997S to AMV8

[whoami]

Am considering a change from the 997S to the AMV8. I was originally thinking of a Continental GT but feel that the V8 is closer in character to the 911.

What are the "must haves" on the option list and are there any colours considered to be less saleable at trade-in time.

The car I looked at today was black/black with sat nav, 19 inch alloys, stereo upgrade.

I really like Vertigo blue but these seem thin on the ground.

Cheers for any advice.

Edited by whoami on Sunday 11th February 23:24

[whoami]

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Thanks

[anonymous-user]

All I can say is buy what you want!

[Le Chef]

Loaded. I'm looking to get most of the options. Depending on exterior color I would get the bright metal grill, the 19" wheels, debadge, xenons, and the "mudflap" things behind the front fenders/whelarches. Upgraded stereo, heated seats, very reluctantly nav as it's a piece of crap, but it apparently can't be retrofitted and is deal-breaker for resale, and probably the battery conditioner.

Sadly AM are getting to the Satelite radio and MP3 player technology even later than Porsche, so no joy there.

I'm hoping before I put my order in for an 08MY roadster that they improve the nav, get rid of that horrible Mondeo ignition key, and fit a keyless remote system.

[chumley-warner]

whoami said:

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Thanks

I own both these cars now. Options for AMv8 should be 19" wheels, sat nav - irrespective of how good it is, heated seats, some form of prodrive upgrade, or exhaust upgrade for more torque would be good, if personal.

Uprated stereo is better, but still not very good.

[whoami]

chumley-warner said:

whoami said:

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

Thanks

I own both these cars now. Options for AMv8 should be 19" wheels, sat nav - irrespective of how good it is, heated seats, some form of prodrive upgrade, or exhaust upgrade for more torque would be good, if personal.

Uprated stereo is better, but still not very good.

Thanks for the advice Mr Chumley-Warner.

Any thoughts on colour, ie are there any "no-goes"?

How do you feel it compares to the 911?

Cheers

[chumley-warner]

One more thing - the 997 S feel to me like an almost exact halfway house between the AMv8 and the Conti GT only thing is the 997 is not a *special* place to be. Doesn't mean I don;t like it you understand

[chumley-warner]

whoami said:

Any thoughts on colour, ie are there any "no-goes"?

How do you feel it compares to the 911?

Cheers

911 feels faster coming out of a corner, AMv8 feels like you could chuck it into the same corner faster though - hence both my desire and many others here for more power lower down.

AMv8 feels a bit fragile, but I can't prove it and hope never to be able to.

The noise is no comparison, even in standard form.

The biggest difference and it depends on you if you want this:

When you drive down my high street in a 997S, I might as well be driving a van. When I drive in the Aston, you can lip-read the little boys mouths saying James Bond and even the girls look at it / you too. If you like the attention, its for you, if you want to park in multi-storey car parks on a Saturday night, it might not be.

The dealers tend to be much better appreciated too, whichever one you go to!

[bean455]

Dont do it!

[chumley-warner]

bean455 said:

Dont do it!

You do have to drive it a goodly amount to know if it is for you.

With regards colour, I think it is the same as most high value sports cars Silver, grey and black will be easier to re-sell, anything that is vaguely "individual" will not repay you come re-sale time, either inside or out, but it is *your* car, not the person you might sell it to.

Personally I don;t like the red, green (unlucky), washed out blue. Mines a safe Onyx black, with anthracite wheels and black interior. The wheel colour, some love and some don't love the anthracite.

If I could change one thing on my car (apart from the power upgrade), I would have contrast stitching on the black leather which looks great.

[Le Chef]

The irony of green is that it's the color of English race cars in the past. I don't remember Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar or Lotus being unlucky wearing British Racing Green...

I'm considering Mercury Silver for my Roadster spec, with either Sandstorm or Kestral interior. Might add in Parliament or Absynthe Green somewhere to pick up the exterior color.

[chumley-warner]

Le Chef said:

The irony of green is that it's the color of English race cars in the past. I don't remember Aston Martin, Bentley, Jaguar or Lotus being unlucky wearing British Racing Green...

I'm considering Mercury Silver for my Roadster spec, with either Sandstorm or Kestral interior. Might add in Parliament or Absynthe Green somewhere to pick up the exterior color.

yep - agree - trouble is I had a green VR6 Corrado and smashed it up three times in three years. Never again

[deakon]

Comparing a standard 997S to an AMV8. I driven both extensively and currently own a 2007 V8 (Mercury with Black Cherry). I have driven both on the track at speeds over 250km/h. The Porsche pulls more strongly out of the slower speed corners, it has a more upright driving position and better sightlines making it easier to drive fast the first time. The front wheels are easy to place. It corners flat with what feels like a reasonable balance that is until you get in the V8. The Aston is a more neutral car at the limit, it varies from slight understeer to moderate oversteer but is beautifuly balanced at mid-throttle in high speed turns. The Porsche is definitely more electronically managed and tends to much more understeer in standard setup. Both have less than perfect steering feel. The Porache is floaty at speed and has too abrupt kickback IMHO, the V8 is a little numb but is quite linear. I think the V8 has a higher limit in steady state cornering.
As far as fit and finish, here there is no comparison. The Porsche is all cheap plastic and doesn't feel worth the C$145,000 we Canadians have to pay for it. The Aston has lots and lots of leather and a lovely, solid feeling interior. There is quit a bit less wind noise in the Aston on the highway than the Porsche. One warning, almost everybody can find a comfortable posiiton in the Porsche seats but I have heard of a number of people who couldn't get settled in the Aston.

As far as options; 19 inch wheels, premium audio are definites, bright grill is good with dark colours and the heated seats, memory seats, GDO, cruise are your choice.
I wouldn't get sat nav or Bluetooth. Both are giving people nothing but problems and anyone who knows anything about these cars won't care about either so it won't affect resale. For instance if you sell the car in two or three years, the handheld GPS's will be so much better it will be a non-issue if the car has shit sat nav!

[whoami]

Thanks to all for the feedback.

Finall question: how do you find the gearchange when the car is cold?

[deakon]

The tranny is very stiff when cold (below 10 C) but is managable. I keep mine in a heated garage so it's a non-issue but 1-2 and getting into reverse can be a bit difficult at cold temperatures.

[whoami]

deakon said:

The tranny is very stiff when cold (below 10 C) but is managable. I keep mine in a heated garage so it's a non-issue but 1-2 and getting into reverse can be a bit difficult at cold temperatures.

Thank you sir.

[Dr S]

whoami said:

deakon said:

The tranny is very stiff when cold (below 10 C) but is managable. I keep mine in a heated garage so it's a non-issue but 1-2 and getting into reverse can be a bit difficult at cold temperatures.

Thank you sir.

Get the GT3-equivalent AMV8 which is supposed to be around the same price as the standard car and much more focused.

[Pugsey]

Dr S said:

whoami said:

deakon said:

The tranny is very stiff when cold (below 10 C) but is managable. I keep mine in a heated garage so it's a non-issue but 1-2 and getting into reverse can be a bit difficult at cold temperatures.

Thank you sir.

Get the GT3-equivalent AMV8 which is supposed to be around the same price as the standard car and much more focused.

Eh? This is a man who's also considered a CGT! The car you're talking about is a completely stripped out racer - much more so than the GT3 - and would be all but useless on road other than for driving to track days or Astons rumoured one make series. On top of all that it's still slower than the GT3.

[Pugsey]

whoami said:

Am considering a change from the 997S to the AMV8. I was originally thinking of a Continental GT but feel that the V8 is closer in character to the 911.

What are the "must haves" on the option list and are there any colours considered to be less saleable at trade-in time.

The car I looked at today was black/black with sat nav, 19 inch alloys, stereo upgrade.

I really like Vertigo blue but these seem thin on the ground.

Cheers for any advice.

Edited by whoami on Sunday 11th February 23:24

Do it. I made that change and enjoyed it. Life's to short not to try new things. Even if you end up moving on to something else at least you'll have 'been there done that' and have built up some good memories along the way. What have you got to loose? I've 'moved on' to a 997GT3 now but I'll be back in a V8 Roadster for the summer - see what I mean? Oh, the 1st to 2nd shift is utter rubbish when cold and never exactly slick at the best of times. It's going to be cured in the Roadster and 2008 model Coupe (Sept 07 onwards) apparently but believe me, when you're enjoying a drive in your V8 it's a small thing that won't spoil your day. One word of warning - if you're used to 997 traction out of corners be very careful in the wet in the Aston - you'll think it's crap for the first few hundred miles 'till you modify you're driving style!

Edited by Pugsey on Wednesday 14th February 09:48

[Dr S]

Pugsey said:

Dr S said:

whoami said:

deakon said:

The tranny is very stiff when cold (below 10 C) but is managable. I keep mine in a heated garage so it's a non-issue but 1-2 and getting into reverse can be a bit difficult at cold temperatures.

Thank you sir.

Get the GT3-equivalent AMV8 which is supposed to be around the same price as the standard car and much more focused.

Eh? This is a man who's also considered a CGT! The car you're talking about is a completely stripped out racer - much more so than the GT3 - and would be all but useless on road other than for driving to track days or Astons rumoured one make series. On top of all that it's still slower than the GT3.

Didn't look THAT stripped out to me...