As a part of the Aston Martin "Ride & Drive Experience", I managed to get behind the wheel of the sexy Vantage coupe.

For event pictures go here:
http://www.germancarzone.com/more-eu...-roadster.html (Siko & Dad will test drive an AM V8 Vantage Roadster)


The Event:

Once you sign the waiver, you pretty much got carte blanche regarding the 30 minute test drive. The rep accompanying me suggested a route which I took.

The route included some city and inter-city highway driving.



My Test Car:

Specs

• 4.3 litre V8
• Maximum power: 283kW (380 bhp) @ 7300 rpm
• Maximum torque: 410Nm (302 lb.ft) @ 5000 rpm
• Maximum speed: 175 mph
• 0-100 km/h in 5.0 seconds

Options

• Tungsten Silver exterior colour (if I remember well ?!)
• Obsidian Black leather interior
• Piano Black interior trim
• Sportshift 6 speed clutch-less manual tranny

My Review:

Cockpit

The overall cockpit was simply amazing... pretty much perfect.

The interior design and ergonomics work extremely well. The seats were very comfortable, hugging you with great affection. The seating and steering position were top notch. But most importantly, quality and materials were insane! I mean the interior oozes of quality.


Acoustics

AM really went all out on the acoustics of the exhaust. The sound is marvellous. Especially around 4500 rpm where an additional roar kicks in! Great work!


Power and Performance

The car just goes. The V8 delivers power as nicely as the exhaust sings. Acceleration is great and the car feels light and nibble at all times.

The funny thing is that there was a short time of confusion. While on the highway, I downshift and gunned the throttle. With the car roaring I felt a great sense of speed... only I looked at the speed gauge and only saw 80 or 90. Same thing shortly after when I gunned it on the street from a standstill. Then it hit me, the cars had New Jersey plates... doh! So the speed was in MPH not in km/h! So I was actually going 130-140 km/h (in a 70 and then 50 zone) !

So yeah... the car is fast, damn fast.


Braking

Braking seemed to match the cars acceleration capabilities, although I didn't fully test the brakes.


Handling

Although I didn't have the opportunity to really push the car in terms of handling, the car seemed to be stuck to the ground at all times. By feel, the car seemed to have a very low centre of gravity and great balance.


Transmission

OK... this is where the car looses a bit. The tranny was a 6-speed clutch-less manual like SMG and DSG. According to AM, shifting is done in 200 ms.

It has 4 driving modes:

• Auto
• Manual (Paddle Shift Mode)
• Auto w/comfort mode
• Manual w/comfort mode

The comfort option essentially smoothens the gear shifting (slower shifts) and provides a rev lower-then-max rev limiter. Honestly I didn't a difference with or without, so it's a useless option in my mind.

In manual mode, the shifting is great and no more "rough" then a person driving stick. You feel the gear change but since I normally drive stick, it feelt the same (or probably a bit smoother). So no complaints here. Paddles were comfortably placed.

Manual mode was a 4/5.

Things get a little tarnished in auto mode. Gear change seemed harsher then in manual mode... as if the tranny changed gears either too early or too late. The gear change and gear confusion was accentuated if you have a tendency to hit the throttle hard and then letting go fast. So since I have a heavy foot, I found myself often rocking forward during gear change at low speeds. The only good I can draw out of the auto mode was during a brief drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic. At very low speeds with a gentle handle of the throttle, the tranny worked pretty well. I remember not really liking the 5er I drove with SMG, but honestly the SMG was a million times better in auto mode.

Auto mode was a 1/5.

What is really dumb is that you can easy burn the clutch according to the AM rep. If you are on a steep hill and let go of the brake without hitting the gas, the tranny engage the gear and since there's no throttle the car will stall and the clutch can be damaged.

I don't know how BMW & VAG deal with this scenario on their trannies ?!


The Verdict:

The car would be perfect... if it had the manual tranny.

Now I need to get behind the wheel of a 911S to be able to compare the AM to something.