 In
my mind the name "Aston V8 Vantage" always refer to an old fashion, big
V8 British grand tourer. It sat on the top of Aston's lineup and was
hand-produced at a rate of a few dozens a year, if lucky. Now Aston use
the same name for a modern, high-tech and nimble sports car. On the
contrary to its predecessor, it becomes the entry-level Aston and will
be produced at 3,000 cars a year. It will be Aston Martin's 911. All the good changes happened recently at Aston should be down to Ulrich Bez, the Aston boss who had been the father of Porsche 993 during his long service at the German sports car maker. Bez knows so well what made Porsche so successful - quality, image and character, apart from performance and driving fun. I guess he should also know his flyweight company cannot match Porsche in engineering expertise. No wonder he doesn't like to call the V8 Vantage a 911 fighter. Unfortunately, almost all motoring writers do this, and many compare both cars side by side to find out which one is better. And you can guess the result. Yes, Aston may be David, but Porsche is far smarter than Goliath. Sorry for telling you the result so early, but I just want to say we had better to understand V8 Vantage. At £80,000, it is in a segment where subjective feeling like image and character dominate the buying habit. If you think a 911 Carrera S is better simply because it goes faster, handles better and £15,000 cheaper, then you would be wrong. Does the 911 possess a look so beautiful as the Aston? does its cabin feel as bespoke as the Aston? can it match the rarity of the Aston? when you spend so much money, do you want to be treated as a royal customer, or just one of the 100,000 customers every year purchasing a Porsche vehicle?  The V8
Vantage's beautiful shape is again penned by Henrik Fisker. Compare
with the 2+2 DB9, the 2-seater V8 Vantage looks sportier. It is a true
sports car shape - unlike 911 which is still a coupe shape - with
flared fenders, very short tail and a sleek rising wedge shape. Aston
signature grille dominates the nose, as is the side ventilation behind
the front wheels. The car shares the VH platform with DB9 to make cost feasible. Because it switches to a small-capacity V8 instead of the big V12, the engine can be mounted further back and, when mated to the rear mounted transaxle, achieves an excellent balance of 49:51 front to rear. The 2-seater chassis is 315 mm shorter than DB9, but the wheelbase is just 140 mm shorter, implying the wheels are pushed towards the corners to aid handling. The chassis is made of aluminum space frames, bonded by rivets and glue like its sister car. Chassis rigidity is increased to 27,000 Nm/degree. The body consists of various lightweight materials, such as aluminum (doors and bonnet), steel (side panels and rear fenders), composites (front fenders and hatchback) and magnesium (inner door panels). However, the whole car tips the scale at 1570 kg, just 140 kg lighter than DB9. Porsche engineers must be proud that its steel monocoque 911 Carrera S undercuts that by 150 kilograms.  On
paper, the 4.3-litre V8 of the baby Aston is also considered to be
sub-standard. The origin of the engine is the 300 hp 4.2-litre Jaguar
V8. Although Aston tried very hard to improve it with its own cylinder
heads, intake manifolds, pistons, con-rods and crankshafts to loosen
its top end, it can only liberate another 80 horsepower at 7000 rpm.
The 302 lbft torque is as unimpressive. With variable valve timing at
the intake side only (this is untouched from the Jaguar engine), and
the lack of variable intake manifolds, no wonder it produces power
without the efficiency of Porsche's boxer engine, let alone Ferrari's
4.3-litre V8. The F430 engine produces an astonishing 110 more
horsepower from the same capacity and 40 lbft more torque. That car
stormed to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds and tops 196 mph. This makes the
Aston's 4.9 seconds and 175 mph almost leisure. Even the Carrera S' 4.4
sec and 182 mph can easily leave the Aston in dust.So what did Ulrich Bez bring to Aston?  The
answer is desirability. We always know desirability is not necessarily
related to measurable performance. I prefer to use Smart Roadster as an
example: it runs like a turtle, but its desirability matches a 911. The
same can apply to the baby Aston.The desirability starts when you drop in its hand-stitched leather buckets. The V8 Vantage employs a metallic instrument panel and center console almost exactly the same as DB9. The bespoke feel is not mass production sports cars like Porsche can reproduce.  Then you press the start button
and the V8 comes alive. Squeeze the throttle and it roars loudly in a
raw and violent sound, like an angry lion. What a sound ! how it
cheated those noise regulations is a mystery, but this unique sound
definitely adds to the unique experience in the Aston. I suspect the engine sound is one of the secret weapons of Bez to fight against his ex-employer, because it comes at no extra cost and it lets the V8 Vantage feel faster than it is. In fact, the car cannot keep up with Carrera S, let alone GT3 and the similarly priced 911 Turbo. BMW M6 is also faster. But these German cars have a common problem: they are mass production, or based on a mass production model. People buy them to exploit their performance. In contrast, the baby Aston is more like Ferrari (its production rate is the same as F430) - people buy them to enjoy their style and character, plus the premium image they deliver.  That said, the V8 Vantage is
the most user friendly Aston Martin to date. Its power delivery is
smooth and linear, its clutch is light and progressive, its gearshift
is even one of the best in the industry, being crisp and short. The
driveline refinement is impressive. On the other hand, the V8 Vantage also rides and handles brilliantly. Compare with the stiffly sprung DB9, the baby Aston rides much more comfortable, thanks to the lighter engine, stronger chassis and the extra time it spent to refine the damping. The ride is firm but supple enough to be a long distance cruiser. On poorly surfaced B roads, it is even more absorbent than the 911 Carrera S.  Steers
into corners, the baby Aston's flat body control and superb balance
inspires confidence. It might be just 140 kg lighter than the DB9, but
it feels much more nimble and the difference is the same as their type
suggest: sports car vs grand tourer. The steering, having lost speed
sensitive power assistance, is more precise and faithful than the DB9. That said, Porsche 911 Carrera S is even sharper – its steering has more feedback at lock, its tires provide more traction, its brakes are more powerful, and it corners with higher limit than the Aston can manage. The margin is small, but in every objective area the German car outperforms the British car even though it is considerably cheaper. It proves that Porsche is still the standard of sports car industry. However, the high level of precision, refinement and user friendliness achieved by the baby Aston is already sufficient to impress its wealthy target customers. Then they will consider the subjective aspects – design, engine sound, exclusivity.... Bez knows this business very well. |
| The above report was last updated on 5 Oct 2005. All Rights Reserved. |
