Review: Aston Martin Vantage, upping the ante

Life flashes before your eyes when you’re moving at 240km/h. No, 243, 247… now 251km/h. Moving at 67 metres per second, your side vision is blurred, you focus on the horizon and yet, it’s oddly peaceful. At least, it would be if you weren’t driving the new Aston Martin Vantage and wrangling its thunderous twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine.

Sourced from AMG, it makes a massive 419kW of power – or 665 horsepower in the old money, a massive 30 per cent increase on the old car – and 800Nm of torque, which kicks in from just 2750rpm. And this is only the ‘baby’ Aston…

Engine aside, there have also been significant changes under the skin. The chassis is considerably stiffer with 30mm wider tracks for sharper handling, new electronically adjustable dampers from Bilstein are standard fit, as is a new eight-setting adjustable traction control system.

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Meanwhile, the transmission’s final drive has been made shorter for even quicker acceleration: the claimed 0-100km/h time is just 3.5 seconds and the Vantage will reportedly hit 325km/h at the top end. This car is fast.

The Aston Martin team is understandably proud of the new Vantage, calling it “one for the drivers”. Unlike its larger siblings, the Vantage is clearly a sports car and not a grand tourer in its attitude; it’s firmer, and harder than the DB12 or something like a Porsche 911. This newfound hardness is certainly something I’m feeling at the Vantage’s Australian launch at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Priced from $410,000 plus on-road costs, the new Vantage is heavily based on the old one. In some areas – like the almost-identical rear – that similarity is obvious, but there’s still plenty to distinguish new from old.

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Aston Martin describe its styling as incorporating some elements from the brand’s past models and that rings true: there’s more than a hint of One-77 hypercar in the front, for example. It looks fantastic, all things considered, and more distinctive than before.

What is brand new, however, is the interior, and it’s a classier and more bespoke affair than the previous Vantage. Gone is the old layout and in its place a much cleaner look with a new 10.25-inch touchscreen, though now with Aston’s own software which is shared with the larger DB12. Handily too, there are plenty of physical buttons for features like the air-con, drive modes and performance settings to help you control important features at speed.

One such important feature is the Vantage’s new adjustable traction control system. It allows eight levels of interjection to test your oversteer skills – from a little bit of tail out action, to being able to pull massive slides. In practice, it’s a brilliant safety net that allows for big fun before the car reins it in.

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Elsewhere in the dynamic package, the Vantage is brilliant. The steering is meaty and feelsome, the carbon ceramic brakes (which are an option, to note) on our test cars were strong and impressively free of fade out on the track.

Plus, the ride in the firmest track setting didn’t upset either, presenting a noticeable difference from sport – where the latter felt a bit soft for track use, it firmed up nicely in track mode. Only the plastic-feeling paddle shifters caused any annoyance.

While a manual option would be great, the eight-speed auto is fabulous in typical ZF fashion, and feels almost dual-clutch fast – though its reluctance to shift to second gear in some of the slower bends was a touch frustrating because in too high a gear, a tendency for low-speed understeer is revealed.

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Overall, it’s easy to recommend the Aston Martin Vantage for those with the income to afford one. It’s lovely to sit in, bloooody fast, a fantastic and communicative handler and looks great, all key checklist items when purchasing a high-calibre sports car.

Plus, with seemingly limitless available customisation, it’s possible to truly personalise your Vantage.

But it’s more than all of that. The Vantage is an occasion. It’s asking “shall we take the Aston tonight?” and enjoying those 665 horses and the long way home. For that reason alone, its value is beyond price. I’ll have mine in Midnight Blue with an Oxford Tan interior, please…