THERE ARE SOME BIG NUMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH the new Aston Martin Vantage. Really big. 656bhp. 590lb ft.
202mph. And a £165,000 entry price, taking this once-junior Aston into thoroughly senior territory.
Is this a by-the-numbers car, though? An injection of power and torque to grab the headlines, a spring clean for the interior, neat facelift on the outside, and that's as far as it goes? Meeting the new Vantage in person, you quickly sense that's not the case. evo's first briefing on the car (in issue 319) suggested Aston Martin's engineering team had been given the freedom and budget-to make this renewed Vantage the very best it can be.
Not so much renewed as reborn. As we're talked around the car at its launch base near Seville by director of vehicle performance Simon Newton and head of product strategy Alex Long, you can sense their pride in the car. This has clearly been a No Compromises project, with practically every area reconsidered and rehoned.
And, encouragingly, despite the attention-grabbing numbers, there's been just as much toil over making it fun and engaging at regular road speeds as there has into reaching numerical performance metrics. "This is the most agile, precise, dynamic, enjoyable sports car we've ever done,' Long says, with conviction.
'In benchmarking, you find a lot of cars don't come alive until you're going really quick,' adds Newton. 'Dexterity and feedback at low speed, too, have been key for this car.' Changes beneath the surface encompass structure, suspension, powertrain, electronic architecture and far more besides, but suffice to say they go much further than a skin-deep facelift. And for what it's worth, to my eyes at least, the Vantage's new skin looks fantastic. This isn't a design magazine, of course, and you'll make your own judgement, but in real life even more than in pictures, I find the Vantage a compelling thing to behold.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2024 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة June 2024 من Evo UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
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It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
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Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
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One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
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The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
