Aston Martin gave the world its first look at its all-new Vantage — and it’s a thing of beauty.
The first thing you notice about the car is the Lime Essence paint that coats the exterior. It’s an assault on the eyes and looks more at home on Lambo than an Aston. However, it somehow works well for the Vantage.
We first told you about the car back in August when it was spied cruising around the UK. Back then it sported a camo livery that hid most of the design.
Now with the wraps taken off, we get a good look at how masterful the design is. In the past, most of the Aston Martin range looked rather similar. Now though, the Vantage has a completely unique design that sets it apart from the DB11 and Vanquish.
The long hood, wide grill, and squinty headlights take their design cues from the Vulcan, the extreme track toy shown in 2015. It looks like it’s ready to eat racetracks for breakfast.
To back up that look, Aston’s fitted the Vantage with the same AMG 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 the DB11 gets as an option. The engine makes 503 horsepower and 505lbft of torque. The sprint to 60 takes just 3.5 seconds and if you keep your foot in it, you’ll eventually top out at 195 mph.
The Vantage also shares its aluminum chassis with the DB11. However, nearly 70% of the Vantage is made of bespoke lightweight components. This means the Vantage tips the scales at 3,373lb — a massive 800lb less than the DB11. This keeps the car at a perfect 50:50 weight distribution too.
The suspension system gets active dampers with Sport, Sport Plus, and Track modes. Coupling this with sticky Pirelli P Zero tires made exclusively for the Vantage and the handling of the car is fantastic.
The diff is also rather trick. It’s electronically controlled and will go from completely open to 100% locked in a matter of milliseconds. This means drivers can channel their inner Jeremy Clarkson and go around corners smoking and sideways.
Currently, the Vantage only comes with the 8-speed ZF auto. However, according to an interview with Autoblog, Matt Becker, the head of vehicle dynamics at Aston, indicated there could be a 7-speed manual option in the near future.
The base price of the Vantage is right around $150,000. Aston Martin is currently taking orders for the car. Deliveries should begin in early spring of next year. If you’re an impatient potential buyer, or just want to daydream a bit, the configurator is now live.
A new Aston is always a fantastic thing and we can’t wait to see it in the metal. We will also keep our fingers crossed that Aston goes a bit mad and stuffs a V12 under the hood again.
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