Pole position
ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE F1 EDITION
The car came first. Aston was already working on an uprated Vantage before it got the gig to produce an F1 safety car. It then aligned the two. So, although this is the first car ever to wear an official F1 logo, it isn’t a limited edition model.
It’s more money, but maybe not as much as you’re thinking – £142,000 is an eighteen grand uplift over standard. Reflecting that, the engine has only come in for a software tweak, gaining an extra 24bhp for 0.1secs off the 0–62mph and a slightly more fiery top end. The drama of the acceleration is what makes it. This is still a big fun motor, walloping you in the back above 3,000rpm and growling along deliciously. Not as kick-ass and responsive as it is in the AMG GT R (where it has 577bhp), but like that the Vantage F1 has a slight muscle car vibe.
The change is that the chassis can now fully cope with everything the powertrain can deliver. I want you to think about how detailed these changes are. At the rear the springs are 10 per cent stiffer, the dampers up 20 per cent under compression, the bump stops have been changed and a stiffer rubber top mount fitted. The upper control arm is new and there’s now a lateral damper between the rear subframe and torque tube to reduce drivetrain movement. And that’s just the rear suspension.
The aim was 15 seconds off the car’s lap time around the Nürburgring, without using sticky tyres or trickery. That’s been achieved with a time of “around 7mins 30secs”. But what matters is that it feels different to a standard Vantage immediately – there’s less movement and more control at the back end, positive, accurate damping where small suspension travel rounds off bumps well.
It doesn’t quite reach the attack levels of the new 911 GT3, but it likes to be driven hard. Cruise through corners and it’s as if the Vantage loses attention, but brake hard into the apex and accelerate out and you get a greater sense of connection. On track it’s the rear end’s extra accuracy that impresses, making it an accurate slider if Bernd Maylander feels the need to showboat for the crowds.