Aston Vantage

Mojo Working

July 27, 2008
Pretty as it was, the original Vantage was never convincing as a 911-beater. But this is the car it should have been, says Tom Ford

The changes to the Vantage are all subdermal

He’s a dawdler, this German-registered Mk II grey Golf, swiftly dispatched on a long sweeping left-hand corner from 40mph with a determined exploration of third gear. There’s a brief pause as the revs build, a slurp of induction noise and then a hefty and relentless vertebrae strainall the way to a change-up around 7,400rpm – at which point, the noise is doing a good impression of something symphonic and faintly bestial. I’m going to be a bit deaf tomorrow if this carries on. No surprises, really. Except that for an Aston Vantage to provide such easy fury from relatively low in the rev range, to not ask for an extra stirring of the gearbox to maintain pace, means that this isn’t the Vantage we all know and are faintly disappointed by. It’s new. And even though it looks exactly the same, it’s a completely different car. Before you try to spot the aero tweaks and subtle body modifications, don’t bother. There are some new alloy wheel designs, but otherwise Aston thought the Vantage looked perfectly Giselle, and so didn’t bother pimping it into a taste void. Like colourful snakes, rusty needles and used Marmite, some things are best left well alone. Thank goodness Aston chose a conservative course – the Vantage still looks eye-popping, even after three years on the market, and would suffer if waylaid with stuck-on bits. After all, if you want a more aggressive small Aston, then look to the forthcoming Vantage RS V12. That’ll have more performance costumery than you can shake a splitter at.

>'The revised Vantage pulls hard and cleanly in a linear and genuinely exciting way'

So the changes to the Vantage proper are all subdermal and the better for it, but that’s not to say they aren’t significant. The engine has swollen from a 4.3 to a 4.7-litre V8, power is up from 380bhpto 420 and – more importantly for Vantage owners – torque has risen from 302lb ft to around 347lb ft. That’s the most relevant figure, because although the Vantage is now slightly faster than before (0-62mph in 4.8 seconds and a 180mph top end), that torque has transformed the driving experience. Where the ‘old’ Vantage required dedicated stirring of the gearbox to match the enormous noise to forward motion, this car suddenly has the ability to pull through a gear without the histrionics. Before, there was a chance that you’d become a little bored of those exhaust valves unleashing hell above 3,500rpm announcing your intentions to all and sundry, while you’re comfortably shadowed by a well-driven hot hatch. Not now. Now, second, third and fourth gears are an absolute joy that can dispatch any kind of A and B-road all on their own. Now you need not fear. On the bumpy, oddly-surfaced mix of fast sweepers and tightening hairpins that surround the Nürburgring (where Aston launched the car), the revised Vantage pulls hard and cleanly in a linear and genuinely exciting way. That extra torque really counts.

It still seems to have a little trouble coming down from very high revs – a fast change can still bring a slight over-rev as the engine fails to lose momentum – but otherwise it feels like Aston took note of the previous configuration’s limitations and damaging foibles, and set about erasing them. It didn’t need a new engine – just a sensible upgrade – and it feels like Aston has done more to this car than even the engineers are letting on. It really is that much of an improvement. There are other changes that help sharpen the Vantage into brighter focus too. The standard manual has a new clutch and flywheel set-up that makes the clutch pedal lighter and reduces the mass of the spinning metal within the transmission to help make the engine more responsive. The manual is better than before, but still sometimes baulks at first gear, and the clutch, like all Aston product, has a tendency to stink to high heaven at the faintest mention of slip, or a three-point turn. Apart from the transmission changes, both Coupe and Roadster get more body control andan improved ride mainly thanks to the changes originally introduced on the Roadster and now appearing on the Coupe – stuff like revised upper damper mountings and new bump stops, and the spring rates have increased at all four corners to keep everything in check, even when you decide to try and unleash full-bore on a bumpy corner.

>'How can Honda possibly make the new Civic appear to have even more sporting intent than it does already?'

The steering geometry has also been changed to give better response and feel on the standard car, and it really works. The maths and engineering part might be stupefyingly dull to talk about, but where the old car used to dart around and then become forgetful as you applied more lock, the new set-up retains feel all the way through a radius and doesn’t dive quite so hard towards an apex. The best news for those of us that thought the original Vantage just a little bit effete is the new ‘Sports Pack’ (retuned Bilstein dampers, even more uprated springs and a revised rear anti-roll bar on the Coupe) when used in conjunction with the new motor. Again, there are no body changes, but you can identify a car equipped with the go-fastest suspension by the forged 19in five-spoke, double-arm lightweight wheels. The new hoops save a kilo from each corner and help the more hardcore suspension do its job with minimum interference. The steering is the most obvious and instant change yet again. The front end feels even more positive, and the rear seems just that little bit less inclined to feel loose under hard braking. Best of all, you get to keep your teeth. The stock car is more comfortable, but if you’re keen on driving, then the Sports Pack-packing Coupe is the way to go. I know, it sounds like it could be a backache on wheels, but the truth of it is that the Sports Pack-equipped 4.7-litre Coupe with a manual gearboxis the car the Vantage always should have been. This revised Vantage is accurate, fast and noisy, with a defined Aston Martin character. Those that ordered a Vantage before January will be offered the revised version for an extra £2k, or the old car at the original purchase price. In my mind, it’s a no-brainer; it’s an almost unrecognisable driving experience, even if the face remains the same.

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