Decisions, decisions: Which Aston Martin Vantage to buy?
Few people will agonize over which Aston Martin to buy, me included. But a weekend behind the wheel of a Vantage just as Aston Martin’s team raced to a podium finish in Formula One last month is enough to make you want one. And so it is with the 2020 Aston Martin Vantage, a fabulously, luxurious GT that has all the right moves, which makes my indecision all the more palpable with the unveiling of the stunningly beautiful DBX, the company’s first SUV. Hmmm. Which one do I prefer?
Before I get to that, a bit about the Vantage and its performance for the uninitiated.
It would be silly to tell you that the Vantage is a sports car. If its breathtaking looks don’t broadcast that, its robust exhaust note will. The newest Vantage debuted in the summer of 2018, just before Aston Martin Lagonda’s IPO on the London Stock Exchange, meaning changes for 2020 are minimal, including reworked headlights and taillights. Unchanged is this exquisite coupe’s powerfully sophisticated demeanor, muscular stance and minimal overhangs. You’ll never mistake it for anything other than an Aston Martin, a remarkable feat for a company that once sold GTs that looked much like Jaguars, and for good reason but that’s a story for another time.
Climb inside and you’ll find lavish accommodations for two and their accompanying lifestyle debris, enveloping them in scrumptiously soft aromatic leather, and pseudo suede, although storage space is European in scale. An 8.0-inch flat-screen anchors the top center of the instrument panel, and is controlled by a rotary knob and ancillary buttons on the center console that controls audio, navigation and includes Bluetooth compatibility. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are not offered.
That’s all quite nice, but what truly matters is the engine and it’s superb. A twinturbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 that generates a smile-inducing 503 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque through a rear-mounted ZF eight-speed automatic transmission on its way to the rear wheels. (A seven-speed manual transmission is offered in the pricier Vantage AMR.) Aston Martin offered the GT R model for testing, and it proved to be a unique proposition in the Aston Martin lineup.
In a marque renowned for its comfortably fast, exquisitely built GTs, the Vantage is the bratty little brother. While it still provides the comfort of a GT, it’s more concerned with performance, offering only Sport, Sport+ and Track driving modes. Sweet. Thankfully, there are no autonomous driving aids; this is a true driver’s car.
For the record, it runs 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds on the way to 195 mph top speed, more than fast enough to keep up with its many competitors. Tackling the twisties of Texas hill country outside of Austin, the Vantage adroitly swallows the worst of road abrasions while remaining taut and entertaining thanks to an adaptive damping system. As you’d expect, you can get the tail to dance while maintaining exquisite driver control, while the exhaust lets loose its brawny baritone and a healthy dollop of road and tire noise. It’s an intoxicating time, one worthy of its price.
Still, does it bother me that the V-8 is supplied by Mercedes-AMG, which uses a similar, but powerful, V-8 in its AMG-GT? No more than it bothers me that Jaguar’s V-8 started life in a Ford Mustang GT. That said, it doesn’t feels like a Mercedes any more than a Jaguar feels like a Mustang. But Aston’s use of Mercedes-Benz’s COMAND infotainment system is less than wonderful. Is any of this a deal killer? No more than it should for Rolls-Royce or Bentley buyers. Scratch their surfaces and you’ll find much that’s Germanic (much like the House of Windsor).
Consider it a British tradition.
Still, there’s ongoing speculation on Aston Martin’s future. As demand for sports cars declines, the world’s largest manufacturers have joined forces to produce them, including Toyota, BMW and Subaru. Furthermore, billions of dollars are required to fund forthcoming autonomous vehicles, a tall order for a diminutive automaker like Aston Martin. But the company has long seen the writing on the wall, which is why the manufacturer struck an agreement with Daimler AG in 2013 to have the German automaker supply V-8 engines and other systems in exchange for a 5% nonvoting stake in the company.
This explains the Vantage’s engine and infotainment system.
And it kept the company alive, not a bad thing.
Indeed, the DBX, Aston Martin’s first SUV in the brand’s 106-year history, will surely follow the same pattern when it is introduced next spring.
The DBX’s development began in 2015, and is scheduled to be built in St Athan, Wales. The DBX is built on its own platform, not one derived from a car. It’s fitted with an adaptive air suspension that raises or lowers nearly two inches. Of course, its extravagantly handcrafted cabin is trimmed in leather, Alcantara, ambient lighting, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and a 360-degree camera system, but how many SUVs offer such niceties as pet package with its portable washer to rinse off a muddy dog, or a snow package that delivers something truly decadent: boot warmers?
“DBX is a car that will give many people their first experience of Aston Martin ownership,” said Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda president and group CEO in a statement.
The price for the DBX will begin at $189,900.
But which one to buy? That’s easy: buy both. That seems to be the best decision in my book.
The 2020 Aston Martin Vantage is a true luxury sports car. Like all Aston Martins, it is a product of class production, not mass production, an automotive gem to be savored.
About the Writer
Larry Printz is an automotive journalist based in South Florida. Readers may send him email at TheDrivingPrintz@gmail.com.