The gorgeous Aston Martin 4.7 V8 Vantage not only stirs your soul but is also a proper rival for Porsche’s acclaimed 911, writes The Wheel Deal
Nearly five years since the Aston Martin V8 Vantage went into production, it still has the power to turn our spines into jelly. In fact, designed by Henrik Fisker, the chap responsible for the DB9 and BMW’s Z8, this hand-built British sports car is probably one of the most alluring automobiles to ever charge across the surface of our planet. Moulded from a sweet blend of aluminium, magnesium alloy and steel composite, Gaydon’s smallest coupé looks flawless from any angle and, just like some smoldering femme fatale in a slinky black dress, shamelessly hotwires your soul with its pure, concentrated beauty. Seemingly impossible to ignore, once you get closer to the Vantage and open one of those rising swan doors, you’ll notice its cockpit is equally breathtaking. I’ve driven many sports cars, both old and new, and it’s fair to say that very few of them have interiors that excite you quite like the one inside this particular Aston. It’s definitely not the most ergonomic environment in the world, what with all those buttons sprawled across the centre console, but in terms of detailing and the way it makes you feel behind the wheel, well, it’s bloody brilliant. From the leather-lined dash and subtle red stitching to those chronographic dials and black Alcantara roof liner, sitting inside the Vantage makes you feel two parts Monte Carlo playboy, three parts Le Mans endurance racer. And that’s even before you ram the “Emotional Control Unit” into its slot and fire up that engine.
An all-alloy V8 bolted low and well behind the front axle to combat understeer, it explodes into life with a howl and settles at a low-pitched but menacing rumble; every last one of those pistons pumping with intent. Surprisingly lazy and relatively slow to react lower down the rev-range, once you floor the throttle and watch the steely needle flick past 4000rpm, this lump really comes alive, quickly shedding that yank-like gruffness and replacing it with all the metallic rage and fury that only a proper British thoroughbred can muster. Forward momentum, although it doesn’t really feel like it, is thunderously fast and before you know you’re racing along at speeds that should only ever be exploited out on the safety of a racetrack.
Brutal in a straight-line, the Vantage is also killer through the corners and slices its way through blacktop ribbons with an unshakable confidence. The amount of feedback flowing through the steering is totally visceral and, matched with Velcro-like levels of grip, makes this a machine that you can really thrash hard without worrying about crashing backwards into a bush. But despite its overt sporting credentials, this Aston also knows how to take it easy and is quite capable of plodding through suburbia or kicking into cruise control on some long road to an exotic location. From sports car to Gran Turismo, the Vantage checks all the boxes and actually feels a lot more polished to drive than its bigger and slightly more aloof brother, the DB9.
I do have one minor gripe with this icon of cool Britannia, however, and that lies with its optional Sportshift transmission. Although not nearly as bad as Audi’s R-Tronic found in the R8, it can be frustratingly clunky at times and makes everyday stop-start driving conditions particulalry uncomfortable. And despite the presence of two paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, the absence of a conventional gearlever between the seats makes changing gears through tight, arm-intensive corners rather tricky. Driven on the limit this gearbox does get better but on the whole I find it detracts from what’s otherwise a truly epic and magical driving experience. No, buy yourself the manual and I guarantee you’ll never want to own another car ever again.
Aston Martin 4.7 V8 Vantage Fast Facts:
Engine: 4735cc V8 petrol
Power: 313kW at 7300rpm
Torque: 470Nm at 5000rpm
0-100km/h: 4.7 seconds (claimed)
Top Speed: 290km/h (claimed)
Fuel Consumption: 13.2l/100km (claimed combined)
Price: R1 850 000
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