Look at the spec sheets side by side and the S badge appears to be a swindle. A standard Vantage makes 656 horsepower. The S makes 671. Fifteen horsepower, on a car with this much of it already, is a rounding error you will never detect from the driver's seat, and Aston Martin charges $5,000 for the privilege.Drive them back to back and the math inverts. The power is the least significant thing the S trim changes, and the things it does change are the ones that determine how a sports car feels on a road you actually enjoy. This is the version to buy, and the reasons have almost nothing to do with the engine.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiWhat the S Badge Actually BuysStart with the structure. The rear subframe is now solid-mounted rather than isolated in bushings, which raises torsional stiffness by 5% and, more to the point, sharpens turn-in and gives the front end a confidence it did not previously have at lower speeds. You feel it immediately, on the first corner, before you have touched the throttle in anger.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiThe final drive ratio drops to 3.083:1, which makes in-gear acceleration noticeably more urgent without changing a single figure in the performance specifications. Stability control has been retuned. A new throttle calibration delivers power more linearly than the standard car manages, which matters enormously in something making 590 pound-feet from 2,000 rpm.Outside, hood blades vent hot air from the engine bay, a full-width decklid spoiler spans the tail, and quad tailpipes replace the standard exhaust exits. The S badges on each front fender are forged brass filled with red glass enamel. On a car where the base price is $194,500, spending $5,000 on all of that is the easiest decision in the configurator.The Engine Is Mercedes-Derived and Aston-FinishedOutput lands at 671 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 590 pound-feet held from 2,000 to 5,000 rpm, from a hand-built version of the Mercedes-AMG-derived 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8. Power reaches the rear wheels alone through a ZF eight-speed torque converter automatic mounted as a rear transaxle, which is where a good deal of this car's balance comes from. Aston quotes 3.3 sec, est. to 60 mph and 202 mph.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiAt 3,847 pounds the Vantage is light by modern standards, and specifying the available carbon fiber components lifts the power-to-weight ratio to 394 horsepower per metric ton. What the numbers do not convey is the noise, which is excellent, or the throttle response, which is now genuinely linear rather than turbocharged in the old sense. On a canyon road this thing simply hauls.Nobody Else Builds an Interior Like ThisAston Martin finally made the cabin its own. Across the Vantage, the DB12 and the Vanquish, the company developed an interior identity that stands on its own rather than borrowing its way to competence, and Q by Aston Martin means effectively nothing is off the table where materials are concerned.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiWhat separates it is the tactile experience. Physical metal knobs, buttons with real weight and a positive action, switchgear that feels engineered rather than sourced. Sitting in this car and operating it is a pleasure before you have moved a foot. Nobody else is doing this anymore. Lamborghini, Porsche and McLaren have all migrated the bulk of their controls onto screens, and in the process they surrendered the connected, personal feeling that proper hardware provides. The S trim adds heated carbon sports seats with embroidered S logos, and the optional interior highlight package brings anodized red billet aluminum controls, contrast stitching and herringbone quilting.The Shape Has Not Been Improved OnSimply stunning. Proportions carry it: a long hood, a cabin pushed back toward the rear axle, an aggressive tail that closes the design properly. Plenty of sports cars manage two of those three. This one is a class act from any angle.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiThe details hold up to inspection. The lines, the headlamps, the way the S hardware integrates without disrupting anything. Twenty-one-inch forged wheels wear Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tires at 275/35 front and 325/30 rear, and the frameless swan-wing doors remain one of the great theatrical gestures in this business. Aesthetics are not a small part of why anyone spends this money, and the Vantage delivers on them completely.Technology Does Its JobAston brought infotainment development in-house with the 2025 redesign, and the result is a 10.25-inch touchscreen that responds promptly instead of making you wait. Apple CarPlay Ultra is here, and the Vantage was among the first cars anywhere to get it, with Android Auto supported as well.2026 Aston Martin Vantage SGabi WabiThe optional Bowers and Wilkins system is best-in-class and worth ordering if sound matters to you. Equally worth crediting is the control layout, which balances physical buttons against on-screen functions properly. None of this is groundbreaking measured against the wider industry, which keeps the score at an 8, but none of it is frustrating either, and several rivals at this price cannot claim as much.Pricing, Running Costs and CoveragePricing starts at $199,500 for the S trim against $194,500 for the standard Vantage. Optioned examples climb fast, and a well-specified test car reached $248,400. Aston Martin does not publish a United States destination charge on its configurator, so the delivered figure runs above the base number.Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) figures come in at 15 mpg city, 22 mpg highway and 18 mpg combined from a 19.3-gallon tank. Those are competitive within the segment, where rivals of similar output return the same or worse, and the highway number means the drive to a good road will not punish you. Warranty coverage runs three years with unlimited mileage on basic and powertrain alike, with corrosion protection extending 10 years. Complimentary scheduled maintenance is not included, so you pay for every service from the first one, and on a hand-built V8 those are not inexpensive.CategoryFigurePricing and Value7/10Efficiency7/10Warranty Information7/10EPA city / highway / combined15 / 22 / 18 mpgBasic and powertrain warranty3 years / unlimited milesCorrosion warranty10 years / unlimited milesScheduled maintenanceNot includedSafety RatingsNo crash data exists. Neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has tested the Vantage, which is normal for a two-seat sports car at this volume and price, since neither agency can justify destroying examples. Buyers who rely on independent testing have nothing to consult.Standard equipment covers blind-spot alert, collision warning, a driver attention monitor, stability and traction control, front and rear parking sensors and a rear camera. That list is adequate rather than comprehensive and trails what a comparable Porsche or Mercedes-AMG provides on driver assistance. The score reflects sound fundamentals with no verification behind them.CompetitionThe Porsche 911 is the benchmark and the comparison has genuinely shifted. A 911 Turbo S now opens above $270,000, roughly $70,000 clear of the Vantage S. Porsche still builds the more clinically capable car and backs it with a far deeper dealer network, but it does not build the more engaging one. On a canyon road the Aston is more fun, more exotic and the better drive, and it costs substantially less. Nobody could have written that sentence about a Vantage five years ago.Elsewhere, the Mercedes-AMG GT shares this engine's origins while offering all-wheel drive and a more technology-forward cabin, and the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 delivers comparable performance for far less money behind a naturally aspirated V8 that sounds extraordinary. Neither answers the interior. Nothing in this segment matches the Vantage for material quality, switchgear feel or depth of personalization. Depreciation is the Aston's structural disadvantage against all of them, and it is the strongest argument for buying one a few years old rather than new.Final Thoughts: 9/10This is a totally fantastic car, and the S trim is the one to have. The price gap over the standard Vantage is small, and what it buys, the stiffer structure, the shorter final drive and the sharper throttle, transforms an already excellent sports car into a better one. Aston Martin now competes with the Italians and the Germans on merit rather than on charm, which is a genuine change in what buying one of these means. Go in knowing depreciation is steep, the warranty is short and you pay for every service. None of it will matter the first time you find a good road.
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