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Is there more to this wild Aston than headline-grabbing horsepower?

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At Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc, to give its full name, 2024 is shaping up to be a monumental year.

The firm, whose lineage stretches back 111 years, has announced that it will be returning to the top class at Le Mans, with two Valkyries poised to enter the World Endurance Championship. Elsewhere, an all-new Vanquish flagship – Aston’s emphatic, 824bhp response to the Ferrari 12Cilindri – has also been launched, along with a run of highly profitable, Fernando Alonso-approved special editions in the form of the manual V12 Valiant.

Behind the scenes, testing of the mid-engined, circa-£600,000 Valhalla hybrid supercar is beginning to hit its stride and the share price is showing signs of life after the delayed roll-out of the DB12 last year. Oh, and Adrian Hallmark, the hugely respected ex-Bentley boss, has recently joined as CEO.

However, perhaps none of the above is as significant as the arrival of the new Aston Martin Vantage.

Aston’s entry-level model – if you can assign that term to a 202mph car with 656bhp and 590lb ft – will be the V8-fired engine room of the company’s sales, outside of the DBX super-SUV. It is the sports car that will most often represent the Brit manufacturer in scraps with opposition from Bentley, Porsche, Mercedes-AMG, Maserati and, of course, those talented folks in Maranello. 

As we will soon discover, with this latest iteration the Vantage is also being repositioned as more a supercar-baiting athlete than ever, and as such is emblematic of the direction in which chairman Lawrence Stroll wants to take Aston. In its products, the company is openly gunning for Ferrari.

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So strap in to read about a car that looks similar to its predecessor, and indeed is quite similar fundamentally, but that is actually rather an altered beast, with myriad developments under that taut skin. Has a 30% uplift in power rendered a previously road-usable and approachable Aston Martin overcooked? Has straight-line speed come at the expense of poise and genuinely exploitable, enjoyable handling? Time to find out.

DESIGN & STYLING

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In appearance, the 2024 Vantage is mildly tweaked, enhanced and more muscular than the car that preceded it, and it maintains a DNA that has been around since the V8 Vantage launch of 2005.

If you see this car and that earlier model together, you will know straight away that they are kin despite the decades between them. Squat hips, a short rear overhang and a well-proportioned snout are the hallmarks, though the Mk3 Vantage espouses those traits more dramatically than ever. It also has the most domineering grille ever fitted to a Vantage and its 21in wheel diameter has only before been seen on the hardcore F1 Edition – the previous generation’s take on the Porsche 911 GT3.

The latest model is now also 1981mm wide across the body, marking a 30mm increase. It is not an insignificant width. In fact, the new car’s body is wider than that of the old DB11, which is on paper the more senior model. The chassis, a blend of aluminium extrusions and castings, is a similar architecture to that of the DB12, though this car is shorter of wheelbase than that one (at 2705mm it is slightly longer than the Ferrari Roma’s) and in overall length (at 4495mm, notably shorter than the Ferrari, interestingly) because the Vantage is a sports car first and a grand tourer second.

Kerb weight stands at 1670kg officially and 1745kg on our scales, with the 73-litre fuel tank brimmed. We weighed the previous Vantage at 1720kg, and you would expect the small uplift given the new car’s much larger cooling apparatus and various strengthening measures to the suspension towers, and the front and rear undertrays. Note, however, that our car was fitted with the carbon-ceramic brakes, which save 27kg and which the Mk2 Vantage tested in 2018 wasn’t equipped with. Reckon on a 50kg uplift all said.

Mind you, that little extra chub is rendered almost meaningless by the increase in power that Aston has given its AMG-sourced twin-turbocharged V8. From 3892cc, this motor, still located almost entirely behind the axle line, now makes 656bhp, up from 503bhp, taking the power-to-weight ratio to 393bhp per tonne. As a point of reference, that is just 4bhp per tonne less than the figure achieved by the recently retired Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

Drive is channelled to an eight-speed transaxle from ZF, integrated into which you will find an electronically controlled, clutch-based limited-slip differential. If a three-pedal variant surfaces, expect it to swap that for a traditional mechanical item. For the automatic we have here, there’s simply a 5%-shorter final drive than before (“We liked the ratios,” says director of vehicle performance Simon Newton), while our Vantage also has electric power steering with, unusually for a car on this architecture, no NVH-reducing coupling where the steering column meets the chassis, to increase steering precision.

Further enhancing precision is the fact that the chassis is more torsionally rigid, notably with a claimed 29% increase in stiffness under cornering load. This is among the more critical developments from Mk2 Vantage to Mk3, and lays the ground for new Bilstein-supplied skyhook dampers with, says Aston, five times the force-distribution bandwidth of the old car. AML-marked Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tyres (275/35 ZR21 front, 325/30 ZR21 rear) put drive to the road, with the help, if you so wish, of a new adjustable traction control system.

INTERIOR

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Chief among the Vantage’s revisions is the new interior, with cues and hardware and software of a type that was originally introduced on the DB12 and that we were, in the context of the inherited and frankly ancient Mercedes software of the old DB11 and previous Vantage, really impressed by. 

The central 10.3in touchscreen is still not the last word in usability – its icons are sometimes too small, its layout can be a touch unintuitive and the surface itself seems to get quite hot – but Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration will make life considerably easier for owners.

We are less enamoured with the purely digital display that constitutes the instrument binnacle. Yes, it has good clarity, but its graphics lack romance in a car like the Vantage and the capacitive controls on the steering wheel are prone to latency and can be entirely unresponsive.

At the same time, Aston evidently still believes to some extent in having physical buttons and dials, and the little grooved rollers that adjust temperature and fan speed and audio volume are truly lovely, not to mention straightforward to use on the fly, with barely a glance downwards. Useful when you have more than 650bhp underneath your right foot. There are also simple buttons on the wide transmission tunnel for tuning the major dynamic elements, and a large rectangular one to knock the gearbox into manual mode.

Stitching and material and perceived quality is high too, save for some lateral play in the stubby gear selector, and suchlike. Our test car also had trouble recognising when the substantial key fob was in the car, which is something that needs to happen before you can depress the brake pedal and start the engine via a push button. Aston Martins have come a long way in terms of electrical reliability, but perhaps there remains some glitches that you would be unlikely to find in, say, a Porsche 911 Turbo S. Occasional error messages also flashed up on the display, none of which ever amounted to anything.

The driving position itself is straight and low and the seats provide a good blend of support and comfort. Vantages have had a high window line and relatively inboard seating for a while, which can make them feel wider and less wieldy than they are. It’s a double-edged sword because this approach also generates a feeling of muscle and stance; once you are accustomed to it, you can enjoy the car’s undeniable sense of occasion.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Venture much into the modest travel of the throttle pedal and you will discover why Aston thought it necessary to increase the rear contact patch from 295mm in width to an eye-popping 325mm.

Given that this is no mid-engined supercar we are talking about here, only a comparatively junior sports GT without front driveshafts, the Vantage’s straight-line performance is at times confounding. Witness the 1.2sec taken to dispatch 40-60mph in second gear, or the 1.5sec needed for 60-80mph in third. Here we are dealing with a car in possession of power and traction enough to slam and then hold its occupants hard against their seatbacks at any moment.

Perhaps the most staggering figure of all, and a mark of this engine’s monumental breadth, is the 4.2sec taken to surge from 30-70mph while locked in fourth gear. That is seventh-tenths quicker than Porsche’s 911 Turbo S, and just a tenth slower than our recorded time for the DBS Superleggera. Relative to its positioning, this new Vantage is a true pocket rocket.

Standing starts aren’t of much relevance to the road but they are entertaining. The Mk3 Vantage gets a new software map and you can tailor the level of getaway slip with the Adjustable Traction Control system. We found that level five gave the best results: 3.5sec to 60mph was the result, though while this is certainly quick enough, there was notably less fizz and immediacy in the launch than you would get with a dual-clutch gearbox.

The 7.0sec needed to reach 100mph puts the Vantage 0.3sec up on the DBS Superleggera, if you can believe it. That said, when it comes to through-gear pace, the four-wheel-drive Porsche – the 911 Turbo S – is on another level to both Astons, needing only 5.7sec to get off the mark and blast into triple figures.

This AMG-derived V8 offers plenty of subjective appeal too. At 171bhp per litre the specific output is quite high, the trade-off of which is a good slice of turbo lag at lower revs. None of the testers minded this, feeling it added something to the idiosyncrasy of the Vantage, and it doesn’t hinder drivability on low- to medium-throttle loads in the slightest.

The shortened gearing also makes the Vantage a more enjoyable road car, though the shift quality is inconsistent, especially when moving down the ’box. This torque-converter auto is capable of swapping cogs with near instantaneous ease and is easy company when you’re pootling, but the occasional bit of low-speed driveline shunt, or a slight delay in actuation after you have called for a downshift, can frustrate and takes some shine off the powertrain that otherwise loves to zip up to the 7000rpm redline with surprising zeal for a gutsy, blown V8.

Note also that this is probably Aston’s most extroverted application of the AMG motor yet. There are three exhaust modes that start off passably subtle – a gentle growl and a little woofle – and escalate to something properly rorty and serrated, even before you get to the wicked exhaust crackle on the overrun. You don’t have to engage in all that, of course. One of the good bits about the Vantage is that you can have, say, the dampers set to midway alertness while the powertrain response is ramped up and the exhaust note at its least tempestuous. All can be saved in the Individual driving mode.

Stopping power? Aston offers two brake options: standard cast-iron rotors (400mm at the front and 360mm at the rear) and optional carbon-ceramics. Pedal feel is firmer than before whichever way you go, and from repeated high-speed stops there was no serious fade with the ceramics.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The Vantage’s transaxle layout allows it to achieve perfect 50:50 weight distribution – rare in the world of front-engined performance cars.

It lays the foundation for what is, by anybody’s measure, very fine handling. The Mk3 Vantage is a car whose front axle can be leant on with confidence and whose tail can be teased out of line with relative ease, if you’re in the mood. It has a neutrality the old car lacked, and that improved structural stiffness clearly pays dividends because this is a car with all the throttle-adjustability of its forebear but very little of that car’s occasionally spiky, unpredictable breakaway behaviour. You can take liberties with the new Vantage; take it by the scruff, so to speak.

And, oh boy, will you enjoy doing so. The Vantage lacks the effortless turn-in of the Ferrari Roma and the steely accuracy of a Porsche 911 Turbo, but it has its own particular brand of fluidity that is a match for either car when it comes to cohesive, intuitive direction changes.

This car isn’t lacking in agility, either. In the same way that the powertrain has been livened up with a shorter final drive, the fixed ratio of the steering has fallen subtly but noticeably, from 13.1:1 to 12.8:1. The new Bilstein DTX dampers provide all the control necessary to take advantage of this change, supplely supporting considerable mass transfer with a level of control that ensures the body rarely falls out of sync with your steering inputs. Confidence is the result. This car wants to go fast, and wants to help you make that happen.

You start to wonder how much of this is down to old-school engineering and how much it stems from the car’s new dynamics controller – 6D-IMU, they call it. The behaviour of the e-differential, torque vectoring, ABS and ESP is constantly informed by sensors on all the vital organs, as well as a six-axis accelerometer.

Whatever’s going on, the Vantage has an uncanny ability to get power down smoothly and, seemingly, organically. You can of course go full hooligan (see Track Notes, below), and the Vantage responds in kind, but as a road car it has a composure and speed potential unlike any previous Aston.

Criticisms? Hmm. A touch more granularity in the flow of feedback through the steering would be nice. Maybe lose that fleeting moment of nose-heavy inertia on turn-in, if that is even possible without essentially mounting the engine under the dashboard, Ferrari 812 Superfast-style.

Comfort & Isolation

We are delighted to report that the Vantage, though a touch more intense in its character than before, is effortless company for day-long drives. Anything less would have been a considerable blot in its copybook, because although Aston Martin has sought to level up its most junior product in terms of raw sporting intent, this is still a luxury front-engined GT car, so needs to have long-distance manners in its locker.

Fine driving ergonomics get things started – it’s possible for even taller drivers to achieve the traditional short-arm, long-leg arrangement, and the seats themselves are well sculpted. They are fairly deeply bolstered, but not unobtrusively so.

Visibility is good in the context of such cars but there remains a faint intimidation factor when you first slide aboard. The scuttle is high, the bonnet long, and the extremities of the car lurk in locations unknown. You adapt quickly enough, mind.

Ride quality is unexpectedly good. Aston claims these dampers are adept at separating out primary and secondary ride response, and that is our experience of them. There’s evidently a considerable spread between the softest parameter (Sport) and the most extreme (Track), but whatever you choose, never does the car feel floppy, or bone-jarringly firm, or inappropriate. It seems to work well almost all of the time. Impressive.

Noise is an interesting one. At 70mph we recorded 73dBA, which is the same as the old Vantage. That isn’t especially quiet, and a Porsche 911 Turbo S is considered very loud at 74dBA, but the nature of the noise isn’t wearing. We did 400 miles in a day in this test car and felt remarkably fresh at the other end.

Track Notes

As it stands, the Vantage exists as either, in essence, a pure road car or a Le Mans-going GT3 race car, without anything in between. That will, we suspect, change in time with the introduction of a derivative you could consider Aston’s answer to Porsche’s 911 GT3.

For now, know that this ‘regular’ model is still a hoot on track. With the ESP and traction control turned off entirely, it is perhaps the most throttle-adjustable car currently on sale – with a bit of weight transfer, there is seemingly no speed at which the Vantage can’t dramatically pitch itself sideways.

The impressive thing is that, relative to the alacrity with which the back axle can break away, the car is not particularly hard to catch and balance, which to us is the hallmark of something skilfully set up. You can use the new multi-stage traction control system, of course, and on a wet track day it would certainly come into its own, not only because there is an obvious difference between the settings and the level of intervention, but also because that intervention seems

to occur so naturally, allowing you to confidently drive through moments of yaw – little or large – while maintaining momentum. Out of smaller-radius bends, you can also hear the e-differential’s peculiar and pronounced zip- whine as it locks up and attempts to harness nearly 600lb ft of torque. We liked this.

Ultimately, though, the Vantage, in the form tested here, isn’t a track car and comes with caveats. The brakes are strong but lack some precision when it comes to modulating them. The slight understeer balance that is sensible for a road car prevents the Vantage from getting its nose into bends with true ease. It’s also a bit too heavy. Wild fun, though.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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In the new Vantage you have a product to which all the usual rarefied, big-hearted GT caveats apply.

At £165,000 before options this is not a cheap car, and it’s worth noting that the last iteration cost only £120,900, despite arriving on the scene only six years ago, and all the major mechanical bits having been carried forward – gearbox, engine, suspension. Equally, the tide has risen fast in this class, and before it went off sale even Porsche’s 911 Turbo S – faster than the Aston but lacking a little star power by comparison – cost more than £180k and Ferrari’s Roma was closer to £200k.

The new Vantage is very reasonably priced when you put it in proper context, and is only a little more expensive than AMG’s GT 63 – a car it has the better of in almost every meaningful way, except perhaps in terms of cabin technology, and for those who have small children. The Vantage still takes a purist approach, with no back seats, unlike the AMG and Porsche.

What of depreciation? Use your Vantage properly (and one of the joys of the new car is that it really can be used properly, day in, day out) and it will shed half its value in three years, according to CAP. In percentage terms this isn’t too bad, but in absolute monetary terms it will be painful.

As will the considerable thirst of the V8 when you uncork it. The Vantage has a generous 73-litre tank, from which you can extract 500-mile motorway stints without much trouble if you're deft, but as our track economy of 6.5mpg suggests, when on boost this engine can drain the car’s reserves in short order. Expect something around 15mpg on a good B-road. This is more of an observation than a criticism, mind. Even the basic Vantage is, after all, now a 200mph machine with a near-700bhp motor. 

VERDICT

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If a car has us scratching our heads, wondering where on earth its maker can take it next, it is normally the sign of a job very well done.

The new Vantage is such a car, because while its emphatic power and, as we have now seen, crushing performance will steal the headlines, there is an awful lot more to it than a monster V8.

For one thing, the Aston’s entry level has clearly moved up a step dynamically. It has more poise and predictability than before, meaning the excitement it delivers always comes on the terms of the driver.

At the same time, it has proper long-distance manners and plenty of luggage space, so while it is billed as a sports car, it has an awful lot of GT appeal in its locker too. As well as it might, with looks like that. Interior tech is also vastly improved. It is now a machine of stunning breadth and likeability.

Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.