What is that?
He has a wing. This is the easiest way to see that this Aston Vantage is the new top of the range in unlimited number but limited in color, the F1 edition.
You can only order it in green, black or white, and it marks Aston Martin’s entry into grand prix racing this year. But it’s not just about making it look like Formula 1’s safety car: the depth of the other changes here fundamentally alters the character of the Vantage.
They say the Vantage should be the most aggressive of Aston’s various coupes and roadsters. With the DBS Superleggera and the DB11 AMR, I don’t know how much clean air was there. The new boss, Tobias Moers, therefore gave the engineers a rather specific task: without just throwing in power, making the Vantage lap of the Nürburgring 15 seconds faster.
To do this, the ride quality was, you can imagine, quite demanding for the dynamic engineers; but, as you may have noticed from our recent awards, Gaydon has some really good ones.
The changes are detailed but extensive. Structural rigidity has been increased at the front of the chassis to improve steering response; adaptive dampers have been modified to have an extended working range; and rear spring rate and lateral stiffness have been increased for the purpose of improving traction.
The wheels are one inch larger, at 21 inches, and fitted with a lower profile tire: 255/35 at the front, 295/30 at the rear. New aerodynamic addenda, including front winglets, increase downforce by 200kg at top speed.
What does it look like?
All of these changes seem to improve performance, and I’m often hesitant about a car chasing a lap time, but you don’t have to be here. Yes, I think the F1 Edition feels a bit firmer than the regular coupe (which remains on sale), but it has some conformity to spare.
The smoother of its ride modes is fine for seedy UK country roads, and while Track mode is, uh, better only on a track, the medium setting is usable on decent asphalt.
Body control is great anyway, its steering is keen and you get a lot in return. We don’t feel very much about the concentration levels of the Porsche 911 GT3, just the Vantage has increased a few notches.
On the track, it is the increased body control and greater traction that is most evident. The regular Vantage is an exceptionally mobile car, and a lot of fun with it: turn and it wants to turn and, with the application of torque from the 4.0-liter turbo V8, it will be slipping in no time. Things are much more serious here. Compassion, traction and feel have all been improved. It’s less respectable but ultimately a lot better, and when it slides it still does so with fantastic controllability.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-22 23:01:25
