Aston Martin Hire Sydney: Vantage and DB11 Review, Specs and Which to Choose

Nobody asks for an Aston Martin by chassis code. They ask for the badge, and then the conversation is about which one. The Vantage is the sports car and the DB11 is the grand tourer, they share a Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V8, and they suit completely different weekends. This page covers both, says which is which, and explains how a request is confirmed before any money moves.

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Specifications

Every figure is Aston Martin's own for the model named. Where two outputs are shown for the
Vantage, the higher one applies to cars built from 2021, and the written confirmation tells you
which year you are getting. Proposed rates for the test are from $1,400 a day for the Vantage and
from $1,600 a day for the DB11 V8, both confirmed by request once your dates are in.

What It Is Actually Like in Sydney

The shared engine, and why it does not make them the same car

Both cars use a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 that Mercedes-AMG builds and Aston Martin tunes,
mounts and wraps in its own intake and exhaust. The result sounds different from an AMG: deeper,
less crackly, more of a bass note than a bark. In the Vantage it sits well back behind the front
axle and drives the rear wheels through a rear-mounted gearbox. In the DB11 it sits in a longer,
heavier body with more sound insulation and a softer setup.

Same engine, two personalities. The Vantage feels like it is built around the driver and the
DB11 feels like it is built around the journey, and that is not marketing. It is a difference in
wheelbase, weight distribution, spring rates and seat count that you feel in the first kilometre.

The Vantage on a road with corners

The Vantage is short, wide and rear-drive, with an electronic rear differential and a
chassis that wants to rotate. On the tighter sections of the Old Pacific Highway between Mount
Colah and Brooklyn it is one of the most involving cars at this price, and it does that without
the drama of a mid-engine exotic. The steering is heavy and accurate, and the brakes are strong
enough that you stop worrying about them.

What it asks in return is attention in the wet. Rear-drive, a lot of torque from low revs and
a short wheelbase mean a damp roundabout wants a measured throttle. The stability control is
well calibrated and left on it will look after you, but this is not an all-wheel-drive car and it
does not pretend to be one.

The DB11 on the M1 with someone in the passenger seat

The DB11 is nearly 4.75 metres long and it uses that length for comfort. The ride is
noticeably softer than the Vantage, the cabin is quieter, and the seats are shaped for hours
rather than laps. The run north to the Hunter Valley or south past the Sea Cliff Bridge to the
coast is what it was built for. It is still very quick, four seconds to 100km/h is not slow, but
the speed arrives with a calmness the Vantage does not offer.

The rear seats are small. They will take children, a jacket, a dress in its bag or a hard
case laid across them. They will not take two adults for more than a short hop. Treat the DB11
as a two-seater with a useful shelf and it never disappoints; count the rear seats as real and it
will.

On a longer run the DB11 also has the range. The tank is larger than the Vantage's and the
cruising consumption is lower, so a day that starts in Sydney and ends in the Southern Highlands
with a detour through Kangaroo Valley needs one stop rather than two. That is not a small thing
when the point of the weekend is to keep driving.

What both share on a Sydney street

Both cars are wide, both have limited rear visibility and both sit low at the nose. Both
have Mercedes-derived infotainment from the era, which is functional and looks dated next to the
current AMG system. Both have swan-wing doors that open up as well as out, which is elegant and
also a reason to be careful in a tight car park. Both draw attention. The badge does more work
in Sydney than almost any other, and people who would not look twice at a Lamborghini will cross
the street to look at an Aston.

Both also share an eight-speed automatic from ZF rather than a dual-clutch, which is a point
in their favour for anyone who found the earlier Lamborghinis or the AMG cars abrupt in traffic.
It shifts smoothly in the default mode, quickly in Sport, and it never lurches at walking pace.
For a car that will spend part of its hire in a queue on New South Head Road, that is worth more
than a tenth of a second off the sprint.

Choosing the Trim

Vantage V8

Choose the Vantage if the drive is the point. Two seats, the shorter wheelbase, the more
aggressive setup and the lower rate. It suits a single driver or a couple with soft luggage, a
weekend built around a good road, or an enthusiast who has done the AMG GT and wants the British
answer. It is louder, firmer and harder to see out of than the DB11, and it is a poorer choice
for a formal arrival because getting out of it in a dress is undignified.

DB11 V8

Choose the DB11 if the occasion or the distance is the point. It is the wedding car, the
anniversary car, the one for a long weekend with a partner and a boot full of bags. The rear
seats are a bonus for luggage rather than passengers. It costs more per day than the Vantage and
gives back comfort, quiet and presence for the difference. Most first-time Aston requests end up
here once the trip is described.

DB11 V12

The V12 is a different proposition: 470kW, a heavier nose, and a car that is rarer and
harder to secure in Australia. Ask for it and we will try, but the rate sits above the V8 figure
on this page and availability is thinner. For most Sydney weekends the V8 is the better DB11 to
drive, and the V12 is the one to request when the engine itself is the reason.

Things You Should Know

Ground clearance and the front bumper

Both cars scrape before you expect them to. The Vantage in particular has a deep front lip
and no lift system on most examples. The approach to a steep driveway is slow and angled, speed
humps are taken one wheel at a time, and older basement car parks with tight ramps are best
avoided. A damaged front lip is the most common claim on either car, and it is nearly always
avoidable with patience.

Luggage and passengers

The Vantage has a hatch-style boot that takes two soft weekend bags. The DB11 has a slightly
larger boot and the rear seats as overflow. Neither is a car for hard suitcases in numbers, and
neither carries more than two adults in comfort. If the trip involves four people, the BMW M3
Competition is the honest recommendation, and it is faster to 100km/h than either Aston.

Fuel, kilometres and confirmation

Both use 98-octane premium unleaded, and the twin-turbo V8 drinks it freely when pushed. The
kilometre allowance is set on the booking and sized to the trip, so a coastal tour to Jervis Bay
should be mentioned when you ask rather than discovered on the return. Because the specific car is
sourced for your dates, the bond, the excess and the exact year and output are all confirmed in
writing before any payment. Interstate travel needs prior written approval, and circuit use is
not permitted.

The handover covers the door action, the front clearance on your own driveway, the drive modes
and the small differences between the two cars' controls. Every panel and wheel is photographed
with you there. On an Aston the paint is the expensive part, so those photographs are worth the
ten minutes they take.

Who Books This Car

The DB11 is asked for by couples marking something: an anniversary, a milestone birthday, a
wedding where the car will be in every photograph. It suits those bookings because it is
beautiful from every angle and calm enough to be enjoyed by someone who does not drive fast.

The Vantage is asked for by drivers. Usually they have hired something German or Italian
first, and they want to know whether the Aston is as good to drive as it is to look at. On the
right road the answer is yes, and that is the booking that sends people back for the DB11 the
following year with a passenger.

Neither is the right car for a group, for a long haul with luggage, or for a driver under 25.
For those the M3 Competition and the AMG GT are on the cards below, and we will confirm the right
one rather than push an Aston at a trip it does not suit.