We’ve been told time and again, in the course of the past couple of months, that the new 2018 Aston Martin Vantage is a thing of beauty. That, beauty, was the theme of all the teaser. Now they have unveiled the thing, and, well, to be frank we are struggling to see what they were on about.
Don’t get me wrong. 2018 Aston Martin Vantage sure is unique and artistic and shocking. But beautiful is not the first word that springs to mind upon laying eyes on this car. And that’s what an Aston should be like. A proper Aston has to make you all hot in the pants the moment you look at it. This Vantage, though, it’s kind of confusing because one is not sure one is looking at it right. You keep shifting your head to see it from another angle, hoping things would improve.
So maybe Aston designers thought it would be a good idea to go with a controversial look, so as to get people talking about their creation. The design of the 2018 Aston Martin Vantage may or may not grow on you, but rest assured people are going to end up in camps of either lovers or haters over it. So let’s just ignore all that for now and check out the technical side of things. That gaping mouth and large splitter, along with the rear diffuser and spoiler, are all there to make the new Vantage one of the most aerodynamic cars in its class. This, the almost 50:50 weight distribution, and the kind of firepower this little sports car has opens up a whole new realm of performance to this nameplate.
The engine powering the 2018 Aston Martin Vantage comes straight out of an AMG GT S. It’s a 4.0 liter V8 twin-turbo unit with 510 horsepower and 685Nm of torque, mated to a ZF 8-speed auto box on a transaxle. Aston has used their own Electronic Rear Differential (E-Diff), so the Vantage can sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and flat out do 195 mph. The car is a nimble little sod, sothey have given it Dynamic Stability Control and Dynamic Torque Vectoring to keep things in check.
The Vantage features a high level of standard equipment, including keyless start/stop, tyre pressure monitoring system, parking distance display, park assist and front and rear parking sensors. The In-Car Entertainment system – controlled and viewed via a centrally mounted 8” LCD screen – comprises of the Aston Martin Audio System, Bluetooth audio and phone streaming, iPod, iPhone and USB playback and an integrated satellite navigation system. Prices for this weird but cool British sports car start at £120,900 in the UK, €154,000 in Germany and $149,995 in the USA. It will hit the market in the second quarter of 2018.
