Picked up my V8 today!
Discussion
After a 6 month wait (yes, I know most of you have been waiting much longer, but six months was plenty for me!), I picked up my V8 this afternoon from Al Habtoor Motors in Dubai. Basic spec is Mercury Silver, duo-tone Obsidian Black and Chancellor Red leather, red thick stitching, premium sound system and HID lights, no satnav, red brake calipers, and an uncorked exhaust. 
I don't have time to write much, spent the whole day driving and have an early meeting tomorrow...but here are some pics when I went to pick her up this afternoon. She drives beautifully and sounds incredible. I haven't driven a manual/standard car in more than five years, but after more than 100 miles of city driving in heavy traffic I only stalled her when reversing into my parking spot tonight.
Two other V8's (Tungsten Silver & some sort of metallic black), a Vanquish S, and a DB9 were also waiting to be picked up by their respective owners:
The red leather is actually darker than appears in these pictures because I had to use the flash. I'll take some tomorrow outside to get a better representation of this incredible combination:
I don't have time to write much, spent the whole day driving and have an early meeting tomorrow...but here are some pics when I went to pick her up this afternoon. She drives beautifully and sounds incredible. I haven't driven a manual/standard car in more than five years, but after more than 100 miles of city driving in heavy traffic I only stalled her when reversing into my parking spot tonight.
Two other V8's (Tungsten Silver & some sort of metallic black), a Vanquish S, and a DB9 were also waiting to be picked up by their respective owners:
The red leather is actually darker than appears in these pictures because I had to use the flash. I'll take some tomorrow outside to get a better representation of this incredible combination:
garyhun said:
Congratulations Jimmy, she looks lovely 
Corked or un-corked
we need some desert highway backdrops pics now
Shady...you really don't read very well do you
"....and an uncorked exhaust"
consider myself told orf. I must read all text before looking at nice pictures
I managed to take just a few more pictures yesterday before heading off on a business trip. These were taken in front of our warehouse parked next to my G55 which will shortly be for sale.
For some reason, they setup the car for short US-style license plates even though most cars in Dubai use European style long plates. After complaining they've agreed to swap the brackets when the car goes in for its first service.
Some general observations. I LOVE IT. Alright, I'll elaborate a little more. In the 24 hours I had with the car before coming to Bombay these are the main highlights of the ownership experience so far:
* The car looks wonderful, both inside and out. I've only noticed one minor fit & finish issue so far which is some missing beading on the hood/bonnet.
* I have been very good an not pushed hard yet, which is why I insisted on getting the exhaust "uncorked" before delivery. Makes quite a rumble now even at 3000-4000 RPM...can't wait to see what it does closer to the redline. I'm keeping the revs below 4500 and only using half-throttle until the first service...but even with those limitations I'm very impressed with the performance. Saying it's faster than my G55 doesn't really mean much, but it really does feel on par with my friends Ferrari 550 at speeds below 80 mph.
* Clutch and gearbox are "heavy" and after being stuck in a 1hr traffic jam my left leg was pretty tired, but I'll get used to that. When lived in California it was a common occurrence and I just considered it part of my daily exercise regiment. My normal driving routine avoids most traffic so it won't be a major problem for me...but if you do spend a lot of time in traffic then i would suggest having another car as a daily driver.
* I drove the car over 300km (180 miles) in the first 24 hours. Only experienced one problem which was with the air-conditioning. We've been having a bit of heat wave in Dubai, with near summer temps (36 C, mid 90's F) and while I was stuck in slow traffic for a while I noticed that the air coming out of the A/C vents was gradually getting warmer. Eventually the system was just blowing warm air from outside (don't think heater was on because normally you can smell that). After switching the whole system off for a while and then back on it started working fine. Not sure if it was user error or some problem with the car. I've also noticed that the interior temp sensor seems not to be calibrated because it always thinks its cooler inside than it really is. Anyway, not major issues since I mostly drive with the windows open to hear the roar coming out the back!
* The handling is incredible, and the position of the engine really does make a noticeable difference. I couldn't care less whether an experienced driver could take a Porsche 911 around a circuit a few tenths of a second faster, he certainly wouldn't have as big a grin as I do or my passengers!
* Premium sound system is incredible once you enable surround sound (Dolby ProLogic II) or 3.1 audio. I haven't listened to the standard system so I can't really compare, but the premium is on par with the incredible system on the newest Mercedes S-Class.
I'll post more observations and pictures once I get back from this trip.
-Jimmy.
For some reason, they setup the car for short US-style license plates even though most cars in Dubai use European style long plates. After complaining they've agreed to swap the brackets when the car goes in for its first service.
Some general observations. I LOVE IT.
Alright, I'll elaborate a little more. In the 24 hours I had with the car before coming to Bombay these are the main highlights of the ownership experience so far: * The car looks wonderful, both inside and out. I've only noticed one minor fit & finish issue so far which is some missing beading on the hood/bonnet.
* I have been very good an not pushed hard yet, which is why I insisted on getting the exhaust "uncorked" before delivery. Makes quite a rumble now even at 3000-4000 RPM...can't wait to see what it does closer to the redline. I'm keeping the revs below 4500 and only using half-throttle until the first service...but even with those limitations I'm very impressed with the performance. Saying it's faster than my G55 doesn't really mean much, but it really does feel on par with my friends Ferrari 550 at speeds below 80 mph.
* Clutch and gearbox are "heavy" and after being stuck in a 1hr traffic jam my left leg was pretty tired, but I'll get used to that. When lived in California it was a common occurrence and I just considered it part of my daily exercise regiment. My normal driving routine avoids most traffic so it won't be a major problem for me...but if you do spend a lot of time in traffic then i would suggest having another car as a daily driver.
* I drove the car over 300km (180 miles) in the first 24 hours. Only experienced one problem which was with the air-conditioning. We've been having a bit of heat wave in Dubai, with near summer temps (36 C, mid 90's F) and while I was stuck in slow traffic for a while I noticed that the air coming out of the A/C vents was gradually getting warmer. Eventually the system was just blowing warm air from outside (don't think heater was on because normally you can smell that). After switching the whole system off for a while and then back on it started working fine. Not sure if it was user error or some problem with the car. I've also noticed that the interior temp sensor seems not to be calibrated because it always thinks its cooler inside than it really is. Anyway, not major issues since I mostly drive with the windows open to hear the roar coming out the back!
* The handling is incredible, and the position of the engine really does make a noticeable difference. I couldn't care less whether an experienced driver could take a Porsche 911 around a circuit a few tenths of a second faster, he certainly wouldn't have as big a grin as I do or my passengers!
* Premium sound system is incredible once you enable surround sound (Dolby ProLogic II) or 3.1 audio. I haven't listened to the standard system so I can't really compare, but the premium is on par with the incredible system on the newest Mercedes S-Class.
I'll post more observations and pictures once I get back from this trip.
-Jimmy.
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