While Aston Martin’s Vantage is no slouch, a new F1 Edition has been created to lower lap times. That means the new car comes with power, aero, and dynamic tweaks, as well as some shiny new paint/trim colours, and exclusive F1 badging.
The desire for a faster Vantage came from Aston’s new boss, Tobias Moers. Moers wanted something worthy of the F1 badge, and seems happy with what his new team has created: “I set the engineering team a tough target, as I was insistent that gains in performance came via genuine improvements in the car’s dynamics, and not by fitting track-optimised tyres. The results speak for themselves. A Vantage to appeal to the most discerning drivers and a new model that marks an exciting moment in Aston Martin’s history.”
Why’s he happy? Well… The Vantage’s 4.0-litre twin turbocharged V8 has been given a 25 horse boost, and now produces 535hp (528bhp for the old school). The the Coupé will crack 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds and head up to 195mph, while the Roadster manages the sprint in 3.7 seconds and tickles 190mph. Peak torque remains unchanged over the standard car, at 505lb ft, though Aston says the car holds on to it for a little longer. The power is sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox that comes with an optimised torque cut during upshifts to reduce shift times. More power and shorter shifts sound like they’ll make for a good time on track, but that’s not the only way to lap time success.
Under the skin Aston’s team has stiffened the front end for better steering feel (as well as tweaking the steering set up itself), and has gone to town on the dampers. They’ve been fettled to give a better effective force range so you can work them harder, though Aston says they’ll still be comfy at low speeds.
At the rear, spring rates and lateral stiffnesses have been increased to aid traction and turn in. Basically, Aston’s team has turned the whole thing up a notch.
On top of the mechanical things, you’ll be hard pressed to miss the new aero set up. At the rear is a large wing, up front sits a big splitter and dive planes, and underneath there are vanes to channel air where it needs to go. The new aero adds 200kgs of downforce at its top speed, which should make some difference while punting the car from corner to corner.
Of course, if you’re going to be pushing the car harder on to tarmac you need some decent rubber to make the most of it. Thankfully Aston Martin teamed up with Pirelli to develop some shoes especially for the Vantage F1 Edition and its 21-inch wheels.
While you’re overtaking people, you should probably give them an aesthetic to be jealous of. As such, you can spec your F1 Edition Vantage in Aston Martin Racing Green, Jet Black, and Lunar White. You can make it shine in gloss, or moody in matte as well. No matter which spec you go for, you’ll get a solid matte dark grey racing graphic. Oh, and the F1 logo on the wings. Inside, the Vantage’s distinctive interior comes with Obsidian Black leather and Phantom Grey Alcantara upholstery, and you can even throw Lime Green, Obsidian Black, Wolf Grey, or Spicy Red contrast stripes and stitching in there as well. It’s pretty special in there. It’s not free of the F1 logo either, as you get one on the sill plate.
While the car is a Formula One tie in (when it’s in the name you can’t really deny it), the thought behind it is sound. The extra sporting provenance of Formula One has given the British firm an excuse to push the boat out and create a car that can potentially go toe to toe with some of the world’s best track-biased motors. It took a fair old time for the last generation Vantage to properly have a pop at Porsche’s 911 GT3 with the GT8 and GT12 specials, whereas this time around it’s taken a little over three years for them to take the plunge and bring the fight to Stuttgart.
Aston Martin isn’t mucking around when it comes to the new F1 Edition Vantage, and that’s a good thing. The last thing you’d want is to have a car with the two most famous characters in motorsport stamped on the side be a little sub optimal. It’ll be a while before we can drive one as deliveries are scheduled to begin in May 2021, but for now feel free to spend time speccing your own and choosing just how you’d drop £142,000 on the most track-happy Aston you can buy today. Coupé or Roadster..? Tough choice…
Keyword: Aston Martin Vantage F1 Edition Revealed: 911 GT3 Who?