The 'baby' of Aston Martin's family is getting older -- but with plenty of new hardware, it's getting faster.
It's a wonder how new muscle and a fresh wardrobe can shake off age.Now in its eighth year, the baby Aston Martin Vantage has a few wrinkles -- the Volvo-sourced switchgear from its former Ford ownership and the pop-up nav are two examples -- but the latest V12 Vantage S hides them well. Especially at 205 mph.
That makes this entry-level model the fastest Aston in production, aside from the out-of-print One-77 supercar the Dubai Police just purchased, which reaches 220 mph. It's also 15 mph faster than the V12 Vantage it's replacing.
For the V12 Vantage S, Aston plucked the 565-horsepower V12 from its flagship Vanquish and fitted a racing-style electrohydraulic 7-speed automatic gearbox similar to those used on its Vantage race cars. All other Aston models, even the One-77, use six gears. Quicker shifts, along with an adaptive damping system that changes the suspension stiffness to one of three modes, are here specifically to eat Porsche 911s.
The steering, developed by ZF, offers a quicker ratio and two levels of boost. When the "Sport" button is pressed, the steering becomes heavier, and the exhaust -- lighter, smaller and built off the unit in the One-77 -- sounds appropriately nasty and uncivilized. A carbon fiber grill, black 10-spoke rims, black roof and black paint between the taillights cap off its new bumblebee costume.
Pricing hasn't been announced, but with the current V12 Vantage at $182,650, we wouldn't be surprised if Aston added an additional 10 grand.
While the Vantage has been around in its current generation since 2006, it's just as smoking hot to drive as the day it arrived. Unlike much of the car industry, boutique manufacturers like Aston Martin can't afford to overhaul their models every five years. All the V12 Vantage needed was some gym time.
You'll need some time there, too, if you're ever going to fit in this Aston's slim carbon fiber bucket seats.
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