Aston Martin’s cheapest model takes a big step up into the 21st century
If you have a wad of cash to splurge on a luxurious and fast sports coupé but don’t want to follow the crowd into a Porsche 911, allow us to posit its brawling British rival.“We can’t think of another super-sports car that would make you smile more often†is how we described the second-generation Aston Martin V8 Vantage when we road tested it in 2018.We fell for its old-school V8 charm and impressive dynamics so utterly that it was our pick of the super-sports car class at the time.Depreciation hasn’t been kind to the Aston, but that’s good news for prospective used buyers, because you can now bag a tidy example for around £65,000, which is roughly £100k less than the latest Vantage.But if that tantalising saving alone doesn’t have you leaping for your laptop to boot up the classifieds, perhaps you’ll be convinced by the Vantage’s awesome firepower.There were some reservations that a Mercedes-AMG-sourced twin-turbo V8 would fail to imbue Aston’s entry-level sports car with the character it needed to fend off rivals from McLaren and Audi. But with 503bhp and 505lb ft of torque, the AMG V8 was more than up to the task, propelling the car from 0-60mph in a mere 3.7sec.A test drive of a McLaren 540C or Audi R8 will reveal that they’re tangibly faster cars, but the Vantage will win you over for how it trades all-out pace for real drama when you’re flexing its muscles.It sounds immense whether you’re pootling along at low speeds or snatching ratios from its snappy eight-speed automatic gearbox at the redline.It’s never raucous or overbearing day to day, though – and if you’re planning to use it for more than just weekend hoons, you should be able to achieve 25mpg on a motorway run. No hypermiler, sure, but it should be able to skip at least every other service station.Keen self-shifters will be drawn to the seven-speed dog-leg manual, which has a tactile throw that bonds nicely with the V8. Good luck finding one, though: we saw just two in the classifieds as this was written, and an equivalent auto will cost you less.For a stiffly sprung sports car, it rides pretty well and is a comfortable GT over a long distance. But divert onto a mountain pass and the Vantage shows impressive duality in its dynamism, thanks to predictable steering, excellent close body control and trick adaptive dampers.Because it corners with such immediacy, the Vantage is serious fun on track too, with its various modes (Sport+ and Track) turning it from a relaxed GT car to a supercar-baiting circuit weapon.If you want your Vantage to be even more track-focused, there’s the F1 Edition, launched in 2021 to mark Aston’s return to Formula 1. With stiffer suspension, an extra 25bhp, faster gearshifts and a suite of aero parts, it has even sharper handling on track – although you will need around £120,000 to buy one today, and there are no interior upgrades over the standard car.But that’s okay, because the Vantage’s cockpit was a strong point at launch and it has held up well. There are plenty of physical switches for the secondary controls, lots of cubbyholes and a nice, low driving position.The 8.0in infotainment screen – operated by a rotary dial – is a little dated and you don’t get smartphone mirroring, but several specialists such as CBS Automotive can upgrade the system to include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is definitely worth doing.Sure, it could have some more modern accoutrements, but we’re forgiving the Vantage for one simple reason: it’s among the most fun, characterful and affordable Astons money can buy.
