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Aston Martin V8 Vantage: Drive Another Day
ASTON MARTIN V8 VANTAGE
DRIVE ANOTHER DAY
Words by Alessandro Marrone
Photos by S. Lomax
Once you reach 5,000 rpm you are aware that it is too late to respect the many good intentions you promised yourself before leaving home.
The rear plate is definitely gone and I admit that for a moment I even thought of making fun of some speed camera somewhere close to our proving ground for the occasion. In the end I decided to repress my rude instincts and make the gentleman attitude prevail – so to speak – only exploiting the Aston for what was really conceived. There is no time spent without listening to the roar of the V8, made even rougher in Track mode, but reducing the Vantage experience to a simple list of everything that give goosebumps would be far from doing it justice. And the same goes for the unfair comparisons with the mighty AMG GT, from which it appropriately borrows and reprocesses the 4-liter and other salient features; the same comparisons must be taken carefully also thinking of the grown-up sister DB11 – especially the one pushed by the same V8 – because the Vantage is a wild animal and once you get on board it will play backgammon with your internal organs, annihilating every most remote self-preservation instincts.
Last year the V8 Vantage replaced and revolutionized a model so dear to driving fanatics, in desperate need of finding a proper heir. Remaining in the list since the now distant 2005, the previous series has in fact gone through numerous variants (even the legendary V12), without however allowing Aston Martin to take off that sort of DB9ish that has always seemed, more than anything else for the fact that the V8 Vantage has never put into play qualities purely devoted to performance, an aspect that with the new model is deeply different and stands as the true fulcrum of the brand, also awaiting a series of very interesting models ready to be placed on the market in the incoming years. The V8 Vantage is a whole other car, both from an aesthetic point of view, where a daring design which knows no half measures stands out – love it or hate it. The side profile becomes sharper, the belt line is very high and the narrow windows accentuate the aggressiveness of the car, as does the rear end where we have a muscular tail fitted with an LED strip that follows the spoiler and overhangs the impressive air diffuser. On the sides two small tailpipes, which scenically do not do justice to the turbulent melody of the 8 cylinders at front (the sports exhaust with two pairs of terminals is available as optional). To make the tail even more massive we then have huge 295 tires mounted on 20-inch wheels. But what really divides the opinions of enthusiasts and colleagues lies at the front of the car, similar to a mouth and that is about to bite (most likely its own number plate) the road you will offer to Gaydon’s last creature.
Which road? – I asked myself for days. Yes, because a car can be driven on any kind of road, but a sensory stimulator like an Aston Martin needs a road worth driving with all windows down, Track mode engaged and the awareness that you will arrive at the end of the week with less money in your bank account, courtesy of its petrol-thirsty 510 horses. And then the English brand is an authentic manifesto of elegance, sportiness and class. A lifestyle symbol widely used in the world of cinema and if you thought I would not have recalled 007, let me at least say that the V8 Vantage is the natural evolution of the DB10 concept seen in the movie “Spectre”. No one is chasing me and I’m not even remotely in the streets of Rome, actually to be honest, I abandon the city with ease. In fact, the Vantage proves to be a car capable of adapting to the circumstances and responding to your expectations in an almost empathic way: comfortable and gentle while the traffic around puts you in focus trying to understand what car it is, but sharp as a blade when you call into question the electronic differential that offers infinite grip and traction the moment before, and the possibility of widening the rear the immediate second later. It’s like a dance between you and the car, but you can do it with a third person, since there is space for a passenger next to you, exactly no children in the back, the V8 Vantage is a two-seater, but it is equipped with a large trunk for any kind of road trip, so I don’t see what you should complain about.
The short straights that separate the snake curves are not as boring as Steve McQueen would say, because the power of the AMG-sourced V8 is devastating. In Sport + mode the throttle response is so swift that traction control even comes into play in third gear, especially when the asphalt below me is slippery, but in Track mode the Vantage takes on the appearance of a huge bullet fired forward with a constant roar interrupted only by the exhaust explosions every time we act on the gearbox. There are 685 Nm of torque and they are available at just 2,000 rpm, point in which you have to make sure you have a good grip around the wheel and try to prevail in a continuous struggle with common sense. The engine pushes hard, and I mean very hard, so when you touch 5,000 rpm you are aware that it is too late to respect the many good intentions you promised yourself before leaving home. 6,000 rpm, without even realizing it and in an instant the tachometer touches the red line, discharging all the 510 horses of an engine that compared to the one tested on the AMG GT seems having a more violent and apparently precise progression. Even the gearbox, the extraordinary ZF 8-speed automatic, does its job well and although it is not possible to opt for a manual (at least for the moment), the ballistic speed with which the V8 Vantage moves is enough to keep you busy when the road stops being as gray as the traditional asphalt as we know it and turns white, snow-white.
For some strange reason I am sure that keeping the car in Track mode is an acceptable choice, but in reality the road conditions turn out to be really demanding and I find myself having to straighten the nose that often points towards the center and immediately afterwards towards the ravine on the opposite side. I slow my pace and while I feel like the huge tires crush the blanket of fresh snow, I really realize how easy to drive the Vantage is. Objectively it is a bulky car, it is wide, it has a pronounced front bonnet and although the seat position is excellent, the small glass surfaces do not facilitate all-around visibility, but more than anything else this happens while maneuvering. With the car on the run, instead, every situation turns out to be simpler than expected and so it seems knowing it for a long time, to the advantage of those situations you can put it in a realm of suitable curves and bring fire and flames into this glory ride.
I take advantage of the opportunity to crunch again a few kilometers in Sport +, with the roar of the exhaust that diminishes in intensity and the awareness of being able to count on some help from the electronics, an aspect that, since it is a grand tourer particularly suitable for long journeys, plays a role of fundamental relevance. The environment inside the cabin remains faithful to the one introduced with the DB11 and therefore we have a futuristic design that develops in a central tunnel covered in buttons and with two large air vents right under the screen of the multimedia system, precise and intuitive. There is no gear lever, but the appropriate buttons to select if moving forward or backward, arranged on both sides of the ignition switch. Behind the steering wheel there is a display divided into three dials – completely digital – which can be set according to the driver’s needs. In short, the instrumentation is complete, but to juggle all those commands we need to get used to it a bit.
There is no moment in which my soul is not invaded by the desire to scream the V8 of the Vantage and after leaving the snowy stretch of road, I sink the gas with even more violence than before. It answers instantly, breaks up slightly and then heads straight for that bend at the end of the road. I approach and meanwhile the engine revs keep rising, my eyes remain fixed halfway between the end of the bonnet and that imaginary point that continues to move towards the corner entry; I throw myself on the brake – a firm pressure but that lasts only a narrow lapse of time – then I set the wheel and my right foot timidly presses the throttle (hoping that everything goes the right way). The Aston shifts the weight on its right side and the tires bite the asphalt and keep me hooked on this moment that seems to last for an eternity. There seems to be nothing around, I do not hear the noise of the exhaust not even the scent of the leather and Alcantara interior. It is almost as if I could turn around and observe the world from a parallel dimension, smile and re-enter my body the precise moment the exhaust’s crackles break the air, the Vantage comes out of the corner and allows me to interrupt that moment of apnea, pushing once again on the gas like there would be no tomorrow.
The V8 Vantage is a completely new car, its look, its mechanics, but above all in the way in which it gives you emotions which are children of a disarming speed. It takes just 3.7 seconds to shoot from 0 to 100 kph and where possible manages to push to 313 per hour – and you call this an entry level model?! There are no carbon ceramic brakes, not a problem and by the way this is another confirmation that Aston Martin is not one of those brands that only lives with the eye on the chronometer. Aston Martin speaks another language, that of sensations, and you know well that in this area everything is way more difficult, because you don’t have to be just good at your job, but be able to convey that “extra something” that makes you leave the mobile phone at home, leaving for a destination that doesn’t even matter that much. It is the famous journey that matters, the sudden crossroads, the longest road. Call these things whatever you want, but these are situations that make your heart beat faster, that give you thrills and to which you’ll think with a hint of melancholy, because unfortunately they always end too soon. If the DB11 is an emotionally more mature grand tourer aimed at a demanding public that will likely make a more civil use of it, the V8 Vantage is the purebred sensation always ready to tear your soul apart, leave its own signature on the asphalt and then tidy up its look and take you to a gala dinner. But keep in mind one thing, no moment away from it will be easy to bear and there will be nothing left to do but to drive another day.
ASTON MARTIN V8 VANTAGE
Layout – front-engined, rear wheel drive
Engine – V8 cylinder – 3.982cc twin-turbo
Transmission – 8-speed automatic gearbox
Power – 510 hp @ 6.000 rpm
685 Nm @ 2.000-5.000 rpm
Weight – 1.530 kg
Acceleration – 3,7 sec.
Top Speed – 313 kph
Price – from € 158.772
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