The Aston Martin DB11 V8 is a sensational GT. It’s fast, it looks good, it sounds amazing and it is around $40,000 cheaper than the DB11 V12 models. It’s a four-seater too so it is somewhat practical and the trunk is big enough for a bag of golf clubs. Happy days then. It has a muscular sporty engine yet it’s extremely comfortable. However, the smaller Aston Martin Vantage also shares the same engine as the V8 DB11 and it has the same power and it’s a lot sportier. It may have two fewer seats and a smaller rear trunk, but that doesn’t matter.
The Vantage is a full-on sports car yet it is still pretty comfortable. It’s default drive mode is a sport. There is no soft GT mode like you get in a DB11, but that shouldn’t matter. The Vantage beats the DB11 in some areas. The first area is the price as the Vantage starts at $152,995 which is almost $50,000 less than the DB11. It does a better 0-60 than the DB11 as it beats it by 0.3 seconds. Flat out the Vantage does 195 and the DB11 does 187.
These performance figures may be pretty irrelevant in the real world but either way, the cheaper Vantage is faster. However, that’s expected since it is a sports car whilst the DB11 is a GT. You would expect though that the more expensive car would be faster but I guess that’s not what you buy a DB11 for.
The V8 Vantage Overview
The V8 Vantage is a stupidly fast sports car with 503hp and 505 lb-ft of torque from a Mercedes M177 AMG engine seen in the GT-S and the C63 AMG S. It will crack a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds and flat out do 195 mph. Stupidly fast then and the power is sent to the rear. It’s a lot more powerful than the old Vantage and it is also so much sportier.
The new Vantage is mainly based on the Mercedes AMG GT, which is a brilliant sports car. The engine is mounted behind the front wheels which means it is somewhat mid-engined. If you open the hood, you can actually see the turbochargers behind the silver heatshield and they look deadly. It is a seriously muscular engine.
Under the hood is a 4.0 Biturbo Mercedes engine and it is seen in pretty much every Mercedes V8 AMG model currently on sale today, including the faster AMG GTR. Don’t think for one minute though that it’s some dragged up Mercedes AMG that costs almost $40,000 extra. Aston Martin has tuned the car to their standards.
You may laugh when I say that since Aston Martin aren’t really known for the highest of standards, however, in recent years they really have changed themselves and the Vantage is a key example of that. It’s made to be more of a brute, more British, more tweed suits. The exhaust has been changed so it makes more of a grumble and it also utilizes a ZF automatic gearbox rather than a Mercedes speedshift dual-clutch system. It’s a lot more comfortable and inside and out, the Vantage looks better.
It also has more torque than the GT-S which means it feels more aggressive and it is more of a tire shredder. However, unlike the old Vantage, the new car is so much better to drive. It’s more nimble with its 50/50 front-rear weight distribution. That’s thanks to where the engine is placed, which is thanks to the engine being placed as far back with the chassis as possible. It is also the first-ever Aston Martin with an electronically controlled differential with torque-vectoring.
The Vantage is built on the same bonded aluminum platform as the DB11, however, 70% of the parts of the Vantage are made only for the Vantage specifically. That’s insane.
The 30% of parts that aren’t only made for the Vantage are quite visible though and quite big. First, you have the engine, then you have the whole interior display and entertainment system. Then there is the gearbox, the seats, the paddle shifters, etc. This car must have a lot of parts then because that is a fair amount of major car parts that are shared across not only the Aston martin network but also other car brands.
The Vantage Beats The DB11 When It Comes To Interior
It’s a shocker. The DB9 used to kill the Vantage inside and rightfully so, as it costed more. The DB11 though is a mess inside. The interior trim options are embarrassing and the fittings aren’t the best. The whole design even is just boring. It’s not classy as it once previously was and it’s not even that exciting.
The Vantage though has an incredible interior. It feels more like a cockpit as everything is closer to the driver making it more accessible to use. The gear selector buttons are all nicely laid out rather than being put in a straight line in the middle of the dash. It just seems Aston Martin has taken so much more time, care, and attention when building the Vantage’s interior compared to the one seen in the DB11.
There are some complaints though. The buttons in the centre of the dash look too squashed together and the steering wheel is square so it’s not really a “wheel.” Also, the media display looks a bit cheap and old since it is trimmed on the surroundings in leather. It also feels too Mercedes like with the touchpad, the dial, the screen, etc. The seat controls are also in the wrong area. They should be on the actual seat, not next to the seat in an awkward position which you cannot reach when you’re driving.
However, ignore all of these and you realise the new Vantage inside is a masterpiece. They even advertise it pretty well too, referring to the switchgear as “jewelry.” Though they do that on all their other models too. I love the center starter button too, as it just seems so much more special than it is there. It’s like the car is ready and waiting to go. The DB11 has it’s starter button in the middle, but you have to stretch out to reach it and that takes effort.
The trim options are pretty cool too. You can have a painted inlay, wood or carbon fiber. They suit the interior better than they do on the DB11, mainly because there is less of it in the Vantage.
It doesn’t feel as sparse as a typical sports car inside. It still has that GT feeling, yet it is so much more exciting.
This is the Aston Martin for young people then. It was first seen in 007 James Bond Spectre as the DB10 (same engine and design) and now it can be yours today. It even shares a similar nose to the top Valhalla and RB 003 models. It’s exciting yet classy and the colours are pretty cool too.
Featured image credits via: carwow.co.uk