Cars We Drive!

[sugarbutch]

Given that it's an AM, we also can't rule out that the car doesn't work.

¿Por que no los dos?

 

[HRoi]

Christ, so they still couldn’t get that car to work properly after, what, 10 years of development?? It’s taken so long that Adrian Newey was able to cut ties with AM, retire, unretire, and come back to AM in the time it took for this to get to market.

Hopefully at least it’s not sh!t when it does run…

 

[Dino944]

Christ, so they still couldn’t get that car to work properly after, what, 10 years of development?? It’s taken so long that Adrian Newey was able to cut ties with AM, retire, unretire, and come back to AM in the time it took for this to get to market.

Hopefully at least it’s not sh!t when it does run…

While I respect the brand's heritage, and they have made some good looking cars, back in 2022, I spent 3 days driving a modern Aston mostly out in the mountains. That was all the time I needed to see that modern Porsches handle better, have better transmissions, are better built, and are just far better all around cars! To be fair, I wasn't driving what Alonso was driving (or attempting to drive)...however, if unless I was buying a vintage Aston from the 1960s or a late 80's V8 X-pack car, I'd rather have a modern Porsche or a Ferrari over any modern Aston.

 

[Texasmade]

While I respect the brand's heritage, and they have made some good looking cars, back in 2022, I spent 3 days driving a modern Aston mostly out in the mountains. That was all the time I needed to see that modern Porsches handle better, have better transmissions, are better built, and are just far better all around cars! To be fair, I wasn't driving what Alonso was driving (or attempting to drive)...however, if unless I was buying a vintage Aston from the 1960s or a late 80's V8 X-pack car, I'd rather have a modern Porsche or a Ferrari over any modern Aston.

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that on pure performance Porsche is better. AM just looks better and feels way more unique and special compared to Porsche.

 

[sugarbutch]

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that on pure performance Porsche is better. AM just looks better and feels way more unique and special compared to Porsche.

I have a friend who is on Aston two (maybe three?), and he loves them.

 

[Dino944]

I'm pretty sure everyone agrees that on pure performance Porsche is better. AM just looks better and feels way more unique and special compared to Porsche.

Aston makes a pretty car, and it's less common, but I came away feeling it was really junky. It reminded me of the saying, you should never meet your heroes as they rarely live up to one's expectations.

 

[Texasmade]

Aston makes a pretty car, and it's less common, but I came away feeling it was really junky. It reminded me of the saying, you should never meet your heroes as they rarely live up to one's expectations.

Supposedly the newer AM are much better now. I've never seen or sat in an AM to really prove this.

 

[UnFacconable]

Supposedly the newer AM are much better now. I've never seen or sat in an AM to really prove this.

My friend has the last-gen Vantage and loves it. I've been in it for a few rides and it definitely feels more "special" than any 911 I've ever seen or been in, regardless of whether the 911 had customized vent slats, deviated stitching or seat belt colors.

One of the cringey things to me about the 911 enthusiast community is the focus on color choices and option customization. The justification for the 911 above all else is that it's a great driving car (that's well put together) but so much of the discussion is focused on the aesthetics for a car in which the aesthetics is decidedly secondary and below average for the class.

If I were in the market for a sports car, I would still be looking pretty heavily at Porsche, but I wouldn't be the guy on Reddit asking people to rate my 911 spec.

 

[Texasmade]

My friend has the last-gen Vantage and loves it. I've been in it for a few rides and it definitely feels more "special" than any 911 I've ever seen or been in, regardless of whether the 911 had customized vent slats, deviated stitching or seat belt colors.

One of the cringey things to me about the 911 enthusiast community is the focus on color choices and option customization. The justification for the 911 above all else is that it's a great driving car (that's well put together) but so much of the discussion is focused on the aesthetics for a car in which the aesthetics is decidedly secondary and below average for the class.

If I were in the market for a sports car, I would still be looking pretty heavily at Porsche, but I wouldn't be the guy on Reddit asking people to rate my 911 spec.

If I had $250k to drop on a car, my first choice would be Porsche Spyder RS without the Weissach package. I've been reading that allocations typically cost $50k at most dealers. Second choice would be the new AM Vantage. The only 911 I really like is the 992 GT3 touring but that's out of my $250k imaginary range.

 

[brokencycle]

My friend has the last-gen Vantage and loves it. I've been in it for a few rides and it definitely feels more "special" than any 911 I've ever seen or been in, regardless of whether the 911 had customized vent slats, deviated stitching or seat belt colors.

One of the cringey things to me about the 911 enthusiast community is the focus on color choices and option customization. The justification for the 911 above all else is that it's a great driving car (that's well put together) but so much of the discussion is focused on the aesthetics for a car in which the aesthetics is decidedly secondary and below average for the class.

If I were in the market for a sports car, I would still be looking pretty heavily at Porsche, but I wouldn't be the guy on Reddit asking people to rate my 911 spec.

Of course not, you should be there telling them it is the best spec. You don't need them to rate it: you need to post it to show them you have better taste than all of them.

 

[sugarbutch]

My friend has the last-gen Vantage and loves it. I've been in it for a few rides and it definitely feels more "special" than any 911 I've ever seen or been in, regardless of whether the 911 had customized vent slats, deviated stitching or seat belt colors.

One of the cringey things to me about the 911 enthusiast community is the focus on color choices and option customization. The justification for the 911 above all else is that it's a great driving car (that's well put together) but so much of the discussion is focused on the aesthetics for a car in which the aesthetics is decidedly secondary and below average for the class.

If I were in the market for a sports car, I would still be looking pretty heavily at Porsche, but I wouldn't be the guy on Reddit asking people to rate my 911 spec.

Ironically, this is the same sort of nonsense the American collector car market is notorious for. “It’s one of three 1972 coupes with blue vinyl door inserts, no AC, black letter tires, and quad pooper scoops!”

 

[jbarwick]

Nothing like meeting the older guy at the cars and coffee with a Porsche with carbon buckets raving about the cheap lumbar pillow he got off Amazon. I will admit, I only looked for cars with buckets though a cheap silver car was for sale at the time but HRoi talked me out of it.

 

[HRoi]

Astons have always been pretty but the current vibe amongst the journos I follow is that they’re finally (like literally this year with the new DB and Vantage) delivering on the driving experience. Apparently the credit goes to Lawrence Stroll, who, despite being a thoroughly odious individual, demanded that his new company “stop making sh!t”.

 

[UnFacconable]

Astons have always been pretty but the current vibe amongst the journos I follow is that they’re finally (like literally this year with the new DB and Vantage) delivering on the driving experience. Apparently the credit goes to Lawrence Stroll, who, despite being a thoroughly odious individual, demanded that his new company “stop making sh!t”.

I think it really depends on what your priorities are.

If you want to daily a sports car or (even occasionally) track one, I'm not sure a current Vantage (the car most likely to be cross-shopped with a Porsche) is your best bet.

I reckon most people are not driving their Porsches on track and aren't getting anywhere close to 10/10ths on public roads. The Vantage provides a lot of the drama that people are looking for, especially for a weekend car that maybe gets driven a few thousand miles per year. It's not just the logo, the interior feels more premium and special, even if someone might argue that there is some combination of premium Porsche options that would get you to a superior interior. Obviously there is no comparison on the exterior and no amount of decals, wheels, wings or brake caliber paint will change that.

Also, I know there is a lot of chatter about the recent refresh being a game-changer but it's still largely the same model that came out in 2018. My friend has looked at upgrading from his 2024 to the 2025 but didn't feel like it was a game-changer for him.

Weekend sports cars don't make sense for a lot of people (certainly not a use case I have) but I do think daily-ing a sports car is perfectly reasonable, especially for people with certain types of office commutes. That's where I think Porsche is the most obvious answer (in addition to people who track) but that is entirely based on specific assumptions around use case.

 

[HRoi]

If I had $250k to drop on a car, my first choice would be Porsche Spyder RS without the Weissach package. I've been reading that allocations typically cost $50k at most dealers.

Circling back to this, i agree that the SRS is pure magic. It’s almost criminal that they didn’t make it my utopia by offering it with a Manuel. It’s like the ‘07 Patriots winning every game of the season except the Superb Owl