An already great looking car just got faster and better looking.
Last year, Aston Martin launched the DB12, the latest in a long line of DB-badged high-performance grand tourers. The DB12’s stunning looks and new interior were big leaps forward over the previous DB11. Now, the British brand is giving that same treatment to its smallest, sportiest car—the Aston Martin Vantage.
This new Vantage features a similar silhouette to the generation it replaces and its rear end is nearly unchanged. However, from the A-pillar forward, the new Vantage is dramatically different looking and far prettier. Its hood and grille are very DB12-like and its headlights are now thicker and taller than the older car’s slim, squinty lights. I remember seeing the previous Vantage for the first time and thinking it was mostly great looking but the front end just looked off. Aston fixed it now, as this new Vantage is a stunner.
Thankfully, Aston fixed the interior, too. The last-gen Vantage’s interior had messy ergonomics, dated tech (even when it was new), and an oddly shaped steering wheel. Now, its interior is almost a carbon copy of the DB12’s, so it has a much cleaner center console design, a modern touchscreen infotainment system, gauges that actually seem legible, and, mercifully, a round steering wheel. It might bother some DB12 owners that the much cheaper Vantage essentially gets the same interior but Vantage owners will be happy to share it.
AMG’s familiar 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 returns but Aston gave it new camshafts, optimized compression ratios, an upgraded cooling system, and bigger turbos. All of those changes bump its peak output to 665 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque, which are upgrades of 155 horsepower and 84 lb-ft. It still pairs with an eight-speed ZF automatic and is still rear-wheel drive but, with a new launch control system, can hit 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, two-tenths faster than the last Vantage. Top speed is 202 mph.
The new Vantage is on a similar aluminum chassis as the outgoing car but is 29% stiffer under cornering loads, thanks to increased underbody and strut-tower bracing. Bilstein DTX adaptive dampers, a revised “non-isolated” steering rack—which has a fixed ratio rack but variable, speed-sensitive weighting—and bespoke Michelin Pilot Sport 5 tires are said to make it sharper than before.
Aston didn’t release any pricing but a starting price north of $150,000 wouldn’t be surprising, given the outgoing car’s $147,000-ish starting price tag. Deliveries for this new Vantage start in Q2 2024.
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