There’s been bitter rivalry and often controversy. But sometimes, Brits and Germans can get along, and the new Aston Martin Vantage is proof. To me, it’s a piece of art, one that you can drive. And I particularly like the juxtaposition of this beautiful car here with the derelict backdrop. Yeah, anyway, let’s move on to some of the details.
Exterior Design: Predatory Stance or Familiar Face?
For instance, the lights: they’re super thin and they’re all LED.Then you’ve got this huge splitter here at the front; it looks like it’s just gonna gobble up the road.It’s carbon fibre on this particular car.But there are a few things I’m not impressed with. Like this: the fit and finish isn’t great in areas.You’ve got huge panel gaps; you can almost fit your fingers through there.
But I can’t fault Aston Martin for some of the things it’s done. So rather than just stick on an air vent, it’s built into the bodywork. This one here is to smooth airflow over the wheels, and it blends beautifully with the door. You’ve got these huge side skirts, and then check out these 20-inch alloy wheels—they look super small! And then the haunches—look at that! This car just looks so muscular.
Then there are some aerodynamic features, such as these creases here on the roof to smooth the airflow, and they’ve incorporated a spoiler into the boot lip. I mean, it just kicks over the back nicely. And of course, you’ve got this light bar here, a huge rear diffuser once again in carbon fibre, and real exhaust pipes. Look at that! I’ve got a dirty finger now.
In the PR material, Aston Martin describes this car as having a “predatory stance.” But which predator do you think it’s most like? That one? That one? That one? Hopefully not that one! Anyway, click on the pop-out button in the top right-hand corner of the screen to cast your vote on which one you think it’s most like.
A lot of people have been saying that this Aston Martin’s headlights are rather like those of a Mazda MX-5. But there’s been something else bugging me about the design, about the rear of it, and I think I’ve just figured out what it is. Sort of like a Renault Laguna Coupe.
Interior: A Mix of Exquisite and Excessive
Don’t worry, though, the vague similarities with a French family car end there. For instance, you wouldn’t find paddle shifters like these in a Renault. They’re huge, and they are solid metal; they feel really expensive.
I also like the digital dials. They’re not the brightest, but the graphics are very clear; the information is very easy to read. Particularly like this; it’s like a Burberry vanity case. It’s just lovely. That’s… that just feels so exquisite and expensive.
Well, what I’m not so keen on, though, is the fact that they’ve overdone this car that I’m sitting in with Alcantara. I mean, it’s everywhere. Alcantara on the dash, down here, up here, roof lining… it’s… there’s just too much of it. It’s a bit like wearing double denim.
I’m also not that keen on the interior design of the dash itself, especially this area here. It all looks a bit weird. There are too many buttons, and the vents… they look like eyes, and this is like some kind of weird robotic mouth. Not a fan.
Annoying Quirks and Quibbles
Speaking of which, driving an Aston Martin will probably give you a big head, but there are a few annoying things about the car that might make your head ache as well.
As well as the engine, Aston Martin uses Mercedes’ infotainment system. So it has that touchpad, which is over the swivel wheel, which is tricky enough to use as is, but it’s even worse in this Aston Martin because of this extra area added to the touchpad. And then there’s the infotainment system itself, which seems to be Mercedes’ *old* infotainment system.
Also, while it has Apple CarPlay, it doesn’t have Android Auto, so people like me are just gonna have to improvise.
There doesn’t appear to be any grab handles for the passenger, so yeah, if you’re going fast around the corner, they’ve got nothing to hold on to apart from maybe you.
The indicator stalk is quite awkward to reach from behind the gear selector, and the sound of the indicator repeater… It’s a bit like there’s a little man behind the dash just tapping to get out. “Help me!”
Door pockets are all right, cupholders ain’t great, but there’s no glove box. Where’s a bloke supposed to put his driving gloves?
There’s no actual boot release button here on the back of the car; you have to do it using the key or from inside the car. There’s also a specific handle to open the boot with; you just have to grab the bottom part. It’s quite thin, and the boot is heavy, so it can hurt your hand a little bit.
Still, the boot itself is a decent enough size for a sports car. Look, we’ve got all our kit in there. You can extend it slightly, look, by folding that down. And oh, look up here: there’s an Aston Martin-branded umbrella.
The Cool Tech Under the Skin
And that brings us on to what’s cool about the new Aston Martin Vantage.
The steering goes from lock to lock in just 2.4 turns, which means there’s far less wheel twirling when you’re trying to manoeuvre. (Now, for all you engineers, you’re worried that I’ve just gone and steered the car without it moving: it’s on gravel, so there’s no worries about dry steering.)
This car has what’s known as a transaxle gearbox. So instead of having the gearbox *there*, it’s actually *there*, and that helps the weight distribution.
The settings for the engine and gearbox are separated out from those for the suspension, so you could have the engine in track mode but the suspension in comfort mode—so the best of both worlds.
The Vantage has an electronically controlled limited-slip differential with torque vectoring for maximum traction, and it can go from fully open to fully locked like *that*.
This car’s four-litre twin-turbo V8 is mounted as low as possible and as far back as possible to aid handling. Also, it’s hand-built in Affalterbach, Germany, by some German chap and inspected by a man in Gaydon, England—in this particular case, Ben Harwood.
This car produces 510 horsepower and 685 newton-meters of torque. Aston says it has engineered the engine sound so that the Vantage has a noticeably different exhaust note from a Mercedes-AMG car. [Music]
But has it? Click on the pop-out banner in the top right-hand corner of the screen, and cast your vote.
On the Road: A True Driver’s Car
To drive, this new Vantage reminds me quite a lot of the AMG GT, but then that’s because of the engine, because actually the chassis is unique to Aston Martin.
The steering isn’t quite as fast as that in the Mercedes, but it’s still rapid without being skittish, and that’s good for giving you confidence on a twisty road. As is the fact that you can feel exactly what the car is doing beneath your bottom. And threading it from corner to corner is really good fun. Oh yes, this car is a laugh. Yes!
The Daily Driving Test: Is It Liveable?
However, when you’re not having fun, is the Vantage comfy enough to use as a daily driver? Time for some serious consumer car testing.
Now, one of the problems with testing a car in Portugal is the… the roads. Well, they’re just so smooth. I know some people have just spent thirty thousand pounds on a granite kitchen worktop, and it’s not as smooth as this road I’m driving on here.
And the thing is, most people who buy this car are going to live in a city such as London. And London, while the quality of the roads is a little bit like the bit between the British and the German lines on the Somme in 1916. I mean, there’s just craters everywhere. So I need to find something a little bit horrible.
Okay then, so I’ve got the adjustable suspension in the softest of three settings, and the road’s about to get British. Oh. Well, I can say that it’s… It’s livable, but it probably doesn’t deal with the worst bumps as well as the adaptive suspension you can get in a Ferrari.
Head out onto the motorway and the Vantage is all perfectly acceptable, though it still suffers from the same issues you get with almost all supercars: you do get quite a bit of noise from those fat tyres. Also, the sticky-outy door mirrors whip up a bit of wind whistle.
I was… I wish this car had some kind of autonomous cruise control, which would steer to keep you in lane, but no, it doesn’t. But then you might be thinking, “Mate, on the back, this is a driver’s car; it shouldn’t be driving itself.”
Performance Testing: Unleashing the Beast
Speaking of which, why haven’t you really talked about the performance?
Okay, so now I’m in a different car. I’m on the start-finish straight at Portimão Circuit. I’m going to launch the car and see what it can do from nought to 60 and the standing quarter. So Aston says you should do 0 to 60 in about 3.7 seconds, but we shall see. And we’ll also see about the standing quarter. Got my timing gear here. Just gonna do it.
So then, the results I got: nought to 60, 3.6 seconds. Standing quarter, 11.7 seconds.
So let’s see what this car is like on track, then. So this is a great circuit; it’s a technical circuit that can put a car like this through its paces. And it’s a good test because it’s got everything, and it shows really what this car can do.
The chassis engineers have done a fantastic job; they have. They’ve done as good a job as the designers, and that’s saying something. You can be neat in this car if you want to; you can be a bit of a loon, and it will perform just as you want it to.
That steering that’s lovely on the road is lovely here as well. It gives you loads of confidence. [Music] You can just tip it in and it… [Music] …and it will just slide like a beast. Yeah. Power, poise, precision. That’s what this car’s got.
Final Verdict: A Triumph of Collaboration
So then, what’s my final verdict? Well, for me, this new Aston Martin Vantage is absolutely beautiful, and its design works as part of the family tree.
Well, with a bit of help from the Germans.
Thank You……