2nd best day- drove a AstonMartin V8Vantage - tech-upd. 1.2.
 

Today was my 2nd best (car related) day ever !

edit, full report and pics. I'm happy to share my impressions with you guys, still blown away from this drive :D


BEFORE
http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Dsc07636800.jpg


AFTER
http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Dsc07663800.jpg




edit


arriving with my Seat, the V8 was already parked infront of the showroom... what a beautiful car :shock:
http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Dsc07626.jpg

many of you will remember, that I liked the yellow one from Geneva05 very much ("young"-"sportif"- "Lambo-rival")
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/2...10182pv.th.jpg

but IMO this darkblue color is just perfect to this car with the tan-brown- leather inside :drool:
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/282/v...uren9sk.th.jpg (thanks Wutputt for the pic :wink:)

the design of the car is anyway to die for, the shape, the rims, the head-n-rear light ... :love:
a combination of elegance and racing


Cockpit
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/975...kpit4rb.th.jpg
taken from AM homepage, go to http://www.astonmartin.com/thegallery/brochures for all details

the interiour is, as you can expect from AM, top quality; simple, but clear intruments, awesome illumination of the instruments, a quite big middle part with cd-player, Nav.system, as you can see in the picture above, and of course, the START ENGINE button


Sitting in the car, one has a good overview, the seat are sportif tight. The view out of the windows is surprisingly good, you have a very good field of view towards the side, the back-side windows gives you enough view to see any car next to you. Looking thru the middle-mirror, you see enough what's going on behind you.
But you don't see the front end or the back end of the car, so parking could be tricky if not used to the dimensions of the car -
but who cares about parking this car :roll:


let's go !!
the dealer told me that they openend the valve-flaps in the exhaust to have a proper sound also from low revs on :good:
Since the testdrive was on normal road (f.king Zürich has installed houndreds of radars in the city -arrrrg- -> 50km/h in town, 120km/h on the highway was the max. speed :bah:) no high acceleration, high revs

So, starting the engine was cool but as the whole car, some british understatement is in it ( compared to the marvellous start-up of a Gallardo SE or Murci), but one is aware of the power...
btw, the Power-Beauty-Soul on the display appeared -> see TopGear episode, where JC complained about :lol:

first, we drove out of the city, stop-n-go traffic.
The car is very easy to drive in the city traffic, it's a 6gear manual car btw, the gears are very smooth, no problem with the clutch
because of the cold weather, the gearchange was a little tricky at the beginning, but changing from 1 into 4th gear by mistake at a low speed was fine

from this point of view, the V8 is an all-day car for sure! one can cruise at low revs, the seats are confortable, in-style-cruising :)


then, we followed a curved road, where suddenly, we passed a Mercedes SLR :wink: , probabely coming back from a testdrive, because their showroom is very close. It's the first one I saw drivign in the while btw :wink: the color was standard, silver-grey (to answer vakpemil's question in the thread)

Driving up this road, I was able to push the car a little more :D
Now, the "racing" attitude appears :love:

The set-up of the car is the best I've driven so far, the steering is direct, agile, the suspension is "hard" enough to let you feel the road. You can take the corner very precise while you hear the beautiful sound of the V8 engine.
I haven't driven many sportscars, but the handling of the V8 is impressive :D , IMO they did a good job with midmounted front engine, the transaxle gearbox and the stiff Aluminium body
I didn't even came near the full capacity of the car, it's pure pleasure to drive in the open raod with this car :drool::drool::drool::drool::drool::drool:

compared to the Lambos, which hamlet and I drove in Frankfurt:
well, the lambos are pure sportscar, every thing (from the start-up) to the alcantara-steering wheel) can be described: flat, wide, aggressive, powerful, loud - like a bull
of course, the Lambos have more power (520hp for the SE, 580hp for the Murci) than the V8 with still 380hp, but also the rest of the car is sports-oriented. Well,the Gallardo can be seen as an allday car, the Murci not.

The V8Vantage however is both, and it's not a all a bad compromise.
IMO the engineers managed to built a car which can be driven all day and for many hundreds of miles, but still it's a proper sportscar!
I engine could be stronger, most probabely there will be a more powerful version in the future...
The V8Vantage can be discribed: stylish, agile, exclusiv, understatement



:bah: very soon, the next village arrived and via the highway we drove back to where we started.
I had the intention to stop somewhere to shoot a sereis of pictures, but at the beginning I was focused on the driving and towards the end, we drove on the highway :?

So the only pics I have can be seen below, IMO this car is a beauty :love:, the color suits perfect...

all I need is 170k CHF :drool:





Enjoy the picture :D

before, :P
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/661...76247ix.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/138...76329zg.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/525...76360rm.th.jpg

after, :D
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/568...76993wf.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/705...76424fu.th.jpghttp://img56.imageshack.us/img56/853...77656jh.th.jpg:drool:


the car
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/669...76456aj.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/191...76638nv.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/270...76618nr.th.jpg

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/237...77015nq.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/908...76388bp.th.jpghttp://img56.imageshack.us/img56/113/dsc076952wl.th.jpg


details
http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Dsc07672b800.jpg
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/240...76937of.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/833...76540xg.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/165...76579yu.th.jpg

http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/421/dsc076767oq.th.jpghttp://img85.imageshack.us/img85/219...76656gl.th.jpghttp://img56.imageshack.us/img56/286...76720ub.th.jpg

logo
http://images6.theimagehosting.com/Dsc07657logo800.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/340...logo6nj.th.jpg

EDIT: 2.2.06

to answer the questions you guys asked:

1. the color is called "midnight blue" :love:
2. the rims/tyres are the winterset for the V8Vantage in 18"



8)

I guessed it from your siagnature, and already congrats!! Very nice shade of blue too! I am starting to see AMV8 on a regular basis in Geneva (well, went there twice in the last two week and saw two of them LOL), and in the wild it's a damn nice machine!

I hope you were able to stop in a nice location to take some quick shots ;)

wow, looks stunning in that color :shock:
must've been a great test drive. I assume a salesman was with you, but did you get a chance to do some hard accelerations and hard cornering?

The best color combo for a V8 IMO. I am waiting for more soon mate :wink:

Amazing pictures! The AM V8 vantage is stunning!

lol, another teaser, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :lol:

will comment when i see the whole thing 8) :mrgreen:

EDIT

ˇˇ :lol:

You drove it yourself??? :P

That car looks damn good, and your pictures are awesome! Can't wait to hear the details & see more pics. :D

Gorgeous car - still nice and rare round here though 8)

A fantastic 2nd pic - can't wait to see the rest, and hear more driving impressions from you too :D

AMV8 looks great, looking forward to more pics

What a car, I once saw one a couple months back in bordeau but it looked awefull next to a dark blue Vanquish, just like this one actually. But it must have been the color because I loe the looks of this car.

That colour is perfect for it, I love it!!! :D

Congrats on the drive, can't wait for details.

Congrats stmoritzer ... you are one lucky bastard! I absolutely love this car, and everytime I see it I like it even more...I really can't wait to see it in real life.

Lucky guy..... Lucky guy!!! This car is so perfect...! The lines.... :drool: so sophisticated!

Congrats stmoritzer for your exclusive AMV8 test drive ! :clap:

When I saw Hamlet here in Québec he spoke to me a lot about your mutual best (car related) day ever. When you have a gentleman attitude with exotic car dealers you can get sometimes very exclusive surprise. :wink:

The teaser pix looks really good and I like the color of the AMV8 with the tan interior. :good:

I'm anxious to see the rest of your pictures ! :wink:

Thats an exclusive ride you had! Plus an SLR in the wild 8) must be a great day for you! Looking forward to see the pictures. What color had the SLR?

Emil Frey in Zurich Altstetten?

cheerio,
iwan

Looking forward to the rest of the pictures mate, will we be seeing this car in your garage soon then??? :mrgreen:

congrats on the ride in the AMV8. I had a similar experience last week, I was test driving an NSX and an SLR pulled up next to me at the light but I had to turn. (Sorry no pics I don't carry a camera with me at work, especially when driving a customers car)

BUMP , report ready :D


unfortunately not :bah:

not really



:D


right, we call it the "in style relationship"

standard silver


:good:


if I get 170k CHF from somewhere, then YES!

report finally up :D

great, I will read every word when I come back from work :wink:

I just thought (as TT) that you will take it to some nice location and take some beautie pickies :( never mind, pics from dealership counts aswell :D

Thank you mate, I hope you enjoyed every bit of this beautiful car!!!

Finally! Great mate! :D Your really lucky, hope I will have one's the oppertunenty to drive such a car, altrough an SL AMG is also nice :D

love that car but i dont really like the front lamps. dont know why :roll:

I had the intention and also the dealer was open to a quick stop, but in the industry area, where the dealer is, there is no nice place to shoot, afterwards on the curved road, I was focused on the driving and didn't wanted to stop 5 min after the start :bah:
Too bad, most of the way back was on the highway and no nice location until the end :?
ALso no modern buildign where one could place the car in the driveway,...
this car would have been great to make a indepth shooting ...

what a beast, and with that color it looks just beautiful!!! that's the one i would choose.

good report, seems that you really enjoyed your ride, sadly without pushing it really hard. but it's clear, in Zurich City region it's hard to find a good spot to go fast (damn flashlights). i actually never saw one on the street, i'm wondering how it sounds in real life...

thx for your impressions, hope to read from another ride soon!

btw, i really expect to see you soon with that beast, the 170k is no reason :D

Thanks for sharing with us, and too bad you had no time for some proper pics, but I was expecting it: it's sure cooler to drive it than taking pics (even if I think I would rather take pics than drive it LMAO)

Again, it looks stunning and you are bloody lucky!

:drool: with you, thanks for the report, i enjoyed it every bit 8)

As for the SLR, i hope you will have a test dive with it :P if possible

thanks for the stuff :D

That is one nice looking car... I really wish I could drive that car.. On topgear it sounded just Gorgeous.

You are a very lucky person to drive that beast.. And thanks for the great pix..

Now you've posted the story, one thing pops in my mind. How have you been able to arrange a testdrive with such a car?

Nice story btw!! Imagine chasing that SLR on a winding road with the AMV8 :D

Thanks a lot for the full report! The pictures are really great! 8)

Lucky guy! !!!!! :wink:

The color appears to be very cool but those wheels don't fit very well in the car.

It's the first AMV8 I see with different wheels than the stock ones. But I rather prefer the wheels we saw on the V8 Vantage concept, I don't know why they changed them :roll: :x

that must have been goosebump invoking, getting to drive that piece of machinery :D too bad about all the radar cameras keeping you honest on the speed :( i'm sure the torque must be insane.

Nice shots you collected of it. It's a shame you couldn't get any on the drive itself. Thanks for the review!

congrats on the drive, im extremely jealous dude. btw, that blue on the car is stunning.

hmmm, SLR, dream!
Probabely I'll see the guys from Maybach-SLR next WE during the Polo tournament in StMoritz, but the SLR is another league, don't think I'll ever have the chance to drive it, but one can still deam :wink:



I guess the AMV8 has no chance against the shark SLR

How did I got the opportunity?
Well, I showed up several times, did some pictures (also at the annual Classic Car Meeting), went there again to bring them some photos I did...
half a year ago I was invited to see the local presentation of the yellow-AMV8, ... and one day, I got the a letter inviting me to drive the AMV8 :D

IMO, to be honest is the way to get something, it will never work to tell them, "my father will buy me that car, can I have a testdrive, blablabla..."
show your interest in the car, be polite, maybe show them some of your pics and one day, they will make you a "present"



Me too, like the ones on the yellow AMV8 pic more,
maybe these are the wintertyre rims?

Dreams die last :| .... but still you drove baby aston martin, better than me i even didnt saw it :wink:

Polo....you can talk to them, if they can give you a ride :lol:

First of all congrats with the test drive! The dark blue suits the AMV8 well, but I think there are even better colours for the AMV8. This blue is perfect though for a Vanquish S. I also notice it has the wheels of the DB7 GT. Are those optional or did they installed them on the car cause they had to change the tires quickly?

Thanks for the impressions. It really seems not only a beautiful car to have, but also a really nice car to drive in daily traffic and on winding roads. You're also the first non-journalist AMV8 test driving guy I've heard who didn't complain about the feel of speed of this new Aston Martin. The two impressions I've heard/red about the AMV8 from regular people both mentioned the fact that the car doesn't feel as fast as it goes after you've floored it a couple of times. Once the novelty has worn off, it seems like the car isn’t going as fast as it should. But maybe those guys are too much used to the turbo boost of the 996TT :)

about the tyres, I don't know.

well, I couldn't push the car too much, public roads :bah:, so I never went above 5000rpm (of ~8000rpm max)
Further I guess these guys shouldn't compare the Baby Aston (which is the the less powerful car of all AM) with the 996TT being one of the top-powered cars of Porsche....
I'm sure, there will be a more powerful version in a few years , a "S" version :wink:

I love this car and it'S the first time I see it in these deepblue color. :shock:
really really amazig! The best Aston I've ever seen!
Thanks for the pics!

I have build date for december this year for my V8. Do you by any chance remember the exterior color name? I agree with everyone that it truly is a awesome color combination on this car. Were the wheels an option or after market, in the USA only the 18/19 inch wheels seen in the brochure were the only available, but I like the wheels on the one you drove.

Jay

Amazing color! Congrats.

I emailed the dealer and got following answer:

1. the color is called "midnight blue"
2. the rims/tyres are the winter-set for the V8Vantage in 18"

I checked the brochure, there are 10spoke rims as standard ones and optional, the 7 spoke rims as shown on the brochure, never saw the 10spoke rims so far ...
http://www.astonmartin.com/thegallery/brochures

nice car the best about them is that awesome soundtrack you can here it from 2 miles away cool car m8!!!!