- Messages
- 21,242
After a 6-year long, happy and mutually fulfiling relationship with a stunning 2009 GTS it was time to move on. As the children aren't children any more and don't really come out with Mrs Crud and me very much, a two-seater was a possibility. At least, according to me.
Anyway, after a huge amount of pondering, surfing Autotrader, twatting about on Internet and YouTube and mooching round car showrooms I finally decided to find that it was time to buy British and eventually settled on an Aston V12 Vantage S, which I collected yesterday from Leicester. Being used to the melodios tunes of a x-piped GTS, I needed to make sure that the new Brit could be equally tuneful, so I hoofed straight across to Bamford Rose in the heart of the Cotswolds and they swapped out the secondary cats for straight through pipes and I fitted a remote switch for the exhaust valves.
Verdict? After driving from Leicester to Shipston-on-Stour to Cheltenham, Gloucester and then home to the badlands of Essex I have concluded that ******* ****, this thing is incredible and the noise is outrageous. It sounds exactly like a GT12, mostly because the exhaust system is the same (only mine isn't titanium). The traction control is wonderful - it lets you find a decent amount of mischief before stepping in, and when you're giving it the beans the traction light is flickering merrily, a lot. The steering is a dream and even this half-wit can place the car really easily. The brakes are a revelation, post GTS, but take an alarming moment to do much when you're driving in the pouring rain.
It looks like this and I think it's fantastic. Happily it also seems to look good when it's filthy.
It ain't no Maser, but I still love it.
Anyway, after a huge amount of pondering, surfing Autotrader, twatting about on Internet and YouTube and mooching round car showrooms I finally decided to find that it was time to buy British and eventually settled on an Aston V12 Vantage S, which I collected yesterday from Leicester. Being used to the melodios tunes of a x-piped GTS, I needed to make sure that the new Brit could be equally tuneful, so I hoofed straight across to Bamford Rose in the heart of the Cotswolds and they swapped out the secondary cats for straight through pipes and I fitted a remote switch for the exhaust valves.
Verdict? After driving from Leicester to Shipston-on-Stour to Cheltenham, Gloucester and then home to the badlands of Essex I have concluded that ******* ****, this thing is incredible and the noise is outrageous. It sounds exactly like a GT12, mostly because the exhaust system is the same (only mine isn't titanium). The traction control is wonderful - it lets you find a decent amount of mischief before stepping in, and when you're giving it the beans the traction light is flickering merrily, a lot. The steering is a dream and even this half-wit can place the car really easily. The brakes are a revelation, post GTS, but take an alarming moment to do much when you're driving in the pouring rain.
It looks like this and I think it's fantastic. Happily it also seems to look good when it's filthy.
It ain't no Maser, but I still love it.