Porsche has had long standing designs that have kept the upper echelon of speed seeking society knocking on its door. However, the 2006 Aston Martin is the up and comer for the younger, freer, more spirited generation of upper echelon speed hunters who are looking for something that their fathers and mothers would be impressed with. The search for a little something different from the Porsche family brings Aston Martin to the front page.
The Aston Martin is powerful, light, compact, and definitely focused. Her styling is outstandingly unique and a leaves a definite mark on the pavement of impressive. The V8 Vantage gets its low, almost squat distinction from the high tech glued aluminum skeleton frame. The frame is based on the DB9 with a wheelbase that has been chopped to 102.4 inches. The overhangs were cut a bit and the V8 Vantage is a hatchback.
The aluminum and composite shell is not only lightweight, but she is perfectly styled to announce to the world that not only has she arrived but she has arrived with purpose and integrity. The short rear overhang in contrast to the longer and sleeker hood and nose give it a look which is reminiscent of a tiger on the prowl.
The designers put forth a more aggressive and heftier-with-purpose body than the DB9. The V-8 is a bit shorter than the DB9’s V-12 which allows for a shorter front end. The dry sumped V-8, at 4.3 litres, is mounted nearly centerline behind the front wheel line. Its smaller size and the dry sumping allow for the crank to be set close to the ground. Naturally the weight distribution enhances handling exponentially.
The six speed manual transmission was cleverly mounted just forward of the rear axel to create the optimum balance points. The manual trans is then joined by a carbon fiber prop shaft to the V-8. The wishbone aluminum suspension produces a smooth ride and oversized 235/40 front and 275/35 rear tires contribute significantly to the ride and performance.
The manual transmission has the disadvantage of an awkward reverse position, lingering remarkably close to where first gear should be, without the advantage of a lock out. There is a risk of slamming it into reverse rather than first, and if the driver is particularly into acceleration, taking out the car behind them instead of cruising through the traffic light. A later model provides the optional automatic transmission.
Competing directly with the Porsche 911, the differences are huge. Both bring power and performance to the table, but the V8 Vantage brings excessive handling as well. So much so that many state she is more of an experience in elegant powering than overall brute force power.
She is designed to be used for daily excursions rather than a rare treat that might make it out of the garage once every month. The Vantage was aptly priced to bring more would be performance car fanatics to the driver’s seat rather than the armchair. At $110,000 for the bare bones model, she is competitively priced with performance monsters that offer less. Considering the most expensive Aston Martin sells for $800,000 the Vantage is a remarkable value.
The only complaint lodged about the Vantage’s interior is the gauge needles on the instrumentation, glass needles are difficult to read against a metal background. However, the rest of the cabin is euphorically superior. The glass starter button thrums the V-8 to life, the transparent instrument calibrations are backlit with a blue iciness that shivers the spine, and every detail of the interior has obviously been gone over with a fine tooth comb more than once. The hand stitched leather and the suede pillars and headlining are just a couple of the finer touches that set this beauty apart from the pack. The metallic trim sets off these finer touches in an almost jewel like fashion.
Ford Motor Company actually owns Aston Martin, at least since the mid 1990’s, but the company is run by a German CEO named Ulrich Bez who was once upon a time a Porsche executive. His days of 911 racing long behind him, he brought to the table a very simple but workable concept. He believed that car design should start with 4 basic elements—the engine, the wheels, a driver and a passenger. From there the car is designed around the elements. The product of this very simple notion brought forth one of the finest performance cars available today, some say the finest.
The driver the Aston Martin V8 Vantage was designed around, however, was probably about 6 feet with a couple of inches to spare. Test drivers have stated that anyone over 6 feet should test out the driver’s seat before hopping behind their checkbook. Head room has been reported as marginal, but hip and shoulder room are reported as ample. However, the designers of the Vantage were intelligent in leaving out a pretend back seat and kept the Vantage a two seater to create a little more storage room. However, there is no quick release knob to bring the backrest forward, thus powering the front seat all the way forward to reach in for essentials can be a little taxing. The rest of the interior has received across the board excellent reviews. The interior stylists have created an amazingly stylish and functional interior without overdoing it. They maintained a classy interior while emphasizing the sporty pulse of the car, an interesting and high end achievement.
Aston Martin doesn’t necessarily carry a big name in racing. While the company entered consistently in events, it only ever walked away with on first place finish in the 1959 World Championship for Sports Cars.
Late in 2005, the Vantage outperformed the Porsche Carrera’s best ever time on the Nurburgrin by four seconds. Not a bad way to burst onto the scene. Of course, there are those who say it’s the driver while other claim it’s the car. And of course these are both valid arguments. Either way, it happened.
© 2007 Kiersten Stetser and Murph for www.sport-cars.org
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