Good first effort, but a few comments (all just my opinion).
-One spelling mistake (conjours - conjures). If you didn't pick this up, then PH should have done.
-Are you American or English? You use 'maneuvering' and 'centerpiece', both of which are the American spellings.
-In the article you admit the Maserati and Aston V8 are in different classes, but you persist with the comparisons. The V8 Vantage is not pitched as a Grand Tourer which is precisely what the Maserati is. If you were to drive from here to the South of France, the Maserati would without any hesitation be my choice. It is fantastically comfortable, easy to drive and relaxing over those sorts of distances. The V8 Vantage is not aiming to be a GT, but is aiming to be a sports car. A comparison between the V8 Vantage and the R8 would be more appropriate.
-As someone else has pointed out, the article does seem to have been overly padded. You have commented that PH require 1000-1200 words. I think you could have used the extra words to cover items such as the interior. In the article you go no further than saying the seats are 'well sculpted'. There is no mention as to how comfy they are to be sat in, how supportive they are etc. Also, the stereo does not seem to get too much of a mention. The built in 3GB of storage and the option to rip CDs automatically onto this are genuinely useful features (standard fit I believe), but don't warrant a mention. Covering a few more subjects in the article would have been a better use of your word allocation and would have given less of the impression that the article has been padded to fill a word allocation.
I think it's a good first effort, and I look forward to reading further articles to see how your style develops, and what your opinion is on some of the cars you will be driving in the future.
