maximus said:
LoneWolf said:
My gripe is with the way JC always keeps applauding the Astons, dwelling for about a second on some (major) faults, but spending half the show raving on about everything else. The Vantage is a prime example, JC himself admitted it wasn't that good with it's gearbox, its handling is rubbish and it breaks down a lot (I remember on Fifth Gear Vicky was testing it, and it broke down several times). And yet despite these obvious flaws, put anything but British next to the Aston and JC forgets about all these problems and instead goes on about it's noise, or it's character or it's styling.
JC admits that the Vanquish has a crap gearbox (you got the right car? I remember one breaking down when she tried to accelerate all the time, I'm sure thats the Vanquish not the Vantage.)
You seem to me to be forgetting that noise, character and styling are what Astons are all about. For example, I've read a few reviews comparing the Vanquish to the 550, and most of them conceded that although the Ferrari is the better car, the Vanquish has more attraction due to its character and styling.
He is British biased but I don't agree with putting anything but British against the Aston either. JC thought the M6 was better in the recent group test but went for the Vantage due to the same reasons I listed above with the Vanquish.
I agreed with the 911 thing (even thought hamster eating the card was funny) the Aston is a much cooler car.
OK first, yes I might have got the cars mixed up, it may have been the Vanquish rather then the Vantage.
I can't comment on what other magazines have said comparing the 575(or any other car) to the Aston's, but it's rare for me to hear JC or the TG crew say anything negative about Aston's. The part where JC didn't like the baby Aston was rare, but I knew he'd go for the Aston in the end, it's a good thing James didn't side with him again and luckily the 911 won (BTW I'd just like to point out at this point I am not a 911 fan).
I'm not saying JC has invalid opinions on the Aston's and when he compares them to other cars, it's just that I always get the impression he is heavily biased towards it. To be fair, he does that with most cars he likes and does the opposite with the cars he dislikes, but the Aston's are the ones which I remember more.
For example, with the M5 he spent most of the time moaning about it, which is understandable because it does have many problems, and then spent the last few minutes giving it praise. When he drove the DB9, he mentioned how it was very heavy at the front (which seems to be a characteristic of Aston's, and which also seems to characterise their handling). But, whereas with a BMW or something else he would have criticised it for being too heavy at the front and expanded on this point, with the DB9 he twisted it around saying it 'flatters you because you feel that when you kiss an apex you'll feel it's your own work'. Personally, that is bias IMO and if you read between the lines he's hiding the fact that the DB9 might be more of a handful in corners compared to something more lighter and better balanced.
Don't get me wrong, I do understand about character, and soul, and beauty and styling. JC has heavily influenced my opinions on many cars, I adore Ferrari's but don't like Japanese cars because they're too boring. And I don't like American cars because they are, well, rubbish (though this is a well known fact). It's just that you can tell when JC is testing a car he has long loved, like Aston's, he always uses attributes such as character, beauty, styling etc as an excuse to hide it's flaws. He talks up the good parts and glosses over the bad parts.
Remember the time when they did the Jaguar XJR (I think it was XJR) vs 911 vs 6-series on that beach in Wales? Admittedly he did criticise the Jag in that film, but he again was talking up the good parts of the British car, glossing over the bad parts and absolutely murdering the opposition. The Jag has a woeful interior and is very old. Yes the BMW 6-series is boring but it was the cheapest. He didn't dwell too much on the Jag's shortfalls but gave plenty of time to criticise the BMW. And at the end of the film he quickly mentioned what a fast time the BMW set around the track with the Stig, but did they give it due credit and reveal the lap time? No, of course not, it would have embarrased the Jag.
Again with the 575 vs Vanquish, the 575 is better in pretty much all aspects but the Aston won because of it's character and soul. Fair enough I say, the Aston probably has more appeal in that sense. But the 575 has plenty of character itself and Italian passion, and it has pedigree and plenty of history. And besides, how many times has JC fallen in love with a car based on track performance and remarkable engineering? I remember when he tested the Vanquish in one of the early series, he came close to saying he hated it, has made a few unflattering comments throughout the show about it and it's gearbox, and even advised Lionel Richie to consider the DB9 instead of the Vanquish? But he all of a sudden decided to ignore what the Ferrari was offering and instead go for the Aston based on looks and character alone? Inconsistency or bias? You decide.
This is why when there's a shootout of some sort and a Aston or Jag are involved, I always take it with a heap of salt.