A glance at the Aston Martin Vantage

The Vantage nameplate has been in existence since Aston Martin introduced the model back in 2005. The first incarnation of the Aston Martin Vantage remained in production up until last year, when it was finally succeeded by the all-new, second-generation Vantage. The posh British automaker unveiled the latest Vantage in late 2017, with deliveries to first customers commencing in the second quarter of 2018. While its precursor is still considered as one of the most beautiful and elegant sports cars to be ever made, after over a decade of service, it was not only starting to feel its age on the inside, but also in terms of its performance and on-board technology. The new Vantage borrows its underpinnings from the new and spectacular DB11, thus lending the Vantage more structural rigidity, lightness, and improved handling characteristics.

And while the all-new Aston Martin Vantage uses the DB11’s bonded-aluminum architecture, the niche marque claims that only around three-fourths of the components are shared between the former and the new Vantage; with the rest being custom developed for the Vantage from scratch. In the United Arab Emirates, some of the new Vantage’s staunch competitors include the Porsche 911, Lamborghini Huracan, BMW M6 Coupe, and even Bentley’s new Continental GT.

Exterior

The evocative exterior shape and styling of the new Aston Martin Vantage isn’t just to make it look pretty (which it does), but primarily about art following function. The new model’s design is a lot more striking, with an intrinsic aggressive quality built into it. The sharp and sleek front fascia sports a low-slung nose, long, tapering and craftily-sculpted hood, thin LED headlamps with distinctive LED DRL elements, chiseled bumper, large air-intake opening and a front splitter. The stellar silhouette of the Vantage showcases its steeply-raked A-pillars, extended wing mirrors, pronounced side skirts, large side vents, stylishly contoured swan doors, flared fenders and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Meanwhile, the tapered back of the new Vantage shows off the coupe’s rear haunches, stubby trunk with an integrated spoiler, contemporary-looking LED tail lights with a central strip connecting the two main units, an overly aggressive lower apron with twin-exhaust pipes and a serious-looking rear diffuser. As for its dimensions, the new Aston Martin Vantage comes in at 4.465 meters in length, 1.942 meters in width, 1.273 meters in height, and has a wheelbase of 2.704 meters.

Interior

The interior design and layout of the old car was definitely one of its weakest spots, as it was starting to look really dated and lacked many of the modern features that its rivals were offering. However, all that has changed (for the most part) as this all-new Vantage boasts a sporty and modern cabin with plenty of customizable options. There are some really cool and quirky elements in here such as the flat-bottomed steering wheel, funky instrument cluster and center stack button layout, and sumptuous semi-bucket leather seats with contrast stitching to name a few. There’s carbon-fiber, too, along with real metal accents, Alcantara on the headliner and door pillars, plus customizable stitching on almost every conceivable interior panel and surface.

The all-new Vantage comes loaded with modern equipment like adaptive dampers with custom modes, sports exhaust, keyless start-stop, dual-zone climate control, heated & ventilated seats, all-around parking sensors with surround-view cameras, cruise control, electronic parking brake, premium sound system, and an 8.0-inch infotainment display with built-in navigation among others.

Engine and performance

Under the clamshell hood sits a Mercedes-AMG sourced 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 with 503hp and 685Nm on tap. Spinning the rear wheels via a ZF 8-speed automatic and assisted by an all-new electronic differential, the 1.5-ton Vantage can reach past the ton-mark in 3.6 seconds, before eventually peaking at 314 km/h.

Verdict

Safe to say, the new Aston Martin Vantage isn’t a cheap or logical purchase. However, if you’ve between AED 600,000 to roughly AED 1,000,000 lying about, this undoubtedly is one hell of a sports car.