The Aston Martin Vantage is a two-seater grand tourer manufactured by British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin as a successor to the previous outgoing model which had been in production for 12 years. It was unveiled on 21 November 2017. Deliveries of the new Vantage began in June 2018.
Specifications and performance
The Vantage uses the powertrain and infotainment technology from Mercedes-Benz, like the DB11. The Vantage uses Mercedes-AMG's M177 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine that has a power output of and of torque as is equipped with the Mercedes COMAND system. The Vantage is capable of accelerating from in 3.6 seconds, and attaining a top speed of. The Vantage uses a rear-mounted 8-speed automatic gearbox manufactured by ZF Friedrichshafen, and will be the only vehicle that pairs the Mercedes-AMG V8 with a manual transmission when the combination is made available. The engine is positioned as far back with the chassis as possible, and a 50/50 front/rear weight distribution has been achieved with the car. The Vantage is also the first Aston Martin production car to feature an electronically controlled differential with torque vectoring, and is built around the same all-new bonded-aluminium platform as the DB11, although around 70% of its components are said to be unique to the Vantage.
Variants
Vantage AMR
The Vantage AMR is a track focused variant of the Vantage. The main highlight of the model is the replacement of the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission with a dog-leg Graziano Trasmissioni 7-speed manual transmission previously used on the V12 Vantage S. The AMR also comes with a driver selectable AMSHIFT system which controls the throttle during gear shifting. A new limited-slip differential ensures linear delivery of power. The power-band of the engine is widen and the unit is designed to deliver of torque from. 2,000 rpm to 5,000 rpm. The use of a manual transmission and carbon ceramic brakes reduce the weight by. New adaptive dampers with the section of Sport, Sport + and Track modes improve handling. A limited-slip differential ensures linear power delivery. Performance figures include a 0- acceleration time of 3.9 seconds, half a second more than the standard Vantage while the top speed remains the same as the standard model. Visual changes include 20-inch forged wheels as available on the Rapide AMR, new carbon fibre side vents and cooling vents present on the hood a sports exhaust system with quad tail pipes and racing bucket seats. Production of the AMR will be limited to 200 units worldwide. Available exterior colours for the AMR include Sabiro Blue, Pnyx Black, China Grey and White Stone. The final 59 cars will be finished in a Sterling Green exterior colour with Lime accents and will pay homage to the 1959 24 Hours of LeMans victory of Aston Martin. Once the production of the AMR ceases, the 7-speed manual transmission will become available on the standard Vantage.
Vantage Roadster
The Vantage Roadster was revealed in February 2020 with a fabric roof. The roof, claimed to be the fastest of any automotive automatic convertible system, takes 6.7 seconds to lower and 6.8 seconds to raise and can be operated at speeds of up to 50 km/h.
Design
The design of the new Vantage is inspired by the track-only Vulcan and the purpose made DB10 that appeared in the James Bond filmSpectre. The front grille, specifically inspired by the Vulcan, helps in efficient engine cooling. The Vantage's interior configuration also differs from the DB11 in various ways apart from seating capacity, such as the center console design. Whereas the DB11's center stack controls are quite intuitive and more spatial in terms of button/switch arrangement, the Vantage's appears more cluttered and lacks an optical disc drive, as well as separate temperature displays for the automatic climate control. For purpose of weight saving, the Vantage also forfeits the passenger glove compartment and maintains a simple center console design.
Motorsport
GTE
The Vantage GTE is the GTE-class racing version of the Vantage made to compete in the FIA world endurance championship. Like the road-going car, the GTE uses the Mercedes-AMG V8 engine, though it is paired with a 6-speed Xtracsequential gearbox. Additional changes are made to the engine to increase power. The car is convertible to GT3 specification.
DTM
, in partnership with Aston Martin and R-Motorsport, announced an all new car for the 2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, based on the new Vantage. The Vantage will compete in place of Mercedes-Benz's entry after the manufacturer left the competition to focus on Formula E.
