Well, here it is. The all new Aston Martin Vantage. The V8 Vantage has been with us for over a decade now, but the 4.7-litre V8-powered sports car is finally being replaced by a more striking, sharper, and much, much faster motor car
So how much faster is this new Vantage compared to the old war horse? Planting your foot deep into the carpet will make the Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 propel you from 0-62mph in just 3.6 seconds. Making mincemeat of the the old V8-powered Vantage, and even embarrassing the V12 Vantage S. The top speed meanwhile is 195mph.
The new V8 puts out 503bhp and 505lb ft of torque, with a reasonably modest 1530kg dry weight. That power is sent to the rear wheels exclusively, via a transaxle-mounted ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. Aston Martin has included an electronically-controlled rear differential, which is a first for the company’s road going production cars. According to Aston Martin, the diff can go from open to completely locked in mere milliseconds.
70 percent of the Vantage is completely new, however the platform is loosely based on the DB11 . It’s just under 30cm shorter than a DB11, and a tad shorter than a Porsche 911. Weight distribution is an ideal 50:50 balance, which should make the car dance through the tight and twisties.
When it comes to downforce, Aston Martin have delivered in spades. There’s plenty of rather obvious bits like a downforce generating “upswept” rear deck and side gills that eject high-pressure air from the front wheel arches, however the most fascinating elements are the ones tucked away from plain sight. The car’s speed front splitter sends air under the car, where several “fences” direct the flow both for cooling and to feed the rear diffuser.
As part of their technical deal with Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin has borrowed much of the Vantage’s interior tech from the German manufacturer. The interior is as beautiful as you would expect from Aston Martin with Alcantara, leather and as many options as you can shake a stick at.
The new Vantage will set you back a wallet wounding £120,900, getting on for £25k more than the Vantage AMR Pro run-out model. Although we suspect most people paying those sort of sums won’t care.
First deliveries will make their way to excited owners during 2018’s second quarter.
