AM 6 Atlanta September 2017 Photo: Drew Gibson (Aston Martin)
Aston Martin has a new car for would-be James Bonds on budgets.
The 2019 Vantage V8 is the first all-new Vantage since 2005, the entry-level model racking up over 21,500 sales over the years to become the brand’s all-time best seller. That’s thanks to its relatively low for an exotic car price that now starts at $149,995.
AM 6 Atlanta September 2017 Photo: Drew Gibson (Aston Martin)
For that, you get the latest take on Aston Martin’s signature sleek, sinuous muscular styling, inspired by the DB10 that was specially-designed for for 007 to drive in the film 'Spectre.' Here it features a dramatic splitter and mesh sieve of a grill jutting from its shark nose, and a large diffuser under the the rear bumper that all give it a very motorsports look.
AM 6 Atlanta September 2017 Photo: Drew Gibson (Aston Martin)
Performance to match is delivered by a Mercedes-AMG-engineered 503 hp twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8 under the Vantage’s power dome hood that’s virtually the same one in Aston Martin’s $198,995 DB11.
AM 6 Atlanta September 2017 Photo: Drew Gibson (Aston Martin)
It sends power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission (sorry, no manual transmission is available…yet) and electronic torque-vectoring limited slip differential capable of 100 percent lockup. Aston Martin says the zero to 60 mph sprint takes 3.6 seconds on the way to a 195 mph top speed.
AM 6 Atlanta September 2017 Photo: Drew Gibson (Aston Martin)
The two-seat cabin has a storage deck behind the seats, and a sculpted, leather-wrapped dashboard in front of them that steps away from Aston Martin’s recent single panel ‘waterfall’ center console design. It’s topped by an 8-inch infotainment system display controlled by a knob on the transmission tunnel that will be familiar to anyone who’s driven a Mercedes-Benz lately, because it’s also supplied by the German automaker.
There are a lot of buttons and knobs, but don’t go looking for any to engage autonomous driving (or an ejector seat) as the only driver aid is a blind spot monitoring system, which is always helpful in a swoopy coupe.
Even higher performance models and a convertible version are sure to follow, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves as this Vantage doesn’t even hit showrooms until next spring.
(Aston Martin)
That's also around the time the racing version of the Vantage will start showing up on tracks around the world.
(Aston Martin)
The Vantage GTE uses a competition prepped engine based on the produciton car's V8 and features an aerodynamic package that makes the street model look mild in comparison.