The Aston Martin Vantage is the most underrated supercar, and one of the reasons it doesn't get the recognition it deserves is that it sits in a class of its own alongside other Aston Martins since they're all underrated. It combines proper supercar performance and aesthetics and a GT car-worthy cabin with comfort features that elevate the Aston Martin Vantage's driving experience, offering a serene oasis of comfort and luxury. Some might argue that the Aston Martin Vantage is not a true Aston Martin, mainly because Aston Martin uses a Mercedes powerplant in it. But it's very much deserving of the name that has been in Aston Martin's household since the 1950s. The engine most criticized for being used in the Vantage is the Mercedes 4.0-liter M177 engine, which makes between 503 and 528 horsepower depending on the model year and spec. Three years after unveiling the new Vantage, Aston Martin unveiled a V12 Vantage they started producing in 2022. As the name suggests, it has an Aston Martin-developed twin-turbocharged V12 engine, making close to 700 horsepower to the rear wheels! That should make the naysayers take back their opinions about Aston Martin not making their own engines. However, the Vantage V12's production was limited to 333 units. Buying a 2023 Aston Martin Vantage from Aston Martin will set you back $146,986, but for around $100,000, you can easily get a clean, used, low-mileage unit for sale, for example, this 2019 Aston Martin Vantage. If your eyes are set on the Vantage V12, those for sale are rarely listed for prices below $330,000.
The Vantage name is iconic in Aston Martin's history. It was initially used in 1950 as a suffix to the Aston Martin DB2, one of Aston Martin's earliest GT cars. The Aston Martin DB2 and other cars, such as the Aston Martin DB4 that used the Vantage name, had higher performance than the base models, a characteristic the current Aston Martin Vantage embodies. Aston Martin didn't use the Vantage name independently until 1972, when they made the Aston Martin Vantage V8 as a high-performance Grand Tourer. The Vantage V8 was followed by the Vantage V8 V600 and four other generations before the current Aston Martin Vantage AM6 that Aston Martin unveiled in 2017. It went into production the same year at Aston Martin's assembly factory and state-of-the-art headquarters in Gaydon, United Kingdom, and customer deliveries began rolling out in 2018. Like its predecessors, the current Aston Martin Vantage offers exceptional performance, style, comfort, and driving pleasure, attributes only found in GT cars. However, it doesn't share anything in common with its predecessors under its skin as Aston Martin completely redesigned the Aston Martin Vantage. In Marek Reichman's Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer, words the New vantage has the most powerful and provocative design language ever seen in a Vantage. But it doesn't lack some design elements from its predecessors, such as the long nose to accommodate the engine and bulky but smoothly shaped rear end. Aston Martin says that while the Vantage has benefitted from thrilling performance improvements, its bloodline's legendary intensity lives on.
Positioned strategically low and far back in the chassis is the Aston Martin Vantage's power plant, a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 churning out 503 horsepower, but they're not entirely British Ponies. The 4.0-liter V8 is Mercedes' M177 engine, also used in the Aston Martin DB11 and DBX due to a partnership between Aston Martin and Mercedes in 2013. There's more to why Aston Martin used the Mercedes engine, but we'll leave that for another day. The engine sends power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed ZF dual-clutch transmission, delivering the perfect balance of performance and refinement. It also has adaptive software designed to detect driving conditions, and driver demands to provide precise and smooth gearshifts and ensure the car is in the right gear at the right time. Bolting from 0-60 in a blistering 3.6 seconds in the V8 model and 3.4 seconds in the V12 model, the Aston Martin Vantage has thrilling acceleration that makes it seem like it weighs less than the Aston Martin-specified 3,373-pound dry weight. Top speed also differs between the Vantage V8 and Vantage V12, with the V8 having a lower 195-mph top speed than the V12's 200mph. Twin-turbo efficiency enables the Aston Martin Vantage to achieve impressive fuel economy without compromising performance. The Vantage V8 will do 18 miles to the gallon in the city and 24mpg on the highway, bringing combined fuel economy to around 20mpg, which is quite impressive for a supercar. On the other hand, the Vantage V12 has a combined city/highway fuel consumption of 16mpg from its 14mpg city and 22mpg highway fuel consumption.
For 2023, Aston Martin left the Aston Martin visually unchanged, only adding and removing some options in the Vantage F1 spec. Third-party sources indicate that the transmission was re-tuned for more precise and quicker shifts, and braking performance was improved for the 2023 Aston Martin Vantage. In May 2023, Aston Martin announced Bowers & Wilkins as their official audio partner and promised that a 15-speaker, 1,170-watt surround sound system would be featured in future Aston Martins over the coming years. The Aston Martin Vantage is most likely among the first models that will get this sound system as an option since the OEM sound system isn't really great. But these are minor and unnoticeable upgrades to most, and what captured attention in the car scene is the production and deliveries of the Vantage V12 and Roadster. Aston Martin unveiled the Vantage V12 in 2022 and announced that they would only be making a limited number of 333 units, all sold out even before the 2023 scheduled production began. 249 of the 333 Aston Martin V12 units will be produced as Coupes, while 84 will be Roadsters.
The Aston Martin Vantage's interior exemplifies pure luxury and comfort without depriving the cabin of the sporty aesthetic necessary in any supercar. As standard, the Aston Martin Vantage comes with leather Sports Seats, which can be optioned with ISOFIX on the passenger seat at no extra cost. The Aston Martin Vantage also gets the Sports Seats Plus, which offer excellent body support without compromising comfort. However, these come at a cost. Interior materials in the Aston, mainly leather, aluminum, and carbon, give the cabin a luxurious finish. It gets better with dozens of customization options that Aston Martin will charge you a pretty penny for, but they're worth it. You can even change the carpet and headlining colors! Controls in the cabin are ergonomically placed to ensure constant attention on the road. Suspension, voice, call, engine response mode, instrument cluster, and infotainment are all on the steering wheel, eliminating the need to remove your hands from the steering wheel. The AC controls and other controls, such as the SOS button, gear selector, and traction control button, are easily reachable on the center console.
Aston Martin offers over fifty exterior color options for the Aston Martin Vantage, all of which perfectly showcase the car's, as Aston Martin calls it, predatory stance finely tuned for stealth and survival. We like to assume that the predator they had in mind is a shark since the Vantage gives a Great White vibe when viewed from its best angle, the side profile. The side gills integrated into the body surface to bleed air and pressure from the front wheel arches give it an even more aggressive shark appearance, but the front end is just as bold. It features Aston Martin's bespoke vane grill that takes up a major part of the front bumper and can be swapped for the older style meshed "Hunter" grill, which is equally good-looking. Despite the engine being at the front, the front end on the Aston Martin Vantage swoops lower than before to maximize airflow over the hood and onto the low-slanting windscreen. At the rear, the Aston Martin Vantage adopts a new design with new tail lights, which, together with the new headlights, give it an unmistakable road presence and identity in the Aston Martin range.
In-cabin entertainment in the Aston Martin Vantage is made possible by an Aston Martin Sound System, but starting in 2023, buyers can opt for a 15-speaker, double amplified, 1170-watt Bowers & Wilkins sound system. But something that might never get an upgrade is the tiny 8-inch LCD infotainment display that does injustice to the Aston Martin Vantage's luxuriously appointed interior. Small as it is, the display has a three-channel radio, Bluetooth connectivity, satellite navigation, and iPod and iPhone integration, but sadly, no Android Auto. All seat options in the Aston Martin Vantage have heating, cooling, and electric adjustability functionalities, and they're also ventilated for maximum comfort. Further enhancing comfort is cabin air filtering and air conditioning with multizone climate control.
Priced at $146,986 when new and without options, the 2023 Aston Martin Vantage is worth every penny and perhaps even more than what Aston Martin will charge you. The Vantage V12, before it sold out, was selling at a starting price of $298,200, which is over twice as much as the Vantage V8, but it offers more than a new engine with more power. You can buy an Aston Martin Vantage through Exotic Car Trader today, and if you can't find a spec that suits you, we guarantee daily listing updates, so ensure you watch out for our Aston Martin Vantage Listings.
The Aston Martin Vantage emerges as an undeniably potent yet underappreciated gem in the supercar realm. Its distinctiveness lies in its subtleness, where its true potential might be overshadowed compared to today's high-performance supercars, but the Vantage is not about speed. It offers a unique blend of high-performance supercar capabilities and luxurious grand tourer comfort, fostering an ambiance that transcends the ordinary driving experience.
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