Aston Martin’s new entry-level model, the V8 Vantage GT, is more than just a carrot that entices buyers to join the brand. With its racing-inspired components and unmistakable exterior, it’s easily the best driver’s car on the road today.
“Who Porsche?” I exclaimed with laughter as I threw a blue and red 2015 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT into a sharp left-hander in the mountains outside of Santa Monica, California.
Stepping on the gas as I exited the corner, the little Aston responded loud and revving to my shouts, filling my ears—and the ears of everyone within a half-mile—with the sounds of an unfettered 4.7-liter V8. It sounded like heaven and hell colliding together… but in a good way.
I grabbed the shifter, pressed the clutch and pushed the transmission into fourth. The engine roared once more as the lines separating my body – my being – from the cars around me seemed to blur, just like the trees, rocks and houses blurred against the windows as we quickly gained speed.
In that moment – where man and machine hit a harmonious vibration and connection – I realized that I was exactly where I wanted to be. I was at home.
Forgetting
I’ve been writing about cars for five years. At that time I was driving almost everything I dreamed of: Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Aston Martins (obviously), Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. But last fall, I found myself in a bit of a breakdown. Nearing the end of a year of making dreams come true, I came to a hard realization: they’re just cars.
Sitting behind the wheel of Aston’s V8 Vantage GT, I rediscovered my love for cars and the art of driving.
No matter how orange or V12-y they were, these marvels of steel, aluminum and carbon fiber were just cars: things on wheels to get you from A to B.
It was this awareness that derailed me a bit. I seem to have flown too close to the sun.
Over the years, writing about cars has gone from a path fueled by passion to a seamless task. It felt like I ordered a steak and it turned out to be overcooked. Yes, it’s still a steak, but chewing and swallowing was tedious work.
For several months I went through the motions, driving cars and writing about them without any real interest or excitement. I realized that it would take some time – and something really special – to reignite my love of motoring. Wonderful for me, the jump came sooner than I expected.
Sitting behind the wheel of Aston’s V8 Vantage GT, I rediscovered my love for cars and the art of driving.
With good reason
There’s a good reason why this little car, the entry-level Aston, rekindled my love of driving; it is designed to.
Aston looked at its line of hot, dashing, powerful and amazing cars and realized something was missing. Although each of its cars is an automotive masterpiece in itself, the brand did not have a party piece, dedicated to the simple art of driving. Accordingly, Aston engineers set to work creating the V8 Vantage GT.
They took their proven 4.7-liter V8, reworked the vented air intake system, and beefed up the spark strategy. These changes added more air to the engine at higher revs and ignited the gasoline more efficiently, creating more power and efficiency.
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The result is an engine – mated to a six-speed manual or seven-speed automated manual transmission – that produces 430 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque. All told, the V8 Vantage GT will accelerate from 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds and reach a top speed of 200 km/h.
To ensure it stops as well as it goes, Aston’s engineers looked to their racing GT series and attached better performance brakes and a quick-ratio steering rack. And, incredibly, it’s priced at $99,000, making it the entry-level model in Aston Martin’s lineup.
GT racer
After driving the V12 Vantage S Roadster last fall, I didn’t expect the less powerful, cheaper version to be any more lively or driver-friendly. I was wrong.
After a few changes, I got used to the heavy but intuitive clutch, the position and weight of the shifter and its linkages, the weight and directness of the steering, and the responsiveness and wonderful sounds of the V8. Within minutes I felt that I was not only driving a car, but a new addition. Behind the wheel of the V8 Vantage GT, the car quickly became a part of me.
Behind the wheel of the V8 Vantage GT, the car quickly became a part of me.
Frankly, no car has ever been so intuitive so quickly. More often than not, it takes me several hours to know, without actively thinking about it, what the car is doing or how best to handle it — when to turn, how much grip it will have, how quickly I can change gears.
Not so with the V8 Vantage GT. In moments, I dealt with hints of understeer by pressing the gas, threw the car into corners on foreign, mountain roads much harder than I would on anything else, and giggled like a schoolboy in line for a surprise pancake breakfast.
With most of my other reviews, I’m forced to dissect the car’s components and debate their merits. The brakes don’t fade, the suspension is flexible but stiff, and the steering is balanced and responsive. When I say things like this, it serves two purposes: to evaluate the parts and to make up for the fact that the car didn’t give me a comprehensive pickup. The V8 Vantage GT did just that.
The handling was astonishingly confident. With one flick of the steering wheel, I could send the plucky little Brit in another direction – without any fear of losing grip or ability. And with the Alcantara seats hugging my body tightly, I could worry not about staying upright, but about looking towards the next apex as the car hurtled between corners.
I mean, it’s all those things; every component achieves perfection. But its grin-inducing handling, for one, isn’t the story of the car; it’s the whole package. No weaknesses. This car has flaws. It’s a shining beacon on top of Driving Nirvana Mountain.
It looks just as good
Fortunately, Aston’s designers didn’t just add race-worthy parts to the car, slap a price on it, call it quits and tuck it away. Instead, they continued the performance narrative inside and out.
The designers wanted to give the introductory model a dark exterior. Accordingly, it is blessed with lacquered, diamond-turned aluminum wheels, black headlamp bezels, side window bezels and textured taillight finials.
They also made the optional color schemes quite distinctive. The one I drove, for example, has dark blue paint, a gray GT stripe on the side, and red accents on the radiator grille, roofline, side mirrors, and brake calipers. I like to think of this as a “Superman” color scheme.
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Some of my fellow journalists said that if it was their car, they would delete the gray strip. However, I thought it connected the lighter shade of the headlights to the body of the car, giving it a brighter visual feel.
The same colors were carried over to the interior on the Alcantara GT seats. Some might argue against a $100,000 car with almost no difference not having skin. Once you enter a corner at twice what your brain deems reasonable, you’ll be glad the Alcantara hugs your rear end instead of slippery leather.
To make it clear, I am deeply, deeply in love with this paint scheme. I find it to be the perfect mix between bragging rights and understated style. Passers-by noticed and appreciated it, but never made a face. And that’s exactly the reaction I’d want from my base Aston.
Conclusion
Driving the blue and red V8 Vantage GT through the hills of that Los Angeles winter afternoon, absorbing the sounds and feelings of that car, is forever etched in my memory and deep in my heart.
However, simply getting lost on the road isn’t enough to justify dropping 100k on a car. I mean, it is, if you have it to spare. To be worth that much to the rest of us, it has to be special… and, perhaps more importantly, better than the competition.
Once you enter a corner at twice what your brain deems reasonable, you’ll be glad the Alcantara hugs your rear end instead of slippery leather.
Yes, Porsche 911s are quieter inside and Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupes are faster. However, none of those cars draw the driver in and transport them into another realm quite like the V8 Vantage GT.
I love the Vic Jaguar, but as good as it is, it’s an imperfect machine. The ER is too clinical and sterile for my taste. Where the Germans use math to create such driving mastery, the Brits have harnessed their power to make the V8 Vantage GT so damn good.
In addition, customers get value for money Aston Martin, which is cosmically cooler than—if I’m honest—any other brand on the planet. But, again, that’s not the whole story.
Unlike other cars, it’s not its speed that defines it, but the overall experience. The V8 Vantage GT combines mechanical parts to create an experience, not just a machine to drive. It is not what it is with this car is right, but how does the driver do it feel.
There are intuitive cars, like the Mazda MX-5. There are fast track and road tamers, like the Nissan GT-R. And there are handsome guys like the aforementioned Jaguar. Fortunately, the V8 Vantage GT is all of those things…in one.
And it’s the best driver’s car I’ve ever driven. I hope to spend some more time with him soon.
Tall
- Relatively affordable price
- Iconic and enviable exterior styling
- Noisy, but not wheezing exhaust
- Perfect driving dynamics
- Intuitive driver engagement
Falls
- I still can’t afford it
Editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn