It may not be the quickest of exotic sports cars, but the 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage has a great many gifts to go along with its stunning good looks.
Being beautiful can get you far in life. It can get you a free drink at a bar or your family a reality show on E! For the 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, being beautiful can also help you get noticed when a variety of less expensive rivals boast more thrilling performance and sharper handling.
That's not to say the Vantage is talentless -- far from it -- but this isn't a car you buy based on the merits presented in a spec sheet or generated at a test track. It's about a car that'll make you place a chair in your garage just to stare at it. It's about a car that still draws admiring glances even after six years on the market. It's about a car built in limited numbers to your exact specification. It's about a car with a cabin lined in sumptuous leather that makes you feel as if you're driving something truly special. And truth be told, you are.
For 2012, the Vantage gets a little more special. The automated manual transmission, quicker steering, bigger brakes and wider tires from the last year's new Vantage S model are now standard across the board and make for a sharper driver's car. For extra power and more aggressive suspension tuning, you still have to step up to the Vantage S or the V12 Vantage (discussed in a separate review). Other changes this year include a subtle styling update you'd be lucky to notice and a new, much improved navigation system.
The question, of course, is whether this special car is worth almost $26,000 more than the new Porsche 911 Carrera S, which matches the V8 Vantage in terms of acceleration and blows it away through corners. The Audi R8 is blessed with similar dynamic advantages, for roughly the same price as the Aston.
But there we go talking about specs, facts and which car transmits the most information through its steering wheel. Truth be told, we're comparing and contrasting varying degrees of awesome. At this price point, the question is really: "Does the 2012 Aston Martin V8 Vantage excite you more than a 911, R8, Maserati Gran Turismo or Jaguar XKR?" Ultimately, you'll weigh any number of factors, but there's no doubt the answer will be based to some degree on character, style, and yes, beauty. If nothing else, the Aston Martin Vantage will forever have an abundance of all three.
price by almost £6000.
No comments:
Post a Comment