Pics of my new daily driver :)

So it was a long winter and I had a lot of time to mull over my choices... I'll never give up my 911 but she needed a new playmate in the garage. I finally pulled the trigger and found her one: 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I'm feeling:

That's a beaut...drove a DB9 Convertible last November with the paddle shifters, loved it. Congrat's to you and your 911

Woweeee!!!

Congrats! I test drove the same color AM V8 Vantage with paddle shifters a couple of months ago and loved it. Sweet car.

Wow...that's a nice looking sled....looks like you borrowed the brakes from a 911 tt? Drive it lots, J

SWEET!

AWESOME!

Sex on wheels!

looks like a hatchback congrats man! i'd love to drive one and see how it goes

Good for you 007

best looking DB EVER~~~~!!!! congrats!~

Sweet! You suck...

Thats a sexy car! Congratulations!!

Sex on wheels mate ! Makes some real mean sounds right out of the box huh? My pcar dealer has Astons and I drool every time they fire one up to move it !

I test drove the Vantage last year and fell in love with it. Unlike you, I can't afford to keep the 911 and get the AM as well, and I am way too fond of my 996 to part with it right now. Many congrats and much envy going on over here! Michael

That's Bond....James Bond. Shaken, Not stirred !!!!

Rolling sculpture! Gorgeous. Enjoy.

Nice Garage Mate..

Very nice!!

Beauty, friend of mine just got one too, black on black, which looks much better IMHO, less "bonder"

I'm jealous - congratulations!!

Thanks for the nice comments, guys. I have to admit, I feel like I'm cheating on the P-car a little bit. I'm thinking about a suspension upgrade this summer to make it up to her...

I weighed a bunch of colors and narrowed it down to several shades of silver and a light metallic blue. I finally went with the heaviest metal flake silver. It's really insane the level of customization you can do on these cars. Paints, leathers, interior trims, headliners, stitching colors and sizes... Being that it's a 100% hand-assembled vehicle, you can request just about anything. It's a fun process. Black is actually the only color I don't like on the Astons. They had one at my dealer being prepped for delivery and it was just sad how much the dark paint hid the great lines of this car (which is, along with the sound, the very best thing about the new Vantage - IMHO). Even the employees were commenting on it. Sitting next to a lighter colored Vantage - they didn't even look like the same car. But to each his own. I hope your buddy is enjoying his as much as I am mine.

wow that thing is amazing i want one so bad but don't have the funds at the moment... your one lucky man

That is super cool, and I agree as well that you suck

Oh man! I had just gotten over the desire to buy the AM V8 Vantage when you posted your beautiful pictures yesterday and got me thinking about that car again. And then today out of the blue Dawne from Aston Martin of Tysons sends me an email informing me that she had just gotten some AM V8 Vantage Roadsters and that I should take one out for a drive. If my wallet ends up being 150 grand lighter it would be all your fault!

dude ! you suck... seriously great ride..

WOW. That is one beautiful, classy looking car. Nicely done.

Love your car. You are one lucky dude. That is one of the few cars that I would trade my p-car for. Enjoy!

so sweet....manual or paddles? I gotta convince the dad to get one of these.

Interesting, thats exactly what my friend says about his, that the lines dont show like it wouldave shown with a nice metallic blue, although he loves it.

This is the exact car I'm thinking of getting.... looks fantastic, let us know if you have any issues.

Can't believe no one's asked... how does it drive compared to the 911?

I have to agree you suck! Anyway wish I had one is my dream car but could never justify on a government salary. Not sure if you are single or not but that car has to be a babe magnet!

I love that car.

It's a good question, Ben. I'm probably not the best guy to answer this.. but I'll try. I don't track my cars and I would only classify myself as "mildy aggressive" in my driving habits. So take this with a grain of salt. There is no question that the AM is faster than my C4. But then again, they're both faster than 99% of the cars on the road and both have more speed than I'll ever use on a consistent basis so that's not really a deciding factor for me. The best I can tell you is that they feel REALLY different. I always tell people that I love driving my 911 because it feels like I could drive the thing straight up a brick wall. It feels so small and agile that it's almost like having a toy sometimes. I love it. And it feels even faster with the top down. My AM, on the other hand, feels much more muscular or maybe I should say aggressive. Part of that is probably the sound. This is really the best sounding car I have ever heard and even at lower speeds the sound is intoxicating. That alone makes the car feel even faster than it is and so much fun to drive. It's also feels a lot more aggressive at higher rpms than my Porsche. When I move through the gears in my 911, there is a very defined point when I really know it's time to shift to push the car ahead. On the AM, it ALWAYS feels like there is more power available no matter the gear or the rpm. The experience of pushing the car from 4k to 7k+ in 2nd, 3rd & 4th gear is incredible. That said, it doesn't feel as agile as my 911. And it feels quite a bit bigger (which is really isn't). What I really love about the AM is the great balance between performance and luxury. The interior of this car is much, much better then even the best 911's. It's not even close. And while the ride is very firm, I seem to notice the occassional bumpy road less because I'm wrapped in so damn much leather and comfort. It's neither the fastest car on the road, nor is it the most luxurious, but it's a really impressive balance of the two. All of that said, because the cars drive so differently, I have days when I crave both of them. And some mornings I've found myself standing in my garage really torn about what I want to drive that day. I hope I never have to give either of them up.

lol. I am single. And you are 100% correct. We all get the "thumbs up" and nice comments in our P-cars, but I was completely unprepared for the reaction the AM gets almost everywhere I go. Valets fight over who gets to park it. People roll down their windows and scream questions on the highway. I draw a crowd at almost every gas station. And yes, women are drawn to it like moths to the flame. I keep telling myself that I suddenly got even better looking... but, alas, it's probably the car...

Did you get the F1 paddle shifters? Do you have to give the valets a quick lesson on how to press the button to get it to reverse, etc.?

Very real-world observations, Greenwich. I think we have our fair share of track nerds on this forum who scoff at my 19s and my PSS9s being so low, but oh well. I never plan on tracking the car, but it doesn't take track fun to appreciate good engineering since it is ultimately a street car. So I can totally relate to your appreciation for the sound of the car and the inherent balance between performance and luxury. While I'm not a fan of the looks of the AMV8 at its price point, I would certainly be one of those giving you props on the road if I ever ran into you. Those Brits really seem to understand how to balance the qualitative with the quantative in street motoring. My favorite GT coupe is the Vanquish S and the soon to be released DB-S. I think they are by far the best looking coupes ever. And even in my humble C4S, I do enjoy the attn - the good kind of course and certainly wouldn't mind the addtional fanfare in the AM cars given how few there are out there. I'd love to see your car lowered on a set of quality 20" wheels. I think that would just about set it off. I wonder, though, if there are aftermarket exhaust offerings for it and would be curious to hear how that sounds.

This was actually the hardest decision I had to make (and it was also the very last one I made). I drove both of them several times. Every time I drove the paddle shifter, I came away going "wow, that's cool as hell". And then I'd drive the stick shift and I'd fall in love with the feeling of throwing the stick from gear to gear. In the end, I went with the stick shift and I'm glad I did. I really like to feel like I'm DRIVING my cars and the stick just felt more aggressive to me. I really could have gone either way. They were both great. Even so, I still have to explain things to the valets from time to time. They sometimes miss the dash mounted crystal to start the car because it's center mounted and it isn't real obvious as a start button. And the handbrake works completely differently. Twice I've actually had valets come into a restuarant to ask me how to operate it. If I'm surrounded by women, I always make sure to reply "Oh, you're having troubles with my ASTON MARTIN"? Hey, I'm 41 years old. We all need to use everything we've got!

I already have my name down for the new DBS with my dealer. I think it's going to be incredible and, if it's everything I think it's going to be, I want to be near the top of the list. I can't wait to see one in person. As for the exhaust, Quicksilver has a high-performance exhaust available (no dyno numbers released as of yet). I've been tempted, but I'd really like to hear one before I drop the $5k plus install cost. The sound is already so great I'm skeptical as to how much better they can make it.

Bro, you get that DBS in that dark gray matter color and you've suddenly turned into Bond himself. I saw the photos from a recent Evo issue and I gotta say... that thing is STRIKINGLY stunning. It's perfection.

I love the AMs...but wonder w/ the buyout what will the future will bring. If i had that cheddar laying around, it'd be on the top of my list as its much more unique than other cars in its price range.

I'm really excited about the buyout. The guys that bought it are really "car guys" and I have to believe that can only be good for AM. Time will tell.

Living in Greenwich, owning 6 killer cars and a Harley, AND single?? Can you adopt me - my wife and kids wouldn't mind, really!

Can you cook?

How hard was it to get used to the clutch's fairly high take off point? It was a bit disconcerting having just driven my 996 and then test driving the V8 Vantage. It felt like I was going to stall the car at every stop light (unless of course I was launching the car .) The saleswoman told me I would get used to it but I was wondering if it could be adjusted somehow. With the paddle shifters on sport mode the car felt just right. Even the auto mode was okay (I can see using this while I am cruising and drinking a macchiato ) but was a bit lurchy in DC stop-and-go traffic.

It wasn't a big issue for me and I got used to it within 100 miles. It is a little jarring when I go from driving the 911 for a few day then back to the AM (or vica versa) but I like both setups. They both seem to fit the car.

Good answer! I wish I had one.

+1

I will learn... Used to live on Shippan Point just down the street from you... got married in New Canaan. Great part of the country! And really, I will learn how to cook...!

Cook?? Single, living in Greenwhich, many nice cars, we'll be ordering out!