The ferocious quintessential British sports car

MANILA, Philippines — Yes, you read the title correctly. The all-new Aston Martin Vantage is actually a 2019 model which will be available for delivery by the fourth quarter of this year in most markets, including our own. As the lone representative from the Philippines, it was truly an exciting privilege to experience the new abilities of the second all-new Aston Martin from Gaydon, England for two exhaustive days behind the uniquely squarish steering wheel in glorious southern Portugal.

The steering wheel and feel are certainly more aggressive than the unit used in the DB11, with more pronounced paddleshifts that dictates that the Vantage is clearly engineered to be more fierce and tactile. 

The first whole day of testing was done at the 4.692-kilometer Algarve International Circuit, which is located in Portimão, Portugal, about 290 kilometers south of Lisbon Airport. The very exhilarating fast track has 19 corners with multiple elevations, which immediately reminded me of elements from the Nürburgring, Laguna Seca, and Spa-Francorchamps. The track was surely impressive on its own and can easily be consistently completed in under two minutes at fairly high speeds with the all-new Vantage. We used the whole circuit with turns reduced to 14 to maximize the potential achievable speeds—but it was all about the car.

And what sports car it is to behold. The second day of testing demonstrated real-world performance through the countryside that included highway usage as well, to and from the lovely Jardim das Oliveiras restaurant in the hills, which is roughly 50 kilometers from the Vila Vita Parc Resort where we were billeted.

Thankfully, the generous Aston Martin team plotted an alternative route that allowed more travel time to further enhance the overall experience especially since the weather was mostly wet and chilly.

Unfortunately, our test batch were one of the few teams that had to soldier through heavy rain (and even hail) on the circuit which may have made photography challenging. But the driving experience was largely unhindered on both the road and track, limited only by individual skill and respect on public roads.

I mostly drove solo on both days. My full review of the all-new Vantage can be enjoyed in the near future cover feature in C! Magazine.

The all-new Aston Martin Vantage is an absolutely beautiful sports car that is the natural evolution of the specie that successfully thrived for over 13 years, without orphaning its predecessor. Very few brands can earn that special and elusive ability to continue to grow and develop forward while maintaining the joy and desirability of the older models.

So, yes, the new Vantage is monumentally a better overall performer, more efficient, larger, and more comfortable than the model it replaces but at this extremely high level, the outright performance figures may not be as vital for aspiring new Aston Martin buyers or for current owners. For example, the last Vantage GT Roadster I tested may have had a more modest 430 bhp from its normally aspirated 4.8-liter V8 combined with a sequential 7-speed gearbox, but it still achieved 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds with a 305 km/h top speed.

The new twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 model pumps out 503 bhp and hits 100 km/h from rest in 3.6 seconds with a 314 km/h top speed — effortlessly with its 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox and adaptive suspension.

The old model is hardly slow and definitely not boring; however it does demand more from the driver. The new model is much more driver-friendly and accommodates a wider variety of driver skills. It is the first Aston Martin model to also feature an electronically controlled differential with torque vectoring.

The engine may be built by Mercedes-Benz but its voice and behavior are bespoke and just awesome. In fact, the Vantage may even be too loud at times so thankfully you can adjust the tone remotely. And the symphony is all mechanical, no artificial synthetics pumped through the fabulous infotainment system.

About 70 percent of its components are said to be unique to the Vantage when compared to the fabulous new DB11. It is about 10 percent stiffer than the new DB11 and over 30 percent more rigid than the old model while saving about 40 pounds of weight with an almost 50/50 weight balance.

The new interior is a more rabid version with some similarities with the DB11, so it is still very elegant and purposeful but definitely more committed to a spirited pace rather than a 2+2 GT.

In over 17 years of working in the automotive industry I have to say that this last media drive was the most exciting because of Aston Martin’s joint confidence and commitment with their product that they allowed us to fully drive the Vantage with total freedom of expression. We even had to change to a second set of tires from all the high-speed lapping all day.

Aston Martin Philippines’ customers are in for an incredible lifelong treat when these new models arrive. And to think that this all-new Vantage is just the beginning of the model series!