Aston Martin has turned up the wick on its entry-level Vantage, intending to take the fight to Maranello. Does it still possess a level of charm historically associated with its maker?
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Aston Martin Vantage Coupé Fast Facts
- Price: R5 200 000
- 0 to 100 km/h: 3.81 seconds
- Top speed: 325 km/h
- Power: 489 kW
- Torque: 800 N.m
- CAR Fuel index: 14.52 L/100km
- CO₂: 325 g/km
Introduced in 2018 as the new entry point into the Aston Martin family, the achingly pretty Vantage impressed in our January 2019 Performance Shootout. Engineered around its AMG-sourced V8 powertrain, the sister car to the DB11 grand tourer showcased this proudly British marque’s newfound desire to add genuine levels of substance and dynamic ability – together with a renewed focus on interior ergonomics and build quality – to its legacy of producing vehicles otherwise renowned for their inherent sense of occasion and association with a certain secret serviceman.
As accomplished as this Vantage package was, like the DB11, it didn’t meet the mandate of incoming company owner, Canadian billionaire Lawerence Stroll, for Aston Martin road cars to more closely represent – by way of performance and dynamics – a brand with its own Formula One team.
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In a year that saw Stroll sign off the Valkyrie Le Mans project, the mid-engined Valhalla hypercar, the new V12 Vanquish, and the Fernando Alonso-fettled Valiant special, while the DB12 driven for our November 2024 issue introduced an altogether more accomplished grand tourer than before, it’s Aston’s “entry-level” Vantage and DBX SUV that need to continue to sell well.
Like a beauty pageant winner who’s taken up CrossFit, the updated Vantage Coupé is a picture of toned and purposeful stance. Developed alongside a new GT3 racing car package, the 2024 Vantage introduces a 39% larger grille for improved cooling, tauter underpinnings, myriad intricate ducts, strakes and crease lines and a 30 mm broader stance across its rear haunches. New LED headlamp units are added, as are the beautifully crafted frameless side mirrors from the DB12. Also borrowed from its 2+2 sibling is a set of bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport tyres measuring 325/30 ZR21 at the rear.
A highlight of the DB12, the updated Vantage also gains Aston Martin’s new cabin layout, including an impressive array of physical buttons and switches on the centre console, a 10-25-inch touchscreen infotainment system and digital instrumentation. Allowing for an altogether more comfortable and intuitive user experience than in the previous car, our only gripes – shared with the DB12 – focus on software and graphics that aren’t currently a match for what this car’s rivals are offering. The fiddly workings of the Mercedes-Benz-sourced haptic controls on the steering wheel and the on-the-move-legibility of some of the infotainment menus can prove frustrating. The latter is highlighted each time you search to switch off the car’s mandatory driver assistance systems.
Offering a good range of adjustments, the single-piece seats find an impressive middle ground between comfort and lateral support. Also noteworthy is a neatly hidden wireless mobile phone charging pad and a measured 144-litres worth of luggage space below a tall-opening tailgate. Our test car’s interior included a generous helping of optional carbon fibre trim, cloth and leather combination upholstery with colour stitching, and an upgraded audio system.
That larger grille feeds air into a heavily revised AMG-sourced M177 twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 engine. In this application, it’s been fettled to deliver 486 kW and 800 N.m of torque (a 30% increase in performance compared with the previous car) to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission and electronically controlled differential sited on the rear axle.
Fitted with an optional carbon package, including massive sills, front splitters, a rear diffuser and the roof section, the new car tipped our scales 22 kilograms heavier than the example featured in our 2019 Performance Shootout. That said, using its Race Start function, this newer Podium Green Vantage launched from a standstill to 100 km/h, 0.17 seconds faster (timed at 3.81 seconds) than the older car, with the one-kilometre mark passed 1.04 seconds sooner (11.47 seconds at 208.32 km/h).
Where this updated, significantly more potent powertrain with its 5% shorter final drive excels is in terms of the punch delivered between 3 000 and 5 000 r/min – not to mention the corresponding soundtrack audible from afar even before the two-stage variable exhaust settings are activated. Toggling the drive mode selector away from its default Sport position (there’s no GT mode here like in the DB12) to call upon the Sport+ or Track configurations introduces smile-inducing overrun pops and crackles to the performance.
Arguably the pivotal component shared across the modern road-going Aston Martin family is the Bilstein-sourced (DTX) adaptive dampers. Their default setting in the Vantage still best described as racy, this impressive setup introduces a welcome level of compliance and poise – in conjunction with the car’s increased rigidity – to proceedings. The firmest setting will likely be too unforgiving for most South African roads.
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From a snug, low-slung driving position that makes it easy to judge where the car’s nose is, the updated Vantage makes the most of its near 50:50 weight distribution, a new “Dynamic Controller” ECU that continuously monitors the workings of the e-diff, torque vectoring and stability control system, and an abundance of performance to muscle its way up a mountain pass. Where the outgoing car was no slouch through a set of curves (or on track), true to its mandate, the new entry-level Aston replaces a previous level of finesse and precision with an altogether more engaging seat-of-your-pants driving experience that’s both more challenging and thrilling than before.
An impressively well-balanced package with nicely weighted and responsive electrically-assisted steering, while this powertrain certainly has the grunt required break the rear tyres’ traction, a new nine-stage traction control system gives owners a chance to steadily build confidence. Mastering the setup, the reward once the rear end falls back into line is one of the most compelling, back-pinning blasts towards the horizon currently available.
Fitted with massive 400 mm ventilated discs up front and 360 mm solid items at the rear, the updated Vantage returned excellent tested braking times, averaging 2.5 seconds for a 100 km/h to standstill emergency stop.
Already fans of the svelte outgoing model, we were genuinely surprised by how unapologetically raucous and purposeful the updated Vantage is. This is a statement car in every regard; from its bulked-up stance to its prominent powertrain and unapologetic soundtrack. And yet, as in the DB12, there’s also welcome attention to detail and intricacy within the packaging that we’re not used to experiencing from this British marque.
While a glance at the R7.2 million list price of this test unit proved sobering, there’s mild comfort in the fact the base car doesn’t want for much in terms of its inherent performance or dynamic ability. That said, as is Aston Martin’s modern mandate. It offers customers myriad options with which to customise their purchase – sadly, excluding the roof-mounted yellow flashing lights fitted to the Vantage Formula One safety car. With this in mind, while this is a spectacular car, we’d be tempted to see whether we couldn’t get a carefully specced and altogether more usable DB12 for similar money.
Find the full feature in the January issue of CAR Magazine.
