you catch JC's new vid, the Sagaris looks to be nothing short of staggering and frankly, I want one.)
JP. said:
Oh well, porsche wins. AM have to try harder...
With how close the cars are now, I am sure if Aston had another 30 years to develop the car, it would easily beat a Porsche.
Also, when it came to the 'times', if Stig is who I have been told he is, then he races a 911, so again, not really suprised when he got it to go faster
I'm sure the Aston would have been closer if it had ceramic brakes as well.
excuses,excuses,excuses, look the Aston is a good car but it was built to take on the 911 and its come up short, and when you think that the carrera s costing 20k less beats it then the similarly priced 997 TURBO with 500 bhp will blow its doors off, I know you will say that the Aston is more exclusive than a carrera s and i would agree but Porsche will only sell 3-4k Turbos world wide per year with only about 1000 coming to the uk per year, so your more likely to see an AMV8 than you will a Turbo.
Great points and i agree with you. Just wondered where you get your "£20k less" figure from though. The difference is £13660 or £8311(with the porsche having ceramic brakes).
derestrictor said:I'm not sure I'd agree...
I'm sure the Aston is a fabulous ownership proposition but the DB9 remains the best route, imho: it has real balls, sounds equally sonorous and suits Aston's GT mantle better.
The phrase badge engineering was mentioned and this is becoming increasingly apparent from the burgeoning road tests and reviews generally.
£80k is simply taking the p1ss and you know what? I'd genuinely prefer a new Marcos, top line Noble or Sagaris for that exclusive, British hit.
(Indeed, if you catch JC's new vid, the Sagaris looks to be nothing short of staggering and frankly, I want one.)
I've still got a deposit down on a Sagaris (got carried away when they were unveiled 2 years ago 
), but for me it's not really what I want, and while it's better than my Tuscan in some areas, it's not as good in others. The AM V8 is another step up entirely though, and for me it is the ideal car - it's quick (maybe not as quick as a 911 - but who really cares?), comfortable, practical, stylish, well built, looks and sounds fantastic, and is British and an Aston. It may lose out to the 911, Noble etc... in some areas, but as an overall package I think it's unbeatable.
If I wanted to go and set times at the 'Ring, or take on everyone at track days, I'd be more concerned about how much time ceramic brakes will give, but if I was that fussed about driving the fastest car on the block, there are plenty of cars out there that would show most 911s a clean pair of heels.
Anyway, the more people who think it's too slow and cancel the orders the better - it means I get mine sooner
I can't believe the ceramic brakes make much difference to the 90 second test they had on screen last night. Their main benefit is in not overheating so quickly under very hard use, there is also the reduced weight benefit to handling. Driving as they were on last night's program in heavy rain, I don't think the M6 or AM V8 will have suffered brake problems. If the Stig is indeed used to racing 911s he will have been more at home pushing the the 911 in the wet over the other cars. It would have been interesting if they could have stayed around a while and got some timings on a dry road....... Timings of the cars hooning around the Ring with relevent test drivers at the wheel do not show the 911C2S 4% quicker than the M6 or the AM V8 Vantage.
The comments about the car being underpowered in comparison to it's peers shows a concerning misuse of the "Vantage" name IMHO. To me the Vantage name has always been the epitomy of the range with sledgehammer performance, the name shouldn't have been used for a standard model. I remember Rich1231 and myself at a Gaydon focus group 2/3 years ago saying 370/380bhp wouldn't be enough power to beat it's peers when it is launched. It's sad that we appear to have been proved right and the journos are picking up on this and forgetting the apparantly superb handling. Are AM going to launch a higher performance version at a later date?
DAZ
>> Edited by dazren on Monday 14th November 11:12
The comments about the car being underpowered in comparison to it's peers shows a concerning misuse of the "Vantage" name IMHO. To me the Vantage name has always been the epitomy of the range with sledgehammer performance, the name shouldn't have been used for a standard model. I remember Rich1231 and myself at a Gaydon focus group 2/3 years ago saying 370/380bhp wouldn't be enough power to beat it's peers when it is launched. It's sad that we appear to have been proved right and the journos are picking up on this and forgetting the apparantly superb handling. Are AM going to launch a higher performance version at a later date?
DAZ
>> Edited by dazren on Monday 14th November 11:12
I agree the Vantage tag is being devalued by this application: why could this car not have been labelled DB8?
As far as the times are concerned, there's always going to be debate concerning how genuine or otherwise the results might be: frankly, in the dry, on (B or A) road, I'd wager that M6 might be borderline unstoppable against these two but on a track, God knows.
Shady's DB9 remains my current favourite: it defines the creed of Aston perfectly.
Ulrich Bez is a German and should stop the uber niching.
As far as the times are concerned, there's always going to be debate concerning how genuine or otherwise the results might be: frankly, in the dry, on (B or A) road, I'd wager that M6 might be borderline unstoppable against these two but on a track, God knows.
Shady's DB9 remains my current favourite: it defines the creed of Aston perfectly.
Ulrich Bez is a German and should stop the uber niching.
i'm going along with Clarkson's decision. the V8 is so much more special than the other two, it makes a better noise, looks absolutely gorgeous and i guess it would be a sounder investment in the long term compared with that vulgar BMW. the 911 is so common now and i for one am sick of it winning every group test, and as Clarkson said no one will let you out of slip roads with either of those German cars. i think Aston has done well with the Vantage it has character and deserves to sell well.
Does anybody know from who or where you can actually buy a "standard" 911 from (even a Carerra S), sans options ?
From what I hear in the trade, should such a thing actually exist, then when it came to trade in time, you would experience great difficulty in actual selling the thing for anywhere near what the Trade Guides stipulate for a specced up 911.
So what it is isnt as fast as a 911 at 10/10ths ? Is that what an Aston is about ? Who would want a 911 in comparson to a V8 when said 911 looks like a £15,000 F plater & will in any event be made at a rate of 30,000 a year. Since the Aston is far more exlusive, far more elegant & sounds considerably better (& will in all probability retain its value better than the 997), cant really see what the debate is about.
As for the "Hamster" buying a 997 upon his return to the UK, would imagine thats more likely due to :
A), not being able to change gear in a V8 with his tiny paws,
B), because such an individual as him, who by his own admission would attend the opening of an envelope, is far more in keeping with the 911 demograph.
From what I hear in the trade, should such a thing actually exist, then when it came to trade in time, you would experience great difficulty in actual selling the thing for anywhere near what the Trade Guides stipulate for a specced up 911.
So what it is isnt as fast as a 911 at 10/10ths ? Is that what an Aston is about ? Who would want a 911 in comparson to a V8 when said 911 looks like a £15,000 F plater & will in any event be made at a rate of 30,000 a year. Since the Aston is far more exlusive, far more elegant & sounds considerably better (& will in all probability retain its value better than the 997), cant really see what the debate is about.
As for the "Hamster" buying a 997 upon his return to the UK, would imagine thats more likely due to :
A), not being able to change gear in a V8 with his tiny paws,
B), because such an individual as him, who by his own admission would attend the opening of an envelope, is far more in keeping with the 911 demograph.
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff