I have a friend who owns a 2011 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. He claims that "the Aston Martin is a superior handling car as compared to my F-Type R Coupe". He's gotten under my skin with that comment. I have searched the Internet for a comparison of the two vehicles, but cannot find anything.
Anyone have any information or comments on my friend's statement?

 

http://fastestlaps.com/cars/jaguar_f-type_r_coupe_2014.html

 

I toyed with the idea of the Vantage GT instead of the F-Type R. But ultimately you have to remember the Vantage is a very old platform. I think it's basically a 10 year old car. They are just trying to milk the last years out of it. Inevitably, the newer platform will win. I think also the tranny on the Vantage is horrible. Think that was its biggest knock, just absolute horrible transmission. All that said, I'm still a big fan of the Astons. Saw a Vanquish the other day. WOW.

 

Hahaha, you should brush your buddy aside as a nut case. Even better, if you can drive well on the track take him out for a challenge. I am not aware of a single metric on the V8 Vantage (or the S) that even comes close to competing with the F-Type R.
Horsepower? 420 vs. 550
Torque? 346 vs. 502
Transmission? 6-speed vs. 8 speed...some manual enthusiasts might jump in here and say its a manual, its also a shitty manual, and from a performance perspective the manuals just don't compete anymore.
Gas mileage? 19/13 vs 23/16
0-60 times? Lets put it this way, the V-12 vantage is slower to 60 (at 3.7) than the Jaguar F-Type R
Nurburgring lap times? 8:03 vs 7:39. I have read that the N430 spec of this car (N for Nurburgring) lapped in under 8 minutes but have not found the exact time...my assumption since Aston did not state the time that it was likely 7:59, the only published number I found is 8:03
The only possible advantage? weight, 3595 vs 3638, a measily 43 Lbs...

 

Wanted an Aston for years and almost came close to pulling the trigger on a 2014 Vantage S before settling on the F Type.

The Aston has the F Type beat for brand prestige and, I'd probably have to accept, design. They make absolutely beautiful cars, they have a great brand and they have a great image.

The F wins out in pretty much every other category.

 

Aston Vantage is a sweet car but on last review, it was ranked 3rd while 911 came 2nd and V8S came first

see a great view by Chris Harris


Jaguar F-Type squares off against Porsche 911, Aston V8 Vantage with Chris Harris - Autoblog

 

You'd be in the minority in thinking that the Vantage has the F-Type beat on design. Don't get me wrong, the Vantage is a beautiful car, but the F-Type Coupe is being hailed by most as the most beautiful car this decade.

 

I prefer the front of the Vantage but the rear of the F-Type. Very similar cars. Like arguing which super model is hotter. Guess it depends if you are a boob man or an *** man.

Vantage V12 S



F-Type R

 

We will all have our opinions on individual models, but overall Aston design does beat out Jaguar design - and if we're asking what the majority would think, then I suspect they would agree. That's no slam on the cars we all own, they are beautiful. Aston design remains some of the best in the business (albeit what is underneath is a generation or two out of date). For everything else, the Jag wins. Faster, better handling, and better sounding.

 

......and who is Aston designer...?

 

Well, it wasn't who you probably think it was given how you posed the question

It was Henrik Fisker.

Callum did the DB7, Vanquish and co designed the DB9 with Fisker. Edited to add that Marek Reichman did the DBS and, I believe, the Rapide and One-77.

 

Having previously owned a Vantage V8 I can tell you that your friend is talking out his **** if you are comparing to the F-Type V8. i can only talk for my V8 Vert but....

The F-Type is quicker, more nimble, sounds better, looks better (arguably), has a far superior transmission and guzzles less gas.

The Jag just needs to be 1-2inches lower to be taken seriously I feel.

The Aston Martin design is quite dated however.

 

Absolutely no contest in any way. the f-type wins in every dimension.

And the people who know me on this board know that I don't hesitate to trash the f-type if it deserves it but in this case it blows that car away

 

My original post stated that my friend feels his V8 Vantage is a better handling car than my F-Type R Coupe. In my opinion, handling is a fairly subjective attribute. He constantly refers to road tests that say the R Coupe is "tail happy". He has driven my car. I have driven his V8 Vantage, and I find it "boring".


My friend admits (begrudgingly) that the F-Type R Coupe is faster, but he attributes that to more hp...Da!!


So any specific comments about the "handling" of the two cars?

 

The F Type is very tail happy, I have taken friends on it that doesn't know how to drive properly and they used to ride with me on my Audi TTS which was a Quattro and they all get scared to death.

 

By design. If I'm doing a simple turn I can get the F-Type to skid and leave tire marks, something I doubt I could do with a GTR or 4WD Porsche. The F-Type also has an excellent ability to regain control after a skid.


This feature is pretty popular these days, see for example that new Scion that cheated and put thin tires in the back to let you skid.

 

Handling is not necessarily subjective. There are measures that can determine if a car "handles" better than another.
Two common and easy to get numbers are Skidpad G-Force measures and braking distance. Why do I choose these two? To handle well a car needs to turn at speed, it's ability to grip the road is measured at the skid pad. It also needs to brake rapidly to prepare for a turn, thus the braking distance.
Again the F-Type beats the V-8, at the skid pad Edmunds recorded a .96 for the '14 Vantage V8 and a .98 for the F-Type R. Braking performance also goes to the F-Type.
I would argue that consistently better lap times on every track that both cars are run speaks to better handling.
Your friend may attribute HP for the better performance, but that does not hold to scrutiny when many cars with less HP handily beat the Vantage at every performance metric. One such car is the 911 Carrera S.

 

I have a correction to make, that skid pad value was for the 12 cylinder model. The Skidpad for a V-8 in vert trim was .94.
The F-Type hit .98 at 71 Mph, faster is better by the way.

All the information is available on the Web from trusted sources, feel free to do your own search, you will find plenty to support the case that the F-Type is superior in EVERY dimension. You will find that the F-Type is superior to the $300,000 12 cylinder Vantage as well. :-). The numbers don't lie.

 

Agree. By every performance metric the Aston is an inferior car. Of course it's not all about metrics, but my experience behind the wheel of the Aston also was disappointing. It's a bit of a boring car. Both my R Coupe, and my big 4 door M5 are more exciting drives than the Aston.

 

I got to put around 20 miles on a 2014 Vantage S through the hills of Carmel. It was a very stable reserved ride. I like my F type S (convertible) better. But I think the Aston wins on the quality of the interior build and design. Very elegant and oh so British. The Jag is a very close second. Also the public perception is that the Astons are a tier up from the Jags which may change over time. I also considered the Vantage but went with the Jag. Of course I have some bias as it's my fourth Jag - starting with a 2000 XJ8. I loved that car but boy was it a nightmare to maintain after it hit 60,000 miles.