Stunning New 2019 Aston Martin Vantage Now Available
September 06 2019,
Totally redesigned Vantage priced competitively
Porsche 911 Turbo or Aston Martin Vantage? This age-old question has taken on even greater relevance this year, thanks to the all-new 2019 Vantage arriving on the scene.
Making the argument from the Aston Martin even more appealing, the revolutionary new Brit is $11,705 less expensive than the continually evolutionary German, at $172,495 compared to $184,200 (2018 model year pricing).
For that you get a sports coupe capable of competing with its Teutonic rival on road and track, unless the challenge is pulling eyeballs from passersby, because the completely redesigned Vantage is a bonafide exotic.
Modern car art that still pays tribute to Aston Martin's glorious past
The new 2019 Vantage is a radical design departure from its predecessor. It's more modern sculpture than neoclassical, having been heavily influenced by the sensational DB10 prototype best known for its "star car" appearance in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, although close inspection shows a great deal of refinement from concept to reality.
The result is a major deviation from the classic Aston Martin grille design, or at least the placement thereof. To be clear, the general shape of the grille remains the same, this easier to see with Vantage models featuring the inner outline of their grille painted in a coat of bright, colourful Lime Essense, but with cars that alternatively leave this section shaded in a darker hue the lower portion of the grille seems to completely disappear into the road surface below. Certainly the company will allow customers to play with this optical illusion via the myriad paint colours available, which should provide some wonderful results. In the end, enlarging and lowering the classic Aston Martin grille has created an entirely new, much more modern look for the marque, while keeping all-important heritage fully intact.
A sexy shape from front to back
The flush LED headlamp clusters look small in comparison to that grille, while the always long and elegant Aston Martin hood appears even more extended thanks to the need to reach further downward to meet the grille. Likewise, the front fenders snuggly hug a large set of alloys, leaving a mere sliver of bonded aluminum bodywork above before bending inward to incorporate subtle functional side gill wheel well vents. These bleed rearward into the door skins that hover over wide sill extensions, the latter visually pulled around the car from the front splitter.
Those thinking the design departure is radical when watching a new Vantage approach may realize they hadn't seen the half of it upon witnessing its hind end round the corner, the model's single curving car-width taillight an impressive display of LED creativity in action. The rear lamp fluidly flows with the uniquely shaped Kamm-like tail design, raised up in the middle like sports car racers of the past, while the working rear diffuser under the bumper cap looks as if it could've been pulled directly from a World Endurance Championship (WEC) Vantage GTE racecar.
All-new 503 horsepower twin-turbo V8 lives up to supercar styling
Like with the new DB11 V8, the hand built 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged eight-cylinder stuffed under the Vantage hood hails from Mercedes-AMG, although Aston tunes it for their unique feel and sound. It makes a substantive 503 horsepower and 505 lb-ft of torque, resulting in a zero to 100km/h sprint of just 3.6 seconds, this aided by a 1,530-kilogram curb weight. The Aston Martin engineering team positioned the new engine as far forward and as low as the new chassis design allowed, which resulted in ideal 50/50 weight distribution.
That balance was aided by the new rear-mounted, eight-speed ZF automatic transmission, while the carbon-fibre driveshaft that spins in an alloy torque tube benefits all performance criteria. The automatic is standard, which means no manual gearbox is available for the time being.
Of course, Aston Martin provides the Vantage with driver selectable modes including Sport, Sport Plus and Track, while the new electronically controlled differential is a first for the brand, this working in conjunction with the braking system to enhance high speed handling via torque vectoring.
New Vantage promises exceptionally capable high-speed handling
Being that the Vantage is the sportiest Aston Martin in the lineup, its speed-sensitive electric power steering features a tighter lock-to-lock ratio than the larger DB11, while it's also tuned for more aggression off-centre. Added to this is a 2,704-mm wheelbase, the new Vantage 100-mm shorter than the DB11 and therefore more reactive to turn-in through tight, fast-paced corners.
Sharing components with its larger sibling would only make sense, and to that end 30 percent of the aluminum Vantage chassis comes from the DB11. This of course means that 70 percent of the Vantage chassis is completely unique, this portion including the rear frame that's now solidly mounted to increase lateral rigidity. The stiffer design results in 2.2 degrees of roll per cornering G-force, which compares to 3.0 degrees with the DB11. Additionally, the newest version of the brand's Skyhook adaptive suspension provides progressively firmer damping characteristics in its various drive modes, while that 30-percent figure mentioned a moment ago relates to the front suspension components pulled from the DB11.
Thoroughly modern Vantage interior remains ultimately luxurious
As you might expect, the new Vantage interior is now fully immersed in the 21st century, so therefore along with the usual Aston Martin handmade detailing of carbon-fibre, aluminum, leather and suede-like Alcantara trim and upholstery finishings, it incorporates the latest high-resolution digital displays ahead of the driver and atop the centre stack. The latter is a large 8.0-inch touchscreen similar to that used in the new DB11, which is controlled by a lovely knurled metal rotating wheel and surrounding buttons on the lower console.
Speaking of knurled metal, Aston Martin has kept its trio of rotating metal knobs on the centre stack, albeit now the centre one is part of the heating and ventilation system, while a bevy of metal trimmed rocker switches fills the open spaces in between. Additionally, the ignition and gear selector buttons have been repositioned from a horizontal row high on the centre stack to an inverted "V" formation below, where the stack bends into the lower console, while shifts continue to be executed via large, metal paddles fixed to the steering column.
The steering wheel is an appropriately sporty flat-bottomed, leather-wrapped design that features just enough switchgear to appear modern yet not enough to look cluttered. It frames a fully configurable TFT gauge cluster, just like the DB11, which is an important step that once again locks Aston Martin into the new century.
New Vantage is roomier and more comfortable than ever before
Comfort is large on ultra-luxury buyers' wish lists, even in the more performance-oriented classes, so therefore the new Vantage passenger compartment is improved ergonomically with more headroom and legroom, plus some additional side-to-side spaciousness.
As you might expect, the new Vantage is well equipped with luxury and convenience features too, while all the latest advanced driver assistance systems such as parking assist, blindspot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and more are available.
The 2019 Aston Martin Vantage is available now, so make sure to contact Aston Martin Vancouver by phone at 604-738-5577, or drop by the showroom at 1770 Burrard Street, Vancouver to place your order.
Story credits: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press
Photo credits: Aston Martin
Copyright: Canadian Auto Press Inc.
