Aston Martin Vantage has been thoroughly renewed and now has 665 hp

The Aston Martin Vantage has been around for many years now. The Vantage designation was first applied to the DB2 Vantage in the early 1950s and with several years’ intervals, Aston Martin would never actually let go of the Vantage name. The current generation of the Aston Martin Vantage was presented in 2017 as a more accessible alternative to the DB11. The DB11 was thoroughly modified in 2023 and is now known as the DB12. Aston Martin is now thoroughly renewing the Vantage and calls the result ‘the new’.

The Aston Martin Vantage as it was presented in 2017.

To start with the bad news: the V12 does not survive the freshening. Previously, the Vantage was available with a V8 and a twelve-cylinder with a swept volume of 5.2 liters. It is no surprise that the V12 is disappearing. Aston Martin announced the very last versions of both the closed V12 Vantage and the open V12 Vantage Roadster in 2022. What remains: the V8, but in an upgraded form. The biturbo 4.0 V8 – an AMG machine – now produces 665 hp to the rear wheels. That is no less than 155 more than before. The torque has also increased, from 685 Nm to 800 Nm. With its new muscle power, the updated Aston Martin Vantage sprints to a speed of 97 km/h (60 mph) in 3.4 seconds. Its top speed: 325 km/h. The extra power comes from, among other things, larger turbos and the arrival of new camshafts.

Shifting is done using an eight-speed automatic transmission from ZF, a machine that sends the forces to the asphalt via an electronic limited slip differential. The updated Aston Martin Vantage should be stiffer than the original and should also offer more steering feel. The car has new adaptive shock absorbers and it will not surprise you that in addition to new hardware, new software has also been written to control everything. For example, the traction control, power steering and the various driving modes have been revised.

From the outside, the difference with the original is clear, especially at the front. The updated Aston Martin Vantage has a completely new front. The small, flat headlights have been replaced by much larger ones that are pulled further back. The grille in the bumper is also completely new. Externally, the Vantage moves closer to its higher-positioned brother DB12. At the rear, a lot remains the same as the old one. The interior is being completely overhauled. The old Vantage cockpit is replaced by a dashboard that – you wouldn’t expect it – is very similar to that of the DB12. Here too, a covered digital instrument cluster and a center console that visually flows into the wide center tunnel. Inside we find an arsenal of buttons and the infotainment screen.