Trading in 360 for Aston Martin

Drive one first.

I test drove the v8 Vantage recenty and its a completely different car to the 360. Firstly it feels much more AMG Merc than a high performance sports. A little to subdued for my tastes, dare I say it boring.

Its definately a good replacement for your every day driver (such as BMW or Merc) but it really is no substitue to the Ferrari. Also hated the Volvo Sat nav and too much Ford group parts in the interior didn't make it feel special enough. Good everyday car.

 

I've always wanted to check out/drive an AM V8 Vantage ('06-'08) ever since seeing Jeremy Clarkson's review on Top Gear. Thought of getting one of those, or a supercharged C6 Z06, or an '04-'06 Gallardo 6-speed, to accompany my 360. Love the looks and sound, but it would have to be a manual only. Last winter I saw a burgundy one, with a creme leather interior and 6-speed, that was absolutely gorgeous. Of course, the new V12 Vantage is a huge improvement but the price is astronomical.

Post your thoughts on it after some seat time, I'm interested to hear V8 Vantage opinions from a fellow 360 owner.

 

A beautiful car, but I have to ask- what are the many aspects that are similar to a 360? I think they are 2 very different cars... (GT vs more of a go kart sportscar), but maybe I'm wrong?

 

+1 - No soul IMO. Several local guys here did the same thing and sold it quickly thereafter. Graet car dor DD replacement but not a Ferrari IMO

 

I owned a V8 Vantage and comparing the 2 is not possible. They are totally different.

Vantage is beautiful and sounds great. Great car for impressing the girls and the valet, but that's about it.

 

Doing WHAT?? Are you INSANE?

An Aston is on par with a Maserati or a Mercedes AMG, a step above a BMW M, but not a true sports car. It's a nice sporty car, but... not the same thing as a 360.

Now that being said, if what you want is a sporty but comfy car, be honest with yourself. But then by all means also consider a Maserati, SL63AMG or even a California.

Tom

 

Tom your post is spot on with what I was thinking but didn't say since I've never driven an Aston. I think the only car that could compare to the ferrari to me is the lamborghini- there is nothing wrong with the aston if that is the direction Ray wants to go to, but it's a different kind of car so the decision to get something a little softer/less "soulful" should have been made before doing this trade

 

Do not do this. The car is great like everyone said for DD, but thats about it. Its super boring to drive around for fun. Trust me I drove one for sometime. The car is only great for show. Its very heavy in feeling, visibility is not the best since it has a HUGE dash. The car feels like your in 5 star hotel, but not a race car. I enjoy a BMW M6 more than the Vantage even though the Vantage is way nicer looking.

 

Aston is awesome but it's not the level of the ferrari 360, it's more on the level of the maserati gransport/granturismo.. which is not a bad thing.. still an exotic and awesome car

but it would be the DD with the ferrari 360 still as the higher end choice...

 

Definitely drive one first. You may not like it afterwards. I've not driven the V12 Vantage but assume it's mainly just more powerful than the V8 Vantage I did drive. Honestly, after the drive, the V8 Vantage is a lot closer to my M3 than a 360. As others have said, it's more of a GT (and no doubt more practical) than mid-engine supercar. I also have driven big engine Mercs and the feel was similar to the A-M. As for concerns about the 458 making the 360 look old, that no doubt will happen, but consider that to most people, including me, almost every A-M looks like every other one. Those same people usually think 360s and 430s are the same car, too, but I'd rather they have that "mistake" than the A-M one.

 

I actually think the 458 looks much closer to the 360 then 430.. I don't see how the 458 would make the 360 look old

 

I have had a variety of Ferraris, Prosches, etc. and thought the BEAUTIFUL Vantage could be a fun next car.

Had heard a DB9 and LOVED the sound.

Then I drove the Vantage had encountered to game breakers:

1. I found the upswept doorsills and the way the door opened slightly cantilevered up awkward.

2. While the sound is awesome when you're on it, it seems like an electronic value that opens completely disconnected from both your gas pedal foot and the rpm gauge, weird. A real disconnect from the driving experience.

I still have the 360 and love it.

Haven't driven the DB9 yet. However, if it does NOT have these issues, it will be my next car.

No Vantage for me!

 

I love to drive my brother's DB9. It has a great 12 cil sound ant high revs. Very comfort car but I feel older on it. In the other hand the 360 is very more aggressive in look, moves and sound.

 

Love the looks of the AM Vantage. Drove one briefly and it was not particularly impressive (kind of soft performance and plastic feel to it), maybe the Vanquish or DB9S would be better. What about a 575, about the same class of car but more of a hooked in feel. I sold my 360 and got a new M3 which lets me have an engaging dailey driver at less than half the cost (I bought 360 at MSRP used). I do miss the Ferrari, but the BMW is entertaining.

 

Better drive one as it feels very slow compared to a 430 or turbo 911! I assume the same compared to the 360!

 

An overwhelming response of stay away, I felt the same way. Had an opportunity to get a 2009 Vantage spider and fora very fair price and passed, bought an 2003 360 spider for the same $ and am in heaven!

 

DONT do it.......you will be bored

 

AM is a rebadged Jag.

 

I do have to ask did you recently have a birthday as the only reason someone could or would go from a 360 to an aston is they are feeling older and BORING. Truly un impressive experience looks sweet but thats it Be careful its an expensive mistake

 

I've owned a 360 and a 07 Vantage at the same time and I also have a newer 09 Vantage.

For me, the Vantage was a daily driver. It was fantastic in that it's classy, understated but elegant and still exotic, had a gorgeous interior, and a great sound system. I didn't love the car in a way that made me worry about it which was great- I parked it pretty much anywhere and put 33k miles on it.

The Ferrari was my weekend car. It was fun and exciting. But to be fair to the Vantage, when my 360 was stock, it wasn't half as exciting as it turned out to be after I installed a Capristo and high-flow cats.

The 09 Vantage is a MUCH improved car over the 07 Vantage- it's quicker, steers better, etc.

Both are great cars so you can't go wrong.

 

Not true. That was the AM DB7.

If your going to go for a Vantage don't fanny around with the early v8's, or even the later 4.7. You must go for the v12 Vantage! Thats the one to have, it has far more fun factor, proof that the chassis could aways handle more power, AM made it a muscle car and carved out a position where it truely became an object of fun/desirability.

Sure the v12 vantage has got softly set up suspension, lots of creature comforts [hence my AMG Merc comments] but at least its fun, which sadly the v8 just isn't [in comparison to 360/430 anyway]. The v8 vantage always lacked the firepower and with the smooth chassis it felt iodyne. With the extra power the car comes alive. Totally different proposition and the only one in the range of Vantage cars that I'd not hesitate to recommend as being 'fun'.

 

Perhaps you can add the N24 to that list. Basically a V8 vantage with everything ripped out (a good 250kgs lighter), more powers, roll cage, pneumatic jacks and best of all, 6 speed manual ONLY! You can drive it onto Silverstone for the britcar 24h race with zero modifications.

 

I have driven every current Aston, and no they are not in my opinion sports cars, but I think some of comments here are just a bit unfair. Astons a pretty good drivers cars for a GT car, and the feeling you get driving a gearshift DBS is not unlike the feeling you get driving a Ferrari. I have been waiting and still am for gearshift DBS prices to drop to what I want to pay for the car, and once they do, I'm getting one. Sometimes the raw sports car thing gets old comfort is nice to have.