We’ve seen Aston Martin’s Vantage for the first time 12 years ago, and it’s not going to retire anytime soon, here’s the changes it gets for 2018. The replacement is more striking, sharper, and much, much faster.
How much faster? Well, mash your foot on the right-hand pedal fast enough, and the Mercedes-AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 will put severe stress on your internal organs as 0-62mph comes and goes in just 3.6 seconds. Far quicker than the old V8-powered Vantage, and faster even than the V12 Vantage S. The top speed meanwhile is 195mph.
It’s made possible by that aforementioned V8 putting out 503bhp and 505lb ft of torque, with a reasonably modest 1530kg (dry) of car to punt around. That power is sent to the rear wheels exclusively, via a transaxle-mounted ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. Yep, no more ‘robotised manual’ shenanigans going on here, and for the first time in an Aston Martin, there’s an electronically-controlled rear differential. The diff can go from open to completely locked in mere milliseconds, Aston Martin says.
