Aston Martin V8 Vantage v Jaguar XKR Coupe v Porsche 911 Carrera S 2007 Comparison

GT High

Sometimes the agony of choice can leave you breathless. The arrival of the bonus means there is an unexpected quarter million dollars in disposable cash. Until recently there was no real automotive alternative but to splash out on (another) 911. No longer.

We're sitting on the Ulladulla dock on a gorgeous morning watching Wielecki work his Canon magic on three fabulous coupe candidates for the booty. Predictably, one is the ubiquitous Porsche 911, in Carrera S mode. But it is the two upstart bulldog Brit aspirants that draw the eye and focus of attention
of the fishermen.

Our challenge - to find the world's best sports/GT car this side of the Ferrari F430 - is turning into a beauty contest between Jaguar's XKR and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. For the spectators to this informal, static catwalk, the Porsche, seemingly a relic from another era, is ignored. Utterly.

If everybody is oblivious to the Carrera, they positively swoon over the Aston, before gradually absorbing the superficially similar Jag and then making the inevitable comparison. Mostly, the Vantage wins any argument, but the XKR has its supporters. Even before turning a wheel, could the 911 be in trouble?

The episode, repeated every time our convoy pauses for fuel, food or more snaps, becomes boringly predictable. Understandable, though, for the Aston is agonisingly beautiful. The latest distillation of Aston Martin's one-theme design language strips the concept to the very basics - a taut, powerful and purposeful shape that is easy to distinguish from the Vanquish and DB9, except from head-on.

Where the DB9 is curvaceous to the point of being feminine, the tiny Vantage (at 4380mm, it's shorter than the 911 and down 313mm on the DB9) is muscular and aggressive, the overhangs minimised, the tyres pushed to the very edge of the elegant wheelarches. The tapered glasshouse is so shallow you know visibility is going to be an issue even before opening the doors (which dramatically move upward through 12 degrees) and dropping in behind the wheel.

There is a purity and visual intensity about the Aston that isn't present in the more flamboyant, yet graceful and much larger Jaguar, which shares the same timeless front-engine/rear-drive proportions. For sure, we agree, the Vantage is the most gorgeous four-wheeled object currently on sale. The Porsche's classic profile - so much taller than the Aston - means its head-swivelling potential is negligible. That, we suspect, may be a positive for more than a few buyers.

Not enough cash separates our trio to make price a critical issue at this lofty level. The V8 Vantage, intended to bring Aston ownership to a wider audience, is still built in far smaller numbers than either the Jag or the Porsche, and uses this exclusivity justification to explain its $242,850 starting tag - though the options list (like the Porsche's) stretches fiercely long, and includes stuff like seat memory and cruise control that surely should be standard. As tested, our car topped $260K.

The better equipped XKR is $228,300, though the test car included the $6000 luxury sport pack (mainly, terrific 16-way electrically-adjustable seats and premium leather throughout) and the $4500 adaptive cruise control. Carreras open at $198,100, but the asking tag for the more powerful S is $221,100, with options our tester stretched to $232,620.

The scope for 911 individualisation is huge, of course, with various body/engine/chassis choices. Neither Jag nor Aston attempts to match the prodigious Porsche model variety, though both include convertibles, while the normally-aspirated XK coupe sneaks in at just under $200K.

In their layout and construction, their technical diversity directly impacts on the driving experience. Little, apart from sharing the same basic engine block, reveals that the Jaguar and Aston Martin were, until recently, small elements within Ford's global empire. The Aston V8 is front-mid engined and strikes a more desirable 49/51 percent weight distribution than the Jaguar. By positioning the supercharged V8 over the front axles, the XKR has a nose-end bias of 54 percent.

Regardless of the seemingly inherent engineering flaws, Porsche continues to hang the flat-six behind the rear axle line. The layout is, after all, the basis for the 911's unique driving character, and provides space for 2+2 seating within its short length. The downside is a lopsided 39/61 weight distribution.

Ironically, though both the Brits are largely aluminium, the steel 911's clear weight advantage - 210kg under the Aston, 266kg the Jag - easily makes up for the power and torque shortfall. The Porsche's 184kW/tonne power-to-weight ratio just tops the 181kW/tonne Jag, with the 174kW/tonne Aston trailing.

The surprise here is the Vantage. Of its 1630kg mass, only 183kg is attributable to the bonded aluminium structure. Since it's clothed in a mix of alloy, steel, composites and magnesium, we can't rationally explain why it's so heavy. Given its near 4.8-metre length, the XKR is relatively light at 1686kg, though to keep things in perspective, the bigger again (all-steel) Commodore Omega comes in just 4kg heavier.

The 4.3-litre V8 is loosely based on the Jag unit, but Aston assembles the engine by hand in a Ford facility in Cologne, Germany, and has thoroughly refurbished the internals - both the bore and stroke are different - and added dry sump lubrication and a 4-2-1 manifold on each bank. Aston says a bypass valve in the exhaust boosts noise above 4500rpm, but we reckon the glorious howl kicks in a bit earlier.

The Aston makes 283kW at 7000rpm with peak torque of 410Nm at 5000rpm, just ahead of the Porsche's skilfully developed 3.8-litre flat-six that generates 261kW at 6600rpm and 400Nm at 4600rpm. An Eaton Roots-type supercharger is largely responsible for the XKR's 87kW/149Nm power hike over the cooking XK. Jaguar's 4.2-litre V8 yields 306kW at 6600rpm and a gutsy 560Nm at 4000rpm, in combination with excellent refinement - apart from the supercharger whine, to be savoured by some buyers - to give the XKR near-supercar performance.

To support the gran turismo character, the Jag only comes as a six-speed auto. Porsche offers buyers the choice, though the optional automatic only has five speeds, while the alternative gearbox on the Vantage is an automated version of the Graziano manual fitted to the test car.

Oran Park performance testing on day one (click above image for the video), and the mix in the threesome's personality and performance is already unmistakable. The Aston's masculine form carries over to the major controls. The steering, gearchange, clutch and brakes - even the low-speed ride - have a meaty intensity that defines the Vantage character: there is a measured precision and mechanical-ness to driving the Aston that never goes away. Reverse can be hard to find, and because the clutch engages across the last section of travel, it can be awkward in stop-start traffic, occasionally slipping and filling the cabin with the sickly stench of fried clutch.

Nobody is going to accuse the Vantage of lacking performance (13.8 seconds to 400 metres), but it's well off the pace of the Carrera and marginally slower than the automatic Jag. Critically, the V8 doesn't deliver the instant responses expected below 3500rpm - and the perception it feels slower than its rivals is reinforced by a doughy throttle action and a close-ratio gearbox.

Work the engine to the 7200rpm acoustic change-up warning (there is no redline on the hard-to-read instruments), savour the deliciously angry and very V8 exhaust bellow, and you (almost) forgive the alluring Aston anything. It is only then that it truly comes alive. Trickle through the suburbs and the apparently slow-ish steering lacks feel, the chassis stiff and leisurely in its responses, the gearchange clunky, the brakes numb. But as the soundtrack surges, so the Aston reacts in kind.

Increase the weight transfer to the rear and the steering quickens and begins to communicate, the handling balance shifts to a precise slot-car like accuracy that essentially ignores both under- and oversteer. Power slides demand disengaging the stability control and an excess of revs.

The driver is always aware of the Aston's weight and size - especially the width and concept-car like slope of the far-off windscreen - but body control is terrific, and grip and traction impressive. While the suspension is capable of absorbing plenty of punishment handed out by our roads, the Aston doesn't have the confident stability of the Porsche or Jaguar, and demands more concentration.

The Aston's cabin looks exquisite, but it doesn't quite work that way. The wide console detracts from footwell room, and many of the controls are too small and fiddly. Also, the relationship between the attractive looking (if narrow) seats, steering wheel and pedals is clumsy. The driving position would undoubtedly improve if the seat cushion were lower. Yet, the proportions and style of the cabin are overwhelming. For many that will be enough.

Come to the Jag after the overtly sporting Aston or Porsche, and you immediately recognise that the XKR is a more mature and relaxed competitor. Yet the transformation from softer, much quieter riding luxo-coupe to a genuine, hunker-down GT demands no more than a challenging road and a driver prepared to exploit the serious numbers - 0-400m in 13.6sec - produced by the supercharged V8.

The Jaguar's broad expanse of torque, the efficiency of an almost too sensitive automatic transmission, and a composed, even wafting chassis, add an unruffled tranquillity to the XKR's pure speed. This is a far more compelling drive than the standard XK; so much faster and more self-assured, yet almost as refined, and it's happy performing both roles.

Wisely, Jaguar gives the driver the freedom to switch off the traction control, and then the intrusive ESP stability system (though full switch-off takes an absurd 10sec) for a complete change of manners.

In each mode the Jag covers the ground incredibly quickly, the difference is a greater feeling of control and the ability to balance the car on the throttle or, where appropriate, play oversteer yobbo with the ESP disengaged. Body control is impressive, not because the body doesn't move around more than the others (it does), more the subtle transference of weight is combined with an ability to largely ignore a variety of road surfaces.

It's only on a track that the Jag's weight intrudes. The almost over-assisted steering makes searching for the outer limits of adhesion a frustrating exercise, as if there is more grip than the steering wants the driver to find. But you learn to adapt and eventually ignore this trait, and guide the car through a series of bends, using the paddles (or the Sport setting) with their lovely blipped downshifts to find the perfect ratio.

The character of the Jag makes the decision to permit the ZF 'box to upchange at a crisp 6250rpm snarl a non-issue. A supercharged V8 is always going to slurp more fuel than a normally aspirated engine; what disappoints more is the poor range delivered by the XKR's 70.6-litre tank. After each fill, the 911's fuel needle would indicate barely below half at the point the Jag's warning light would begin flashing. Not good enough.

We disagree with the criticism that the Jaguar's cockpit doesn't feel sufficiently special. Fact is, the dashboard ergonomics are brilliant, the large controls easy to use, and the multi-adjustable driving position flawless. And we love the fact there is no wood, at least not as standard. Just don't take the rear seats seriously, there is far more useable room in the back of the 911. The two-seat only Aston shuns any attempt at providing additional accommodation.

If the wail of the Aston stirred our spirits across our 1000km test route, it was the 911 that constantly enlivened our palms to leave us inspired. The challenge wrought by the Aston outflanks the familiar 911 in so many ways, but it's still the Porsche that arouses the driver.

The Carrera's jagged, spluttering idle is pure 911, an appropriate rite of passage to the driver's choice. Instantly, the Porsche feels smaller (though we resent the increase in body width), more intimate - you sit both lower and more upright on tight-fitting seats - and alive, responsive, communicative.

The directness of the controls, the short, sharp speed of the gearchange, the brilliantly responsive brakes, the fantastic performance … all are harmoniously blended to create an agility that is beyond both the Aston and the more relaxed Jaguar.

At Oran Park, the Carrera blew the Brits away. Our 13.2sec 0-400m time takes brutality off the line, but the 911 is quicker everywhere to visibly outgun its rivals. The engine, alert from just above idle, screams to the 7300rpm cutout, yet is also capable of real docility in town.

If the 911 reads the road, the road answers back. There's more wind noise and just enough of the Porsche's characteristic front-end bobbing for traditionalists. The 997's variable steering rack means it isn't quite as quick in the initial movement off centre as the 996, but the handling is so direct and composed, and high-speed stability so improved, that this perception soon passes.

Decision time and despite the anguish of being forced to determine a winner from a trio of wonderful cars, the decision is unanimous.

Despite the Vantage being easily the best Aston Martin ever, the little V8 needs the kind of thorough development and honing that only comes with years of engineering expertise. To compete totally, it needs more grunt and detailed refinement. What matters now is that it's beautiful, sounds extraordinary and is probably fast enough for most buyers.

We knew the XKR was out of step with the Aston and Porsche, but all who drove the Jag fell in love with its wide-ranging abilities. If the 911 is too overtly sporting and raucous, the super-smooth Jaguar's compromise between refinement and extreme sportiness is compelling. A much-needed brilliant effort.

That leaves the genius 911, a triumph of development over configuration, as the driver's choice. The 911 must win because it has the best handling, performance, brakes and composure. And because it remains utterly inspirational.

Track: Oran park, dry. Temp: 16°C. Driver: Peter Robinson
* Manufacturer's claim
** Electronically limited